Ten Reasons Why: Meryl Streep shouldn't be your favourite actress.
By Darren Williams
24th November 2009

Or, to be more direct, a list of my ten favourite actresses. This little list is primarily inspired thanks to me viewing another ‘Greatest Actresses of All-Time’ list this week, which Streep was – unsurprisingly – atop of yet again. This, in addition to the two golden globe nominations that she managed to score less than two weeks ago (for “It’s Complicated” and “Julie & Julia”), has inspired me to draw up a little list of those actresses who are unfairly pushed to one side thanks to the massive – and quite undeserved – shadow cast by Streep.

That’s not to say that I think she’s a bad actress. I don’t. I think that, thirty years ago, she was a fine actor; “Sophie’s Choice”, “the Deer Hunter”, and “Manhattan” are all brilliant, and she’s certainly a major part in all three’s success. Back then, the Oscar nominations were certainly deserved, but nowadays the Academy and associated awards ceremonies seem to shoe horn her in because, to her credit, she always turns up and smiles and claps admirably when another actress wins the gong. This list is not, either, a slight at the actress, who was indeed the finest American female actor at the time in her prime, but rather a slight at those who constantly put her on a pedestal because they fail to recognize just how many great actresses there have been who are – for all intents and purposes – more worthy of this praise than her.

And so, without any further time wasting, let’s get on to the list, which is given in alphabetical order.

STEPHANE AUDRAN (b. 1932)
Audran was one of France’s premier actresses at one of the most fruitful and important times in its history; the French New Wave. Primarily as a muse and favourite star for one Claude Chabrol, Audran proved herself to be one of the most intriguing and talented actresses of the time, delivering performances that tend to be tinged with both cynicism and naivety, hope and despair. YOU SHOULD CHECK OUT: Most of her work with Chabrol, most notably “Le Boucher” (1970) as the naïve but talented school teacher who figures out Jean Yanne’s bloodlust. “Les Biches” (1968) and “Les Femme Infidele” (1969) are also worth a look, along with Bunuel’s delightful satire “The Discrete Charm of the Bourgeoisie” (1972).

JULIETTE BERTO (b. 1947, d. 1990)
Another of the Nouvelle Vauge’s best female stars, Juliette Berto is an actress who has gone relatively under the radar, especially when compared to the much more prolific and high-profile favourite of Godard, Anna Karina. Berto’s performances aren’t really typified by any overarching trait, which is part of what makes her great. Her work with Godard is usually filled out with a political awareness and a hope for a crumbling world, whilst her Rivette output is more playful, and more weary of the times. YOU SHOULD CHECK OUT: “Celine and Julie Go Boating” (1973), her best film and Rivette’s to boot. She’s also great in Godard’s “La Chinoise” (1967), and has enjoyable cameos in “2 or 3 Things I Know About Her” (1967) and “Week End” (1967), as well as a prominent role in Rivette’s epic “Out 1” (1974).

CATHERINE DENEUVE (b. 1943)
The star of two of the best musicals ever made, Deneuve is another French actress with impressive range and immense charisma. An actress who has worked in English, Spanish, and French (and has been great in all three), Deneuve went from hopeful about the world and its inhabitants in Demy’s “the Umbrellas of Cherbourg” (1964) to weary of the world’s false promises in von Trier’s “Dancer in the Dark” (1999). YOU SHOULD CHECK OUT: The aforementioned two musicals, which she is great in regardless of whether she’s the lead (in Demy’s film) or support (in von Trier’s), as well as two Bunuel collaborations in “Tristana” (1970) and the incredible “Belle de Jour” (1967).

LILLIAN GISH (b. 1983, b. 1993)
Gish is widely acclaimed to be the best actress of the silent era, and I don’t think there are many who would argue with that statement. Using sublime body and facial work like all silent actors, Gish grafted through a series of roles as strong women in Griffith’s early feminist works, and later proved that she was quite capable of making sound films too. YOU SHOULD CHECK OUT: Most of her work with D.W. Griffith, of which my favourite is quite possibly the underrated “Way Down East” (1920). “The Birth of a Nation” (1915) is a must, too, as well as Charles Laughton’s “The Night of the Hunter” (1955), in which she pops up for a late cameo.

ANNA KARINA (b. 1940)
If I were to order this list in some kind of fashion, Anna Karina would doubtlessly be my number one choice. Charismatic, charming, and so, so likeable, Karina is both an impressive screen presence (she overpowers the actors she’s alongside incredibly easy) and a superb technical actress. From her jovial roles to her more serious, acting-orientated ones, Karina is a delight to watch in just about anything, particularly her many collaborations with Jean-Luc Godard. YOU SHOULD CHECK OUT: It’s probably best to start with “Vivre Sa Vie” (1962), but any of her Godard work is worth checking out. “Pierrot le Fou” (1965) is the best film she’s been in, whilst “A Woman is a Woman” (1961) is perhaps Karina at her most charming.

DEBORAH KERR (b. 1921, d. 2007)
Forget about the Queen, there’s only one British lady worth worshiping, and I never thought I’d say that about a Scot. Both a sublime dramatic actress and a well versed comedic one too, Kerr is still a Hollywood iconic thanks to that scene on that beach, but it’s in her earlier work with Emeric Pressburger and Michael Powell where she earns her place in this list. Nailing everything from a nun to a sizzling captain’s wife, Kerr is one of the best British actors of either gender to ever live. YOU SHOULD CHECK OUT: “Black Narcissus” (1947), which is her greatest acting role technically. She’s also perfectly cast in “The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp” (1943) in several different roles, and does well – particularly in the later stretches – in Jack Clayton’s “The Innocents” (1961). Of course, you’ll have already seen “From Here to Eternity” (1953), otherwise you wouldn’t be on this website…

GIULETTA MASINA (b. 1921, d. 1994)
Like Karina to Godard and Audran to Chabrol, Giuletta Masina is best known and best regarded for her work with the great Italian director Federico Fellini, and rightly so. Over just a few performances, she can’t help make an impression, usually as naïve and childish souls who are forced to grow up before they are ready to. Unlike Karina, though, she actually stuck with her director husband for an elongated period of time; fifty years and one day, in fact, when they were split by Fellini’s death. YOU SHOULD CHECK OUT: Definitely “La Strada” (1954), which isn’t her best film but is certainly her best performance, where she flits between laughter and tears. All of her Fellini partnerships are worth a look, but my favourite of the films is “Giulietta Degli Spiriti” (1965), which sees Masina contacting the spiritual world both metaphorically and literally.

JEANNE MOREAU (b. 1928)
A veritable French icon in the fifties and sixties, Jeanne Moreau built a legacy off a trio of smouldering turns, two for Louis Malle and one for Francois Truffaut. She’s much more than that, though, with a whole career of great performances behind her, usually typified by her great charisma and her mysterious, enigmatic, and deeply inviting sexual presence. Still going now at the age of seventy one, Moreau is one of the great ambassadors of film and has been for decades, but it’s her early work that she’ll be best remembered for. YOU SHOULD CHECK OUT: Her three best performances are undoubtedly in “Les Amants” (1958), “Lift to the Scaffold” (1958), and [possibly her best] “Jules et Jim” (1962). She also pops up for a delightful little cameo in Orson Welles’ “The Trial” (1962).

KATI OUTINEN (b. 1961)
Probably the most modern of my inclusions, Kati Outinen is a Finnish actress who I have only very recently become aware of. If you take a look at her IMDB page, one director’s name riddles her career; Aki Kaurismaki, who is quickly becoming one of my favourite modern day auteurs. Her performances in his films are usually infused with a world-weariness and deep seeded cynicism, and her characters are often repressed either by men, friends, or life in general. Even through her droll delivery and her miserable facial expressionism, she’s one of the most charismatic actresses around. YOU SHOULD CHECK OUT: “Drifting Clouds” (1996), “Take Care of Your Scarf, Tatiana” (1994), and particularly “Juha” (1999), whilst I check out the rest of Kaurismaki and her work alongside you.

KINUYO TANAKA (b. 1910, d. 1977)
Renowned as the greatest actress of the Japanese golden age back in the 1950s, Kinuyo Tanaka is perhaps best known for her work with Kenji Mizoguchi. Delivering a handful of perfect performances that made her a Japanese icon, Tanaka is still regarded as one of the great females in film, and her performances are often infused with the feminist spirit that also riddled Mizoguchi’s career. However, it was their relationship off screen that is often best remembered, with Mizoguchi often credited as the reason why Kinuyo Tanaka – the first Japanese woman to direct – gave up life behind the camera. YOU SHOULD CHECK OUT: Her best performance is in “Miss Oyu” (1951), as a woman repressed by the laws in place thanks to society. It’s a finely restrained and subtle performance, and she pretty much lifts the underwhelming film around her up a few notches. “Sansho Dayu” (1954) and “Ugetsu Monogatari” (1953) are the other two most notable of her Mizoguchi collaborations.