I understand SWAF was adopted by the tribe after seeing her family killed, and had a tough upbringing...etc.
However, they had her display raw emotion in some bizarre "crazy woman" way, like the uncontrollable hollering when her husband croaked, like Wez in The Road Warrior. And the crazy smooching with Dunbar like she's going to inhale his face.
Yeah, completely agree - it is out of character for a female member of the tribe. If she was really brought up by them, wouldn't she behave more like them? I think Mary was just using the opportunity to big up her role..
I thought the movie was awesome though - one of the best films ever made.
I agree 100%, it is one of the best films ever. I just think her performance should have been reigned in a little. The scene that I feel could have made the movie just that more powerful was when DWW was finally reunited with SWAF after being rescued. Instead of attacking him and brutally inhaling his face with kisses, perhaps she could have grabbed him and held him, her face buried, perhaps crying with relief...maybe that would have had a much lasting effect.
shareI really thought Mary McDonnell was amazing as Stands with a Fist. I was completely in awe of her performance when I first saw it in the theater. When the credits rolled, I specifically looked for her name and could not believe I had never heard of her before (she had done 20 years of theater before it). To this day, I think it is one of the best performances by anyone in anything.
As to the loss she felt for her husband, remember she had seen her whole family massacred. It's an important part of the character's history and probably colors how she reacts to other losses.
Anyway, I thought she was absolutely amazing.
That was how a Native woman was expected to show grief. Anything less would have been seen as an insult to her husband's memory.
shareI don't think you really understood the movie at all, then, OP.
Swing away, Merrill....Merrill, swing away...share
yea the few complaints on this topic make absolutely no sense.
shareHow did I not understand the movie? I understood it just fine. I just couldn't understand why Stands With A Fist is meant to come off like a wild animal when showing love to Dunbar.
shareI just couldn't understand why Stands With A Fist is meant to come off like a wild animal when showing love to Dunbar
I wish they had taught her to comb her hair and braid it. It looked terrible, like, ALL the time!
Inhaling faces only exists in Hollywood. It's never how you say hello after a long time apart. It's assinine. Like passionate sex on stairs or dirty kitchen counters. But I wouldn't hang it on the actress, hang it on the director. The production team decides how that scene should be played and in Hollowood you show passion by inhaling faces and ripping off clothes.
share