So yesterday was the Al Pacino day.
Tastes are subjective, for some the best actor is Daniel Day-Lewis, for others Dustin Hoffman and possibly even someone like Matt Damon. And you can't say anything, after all it's a matter of taste. Everything is acceptable.
There are no objective and absolute opinions in them. And yes ok there is the famous Nicholson article that says we in Hollywood don't discuss who is the best actor ever because we all know it's Marlon. And he might be right. Without Marlon we wouldn't have the generation of great actors that emerged in the early 70s. There is no actor more influential than Marlon, let's be honest.
You also can't say anything to someone who tells you that Daniel Day-Lewis is the best we've seen in the last 30 years. His every performance is a lesson in acting.
I can't claim that Al Pacino is per se the greatest actor of all time. It's definitely my favorite though.
"People will never forget how you made them feel." I saw The Godfather at 15 one day in August and while all my friends was justifiably amused by Marlon, I was shocked by Al and his transformation during the film.
I couldn't believe that an actor could do something like that. When I also saw The Godfather II, I decided that he will forever be my actor. How he became more and more immersed in his character in the second film is still in awe of me and I think this is the best performance I have ever seen in my life.
I know most people remember Al for his long-winded speeches, outbursts, and kangaroo-squealing quips. For me, Al is subtle movements, like the one he gets in his head when he realizes in that club in Cuba that Fredo has betrayed him. A sharp gasp-cough in Godfather III when he yells at Andy Garcia "this is not what I wanted". An uncool woo ha at the table with his family in Scent of a Woman being spoiled by his nephew. The faces he made when Joe Pesci told the Irishman "you might be demonstrating a failure to show appreciation". HIS ENTIRE INTERPRETATION IN INSIDER.
Agreed, sorry for the rant but I'm always moved by people who succeed when no one believes them. People who feel out of place in the way that Al was more comfortable in theater and Shakespeare than on the big screen, but still work furiously at their craft.
Al to me you are the best that ever existed, the best that exists and will exist in the future, because no one moves me the way that the honesty of your performances moves me.
All image taken from here
My favourite Al Pacino movies
The Godfather Part II
The Godfather Part I
Scarface
Scent of woman
Carlitos way
The insider
Serpico
Donnie Brasco
Godfather Part III
Dog day afternoon
What’s yours ?