Club Silencio: Inside the Minds of Nicole Kidman

Friday, December 12, 2008

Inside the Minds of Nicole Kidman

Over at The Film Experience I posted my latest "Signatures" install ment on the screen-stealing majesty that is Nicole Kidman. I couldn't help but think of all the wonderful monologue moments Kidman's had throughout her career. Some of them are expressed through song, some through John Hurt, and some of the best are without any words at all. I'm referring to moments such as the devastating and beautiful symphony scene from Birth, the grim "light bulb" moment from To Die For, and the knowing looks in Eyes Wide Shut. Kidman has a way of revealing the true arc of her characters with stunning ease and remarkable precision.
We can never know exactly what thoughts ran through Kidman's head during those classic scenes, but they may have gone something like this...

Margot at the Wedding: "Do I write today, or just belittle someone? ...I wrote yesterday."

Eyes Wide Shut: "It's so easy to fuck with my husband... Imagine if I told him what really happens in my dreams! Or about all those affairs."

Birth: "Could my husband have been cosmically reborn into the body of a little boy? Would Miss Cleo lie?"

Dogville: "This one's for all the avid Hummel collectors!"

Moulin Rouge: "If I choose the Duke I get diamonds, but I get treated like a whore. If I choose Christian I get true love, but I have to read his manuscripts."

To Die For: "If my husband's dead I'm that much closer to hosting Dateline! I wonder if Diane Sawyer knows where to buy an unregistered handgun..."

The Hours: "Do I write today, or just contemplate death? ...I wrote yesterday."

2 comments:

Anonymous said...: truly one of the greatest of all time...she is contemplating retirement now.. I just can't accept it. She still have so much to give
I love her.; December 17, 2008 at 7:13 PM
Adam said...: I'd rather she sell her children than give up acting. She first has to make "Washington," "Lady from Shanghai," and a movie where she plays sisters with Naomi Watts. Then, and only then, can we discuss some time off for Nicole.; December 17, 2008 at 10:00 PM

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