Duvall Be Dissin'

[modage]

Robert Duvall says Stanley Kubrick's films have "the worst performances I’ve ever seen in movies"

Robert Duvall has officially entered the august, aw-who-gives-a-fuck years of his life, judging by his recent roundtable interview with The Hollywood Reporter. Seated at a panel that also included James Franco, Ryan Gosling, Colin Firth, Mark Ruffalo, and Jesse Eisenberg, Duvall got a laugh out of Ruffalo and Eisenberg as he compared their shared director David Fincher’s strategy of shooting dozens of takes to that of Stanley Kubrick—which sounds like a compliment until Duvall clarifies that movies like A Clockwork Orange and The Shining boast “the worst performances I’ve ever seen in movies,” and he’s not just talking about Shelley Duvall. (No relation.) While Duvall admitted that they were “maybe great movies,” he said that he just doesn’t get why anyone, Fincher or Kubrick, are so hung up on multiple takes: “Why would anybody do that?…I don’t quite get that,” he said, before again calling the acting “terrible.” You can check out video of the entire interview here.

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/gallery/video-awards-watch-roundtable-actors-55637

[Gold Trumpet]

I'm glad he references the multiple take syndrome of what he is criticizing. If he had the same expectation of a Kubrick venture as any other filmmaker, he would be wrong, but he's rightly admitting that Kubrick is looking for something else by fostering a shooting style that disables a lot of an actor's function. When Kubrick would defend his shooting style, he would use R. Lee Ermey as someone who would only require a few takes when they were filming, but Ermey was already geared to the mechanical look and feel of a performance that Kubrick wanted. Kubrick reminds me of European filmmakers who were interested in mechanizing actors to act in certain ways. Jean Pierre Melville and Robert Bresson did this. It isn't conducive to getting the best performances, but Kubrick never wanted his films to be about actors and performances. They have to fill his world with requirements of his vision.

And I don't think anyone who is a Kubrick fan really needs to take great offense either. It's just two different worlds reflecting against each other.

[polkablues]

Precisely. Duvall is a naturalistic actor and Kubrick was a formalistic director. It's disappointing to see Robert Duvall dismissing a different sensibilty than his own as "terrible", but he's getting cranky in his old age, so I'll give him a pass.

[Gold Trumpet]

For me, Robert Duvall is the greatest living American actor so I'm less willing to throw him under a bus for one comment that can be explained.

[Reelist]

To me Nicholson is, I like to see his face more. Probably mostly at its most animated in The Shining. Duvall is great in bit parts ( Boo Radley, Carl's Dad in Sling Blade, Kilgore )

[Reelist]

The dude is still hatin'. I read this in Billy Bob Thornton's Memoir 'A Cave Full of Ghosts'

In Duvall's words:

"So many directors will milk the crap out of a scene until there's nothing left. They continue to overlook what they are looking for, and after 40 or 50 takes it's a bit of a joke! Boys like Kubrick made outstanding movies, but often had one or two performances that pretty much sucked! Too many takes. "


He's just bitter that Kube's never immortalized his image on celluloid.

[Pubrick]

duvall is a great actor, one of the best there ever was, but between his repeated assaults on kubrick and his continued support of mitt romney he really is the worst judge of character.

he probably thinks kub chose the wrong duvall to play wendy.

[The Ultimate Badass]

I love Duval, but he's just wrong here. Kubrick coaxed some of the most iconic acting performances in history from his actors: Nicholson in the Shining; Malcolm McDowell in A Clockwork Orange; Sellers, Scott, et al. in Dr. Strangelove. They may not be naturalistic but they're virtuoso performances nonetheless. I don't know how anyone can call these terrible with a straight face.

 One of my favorite Duval performances was Apocalypse Now, and that was as over-the-top as anything in any Kubrick movie.

[Jeremy Blackman]

I'm not sure I agree with Duvall being one of the greatest actors of all time. Maybe I haven't seen enough of his films.

I mean, in Godfather and Apocalypse Now for example, he was good or even really good, but certainly not earth-shatteringly great or anything.

[HeywoodRFloyd]

I'm not sure I agree with Duvall being one of the greatest actors of all time. Maybe I haven't seen enough of his films.

I mean, in Godfather and Apocalypse Now for example, he was good or even really good, but certainly not earth-shatteringly great or anything.

I think his performance in Apocalypse Now is earth shattering. One of the reasons why the film is so iconic, even though he has a brief role.
Also I think he plays Tom Hagen with such dignity "Why do you hurt me, Michael? I've always been loyal to you."

[Alexandro]

I'm not sure I agree with Duvall being one of the greatest actors of all time. Maybe I haven't seen enough of his films.

I mean, in Godfather and Apocalypse Now for example, he was good or even really good, but certainly not earth-shatteringly great or anything.

Yeah, those are two polar opposite examples of how awesome he can be. Really, Tom Hagen is almost a masterclass in how to play in contrast to many other actors in the same couple of films going the exact opposite route. And then his "interesting" performance in Apocalypse...it's amazing. But of course, Network, Tender Mercies, The Apostle (probably his best), the list is long. The guy didn't like Kubrick. Big deal. Can we stop acting like cult members who HAVE to take down everyone who is not in love with the filmmakers we admire?

[Reelist]

Can we stop acting like cult members who HAVE to take down everyone who is not in love with the filmmakers we admire?

NEVVVVERRRRRRRRRR!!!!!

[socketlevel]

I'm not sure I agree with Duvall being one of the greatest actors of all time. Maybe I haven't seen enough of his films.

I mean, in Godfather and Apocalypse Now for example, he was good or even really good, but certainly not earth-shatteringly great or anything.

I think his performance in Apocalypse Now is earth shattering. One of the reasons why the film is so iconic, even though he has a brief role.
Also I think he plays Tom Hagen with such dignity "Why do you hurt me, Michael? I've always been loyal to you."

don't forget network... please... for the love of god.  even if he's just screaming his head off in every scene, it's some of the best screaming on celluloid.

[Jeremy Blackman]

I haven't seen The Apostle, but I have seen Network. He honestly has not really stood out for me in any role except Apocalypse Now, and that was impressive but didn't blow my mind or anything. I swear I'm not being a cultist here... it's just that from what I've seen, it never would have occurred to me to call him one of the greatest actors.