PERFORMANCE PERSPECTIVES

"Heart's in Atlantis"

STICKING TO THE CHANNEL

This film reminded me of that great Stanislavski quote which is listed amongst The Rehearsal Room's quotes of the day. Stanislavski wrote 'A certain pilot was asked how he could ever remember, over a long stretch, all the minute details of a coast with its turns, shallows and reefs. He replied: "I am not concerned with them; I stick to the channel."'

"Hearts in Atlantis" is a movie which sets a course and then purposefully sticks to it.

Slow Beginnings
If the story in this movie is a little slow to start then there are probably many contributing factors. Perhaps it is something to do with the transition from short story to screen adaptation or maybe it is related to some of the director's early choices but what remains clear is that everyone involved in these key positions in this film including the actors understand where the story is headed and steadfastly stick to the plan. There is no over indulgence in excesses to make up for any suspected deficiencies in the opening.

Neither writer, director nor actors feel enticed to go for any unnecessary embellishment to make up for any structural deficiencies - they simply all stick to the course. The consequence of this is that they all arrive very satisfactorily at their destination - the end of the story.

Everything in Moderation
ANTHONY HOPKINS, consummate performer that he is, provides the perfect illustration of this. He is playing a very moderate and likable character who is simply trapped by circumstance. And so he steadily makes a whole series of moderate performance decisions for his character. There is no sign of any impulse to provide that bit more and there is no sign of any commitment to uphold his image as an actor of distinction by delivering moments of performance brilliance - he just steadily and purposefully gets on with doing the job.

There is a sameness about Ted Brautigan (ANTHONY HOPKINS) from beginning to end of the movie. This is no surprise for this is the story of the events that happen to one person over a short period of time. It is not a story of transformation, growth or realization. It's a story about sharing and the transience of the life experience. So, nothing more is required of ANTHONY HOPKINS than he does the story itself does the rest.

In other circumstances actors can be seen trying to make up for perceived deficiencies by working harder or they have been seen to contrive a change in their approach to a character because they are bored by the repetition of what they are doing. The result is either self-indulgent material that sticks out like a sore thumb or the scenes in fact get dropped in the edit room because they fail to serve the story. ANTHONY HOPKINS makes no such mistakes. He defines the character and the character's needs and then "sticks to the channel" - he serves the story and moment and so can rest easy at the end of each day that the job has been well done.

A simple story, simply told by a clear and uncluttered performance. A good lesson for us all.

June 2002

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