Monday, June 04, 2007
Olivia
Patricia Clarkson's character, Olivia, was quite brilliant, even if rather cliche on the surface: the zany, absent-minded artist who runs the same person off the road twice (i.e., doesn't learn from her mistakes, at least not right away), who dislikes cell phones and comforming to social expectations. She's something of a type, but then there are surprises: the profound grief of losing a child, the bitterness of a separation, the giving up on life. She's sunny and dark at the same time. Zany and solemn. And beautiful and ugly — the ugliness referring to the way she treats Fin when he is trying to help her. Did that seem in character to you? I was taken aback by her bahavior, but then it quickly made more sense to me. When she harshly said, "I'm not your mother, and I'm not your girlfriend," she was asserting her own identity rather than trying to run Fin off, like saying I have stood in that relation to people all of my life, and now I'm just me. I'm just me in my own right. And Fin understands that. His loneliness and his own struggles to find a comfortable place in life have prepared him to understand that and to be an honest-to-God friend to her.
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Her character always seemed coherent to me. I thought her mood swings and bitterness fit with her joy. And her joy never seemed pure -- she had a weariness behind everything. The role was beautifully acted in that way -- she always seemed at the end of her rope and exhausted, even when having a good time.
Yeah, good point. Part of that was the character, I think, and part of that was just the way Patricia Clarkson is — she of the melancholy smile. Maybe that's why she was cast in that role. She exudes a sunny world-weariness.
I think there may have been a sense that Olivia was somewhat attracted to Fin because he reminded her of her son. Did anyone else pick up on that? Like Fin was a combination of the son and husband she had lost.
By the way, the three leading roles were written for those three actors. The writer knew the two men personally, but only knew Clarkson from her work.
In other words, the weary character was designed for that smile.
Oh yeah. She put him in her son's room to sleep, right? There was a picture of him. And she tucked Fin in and gave him a sort of ambiguous kiss — like is this a son or a lover?
Then later she screams that she is not going to be mother or girlfriend. And Fin is like, yeah, I know, you are my friend.
Yes, exactly.
That's interesting, Ben. It makes perfect sense. The casting was perfect.
I also think that was interesting that the parts were written for the actors, because I had some trouble seeing her as Olivia and not Patricia Clarkson. I love that actress, but sometimes I felt like I was watching a talent showcase and not a fictional character.
Interesting, cl. Why do you think that was?
Maybe the fault of the script. I started to list the reasons and then went back and read what kc said about how she was playing a type. We may have drawn different conclusions, but the quirky character feature (introduced as a lousy driver) and role as misunderstood artist just turned me off initially, like I'm not supposed to be engaged in the story but rather admiring Clarkson.
As the film went on, the nuances of how she handled playing a grieving mother grew on me.
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