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Opal. Geraldine Chaplin. My Favorite Character

posted 13 years ago by dizexpat
15 replies | jump to latest

With a cast this big selecting a favorite character isn't easy but I have to go for Geraldine Chaplin's caricature of a pompous, self-important BBC reporter who is considerably less profound than she thinks she is.

At the beginning she tells us that she's just finished a documentary on Kenya and is now doing one on Nashville. From one group of wild savages to another.

She has wonderful moments. Asking the soldier: "Have you been to Vietnam?...Yes, I can see it in your face."

Telling the chauffeur "I make it a point never to gossip with servants."

And her rambling, incoherent comments about garbage heaps and yellow school buses.

A great character!

"Mice work in mysterious ways."
"No, dear. That's God."

[–] Hairy_Lime 13 years ago

One of the most obtuse nitwits in the history of movies. Her last appearance sums her up: clueless. "What happened? Can someone tell me what happened?"

I ask you, Velvel, as a rational man: which of us is possessed?

[–] dizexpat 13 years ago

Another great moment:

When she sees Lily Tomlin as the only white singer in a black Gospel Group she asks: "Is she a missionary?"

"Mice work in mysterious ways."
"No, dear. That's God."

[–] information_police 11 years ago

Oh yes, the fact that she spends the movie making insipid comments about the mundane and then completely misses what would have been the biggest story of her career is just classic!

Nobody's looking for a puppeteer in today's wintry economic climate.

[–] molypocho 13 years ago

I really despised her character. It brings to mind one of the most interesting aspects of the film: how it plays against my prejudices. I naturally lean towards the left in politics, and do not care much for country music, which I often find watered down. I suspect Altman holds similar views, and so the film is a deconstruction of himself in which he targets his own prejudices and then works to defend those people he feels naturally antagonistic towards. Of course he did not write the script, and so I cannot be sure how much of the film is his own. I will need to see more by him.

But for me, this deconstruction of character is why the film is so great. At first I thought I would like the reporter, because I lean left and am disposed to liking British accents, but she turned out to be a total piece of *beep* And I don't like country music, and so I did not really care about the female country singer star, but as the film went on I wanted to protect her. She seemed so vulnerable and prone to falling apart. Poor little baby! And as for her husband, I felt his frustration with the fans and the politics. Meanwhile, I enjoyed disliking the male country star who opens the film. His erect short stature and showman performance felt insincere, but suddenly, when he displays such perseverance at the end of the film, I understood his pride and admired him. Once again, pretty amazing stuff.

[–] MsELLERYqueen2 13 years ago

I still haven't figured out which is my favorite character. Once I've seen this movie several times, I will probably have a fave picked out. It'll probably be one of the men.

-----

Ellery Queen(Jim Hutton) = HOT SEXY ADORABLE ATTRACTIVE CUTE

[–] 13 years ago

[deleted]

[–] davidfcochrane 12 years ago

Absolutely! Just about everything she said was ludicrous and funny. My favorite part of the whole movie is her remark about knowing Tom "in the Biblical sense" - the embarrassed giggle she makes while she says it is priceless.

[–] franzkabuki 12 years ago

Can´t stand the actress, but here her naturally annoying persona was indeed turned into something very funny.

"facts are stupid things" - Ronald Reagan

[–] Loomis_Orange 12 years ago

Have you seen her in "Remember My Name?" She plays a "rough trade" ex-con who takes the rap in jail for a crime her husband commited. When she gets out she hunts him down and destroys his new life. She's wonderful.

Accept Loss ~ Jack Kerouac

[–] MsELLERYqueen2 12 years ago

I'm rewatching this movie now. I'll be on the lookout for her.

~~
Jim Hutton: talented gorgeous hot hunk; adorable as ElleryQueen; SEXIEST ACTOR EVER

[–] shantytown1212 12 years ago

What did you think? (Six months later . . .)

Obviously she represents the OUTSIDER who is fascinated with Nashville and has absolutely no understanding of it.

Notice that Haven - perhaps the biggest Nashville INSIDER - always reacts to her with hostility.

[–] MsELLERYqueen2 12 years ago

I've tried to rewatch Nashville a couple of times, and somehow, after the first viewing, it didn't make much of an impression on me. Maybe it's one that I need to wait a few years before seeing it again.

~~
Jim Hutton: talented gorgeous hot hunk; adorable as ElleryQueen; SEXIEST ACTOR EVER

[–] Lt_Zogg 11 years ago

All my friends who were journalism majors liked her too.

[–] denham 9 years ago

Opal is amusing (and annoying). The character as performed is also not very believable, whereas the other characters are perfectly believable (Norman the chauffeur is perhaps borderline). So it does not very well fit into the film. It brings to mind the similarly incongruous (and, I would say, misjudged) performance of Stephen Fry bashing through the middle of the delicate Gosford Park, a film also directed by Altman. Curious choices.

Of course Opal is, or anyway used to be, a fruit.

I beseech ye in the bowels of Christ, think that ye may be mistaken.