Sculptures of the Soul

There are two performances in film this year that stand above the rest. Performances that will go down as two of the darkest and horrifying characters in cinematic history.

Javier Bardem, plays the ruthless killer in the Coen Brothers' No Country for Old Men, (nominated for a supporting actor Academy Award) is so memorable on screen that some have dubbed his role as the greatest villain in film history.

Not to be out done, Paul Thomas Anderson's There Will Be Blood, brings us perhaps one of the strongest displays of acting the screen not just has ever seen, but may ever see! Daniel Day-Lewis (nominated for a Best Actor Academy Award), in my opinion, the greatest actor living and working today, gives us genius. Acting genius. His portrayal of Daniel Plainview is desperate, haunting, and somehow familiar. An actor who only works when it's right for him, has given the world something more than acting. It's unreal, really.

Both men will win Oscars in their respective categories, no question, no debate. What struck me however, was the recent cover article for EW that hailed the two actor's performances. You know that moment when you're reading something, or watching something, or listening to a piece of music, and you think to yourself, this is something really special? Something that will be remembered as the very best? I felt that way watching Day-Lewis. Others did as well.

How good is great?
How great is memorable?
Can you call someone, some expression, the very best?

What struck me was the questions posed to Bardem regarding Daniel-Day Lewis:

EW: How did the cover shoot go?
Bardem: It was one of the highlights of my career to be so close to Daniel Day-Lewis.
EW: So you liked his movie?
Bardem: I've seen his performances- as every actor in the world has- hundreds of times. I was introduced by him at the New York Film Critics' Awards, and I said what I truly feel: He creates sculptures of the soul. He is beyond performing. He is about being. He helps us understand a little bit better what we really are.

Sculptures of the soul.
Bardem's thoughts seem to be everyone's. That Day-Lewis is something special. Something beyond performance. I think that's why his role in There Will Be Blood was so polarizing. It was too close to home for all of us. It showed too much of the human soul. Too much of what is under the surface.

For us, it makes us nervous.
For artists, he's the best.
The truest.