The Trivia says:
David Lean had frequent on-set clashes with Judy Davis who accused him of having lost his touch, not having directed for 15 years.
Whoa! That's a little harsh of Judy if that's true. Is this even true? Judy was quite a tyro (compared to the seasoned Lean) by this time. Could she have said that to her director?
Just curious--did you ever find out more about this?
Regardless, Davis was absolutely incomparable in this film. Impossible to imagine a better performance of that character.
Here's an interview in which Judy Davis discusses her relationship with Lean on the film--and the reputation she suffered thereafter for being a "difficult actress."
http://articles.latimes.com/1991-04-24/entertainment/ca-672_1_judy-dav is/2
Enjoy!
Michael
Really interesting, and thanks for posting it. I can totally believe what she's saying about Lean--she's not the only one to have said so--and what she says about Australian film speaks volumes. As a longtime fan of good Aussie films, I can only concur with what she says. Stylistically and otherwise, most of the films that get the financing there these days (and for some time) seem slated to compete with major-market films elsewhere, and have lost the character they had in the '60s through the '80s or early '90s.
shareI find Davis' outspokenness quite fascinating--as actors so rarely speak candidly about their thoughts on any of their films. I'm curious as to how gaining the difficult reputation early on may have impacted the trajectory of her career.
In these two videos on YouTube, she alludes to the fact that she didn't give the performance she wanted to give in APTI--due to Lean's interfering:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nvh9oZRtKUs
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q8fAnyKTKDA
I'm also amused at how openly she criticizes the screenplay for Gillian Armstrong's "My Brilliant Career"--but she then worked with the director again in "High Tide" (1987).
I really liked Davis in "Husbands and Wives," but I thought she was *phenomenal* in "A Passage to India." Someone needs to give this woman another juicy role!
Michael
In APTI, as far as I'm concerned, it was one of those performances where an actor carves out a space for herself that just cannot be touched by anybody else. In her case, she brought so much more to that role than ever could have been in the script...it really is amazing to go back and watch it again. An absolutely indispensable performance to a film that is of such deep significance it seems endless sometimes.
shareThis woman can say whatever she wants as she lives in a free country. However, I do find it amusing that she attacked the two directors who gave her the best roles in her lifetime.
Those two films also happen to be her best films ever, by far.
Well, you know...it wouldn't be inconceivable that she would fail to understand from an objective perspective how much their direction resulted in the greatness of her performance, what they elicited from her, etc.
shareThis woman can say whatever she wants as she lives in a free country. However, I do find it amusing that she attacked the two directors who gave her the best roles in her lifetime.Yes, I gather she feels she attracted the best actress nomination she received for this role, entirely on her own merits, as she claimed "Lean couldn't direct women". It's hard to stifle my giggles.🐭 share
Let's see, he directed Dame Peggy Ashcroft to an Oscar for the same movie. Yep, what a poor director! LOL!!! And I love Judy Davis. But she's wrong here.
shareAnd Geraldine Chaplin was never more stunning than in Lean's Doctor zhivago
And P.S. If the great Kate liked him,that's enough for me! http://thegreatkh.blogspot.com/2012/07/david-leans-summertime-1955.html.