Last King of Scotland and Notes on a Scandal

[Pstreet1 Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Pstreet1]

If you haven't seen both, do. Whitaker and Dame Judi are supurb.

Question regarding the oscars, though? Any opinions on whether doing an "imitative" role, such as this one, or Ray or Capote or Queen Elizabeth takes away from the actor's ability to create a person. In all these cases, there was a real person to, in essence, mimic. I've been going back and forth on what I think--thought I'd see if anyone else was considering it.

[Carol C Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Carol C]

I can't wait to see both films. Forest Whitaker is long overdue, and "Notes" is gonna be a double-wow for me as I love both Judi and Cate, oh yeah I also love Philip Glass who scored that film.

As for your thought process about art imitating life, I actually think it's harder to bring a real person to the screen. That takes real acting. Think: Robert Downey Jr as Chaplin, Jaime Fox as Ray Charles, Denzell W. as Malcolm X. Helen Mirren looks awesome in previews as "The Queen", another film I can't wait to see. And soon one of my fave actors Guy Pearce will play Andy Warhol, which I'm looking forward to!

It's fun watching great actors in these bio-pics, isn't it?

[Keitht Super Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close Keitht]

When watching a film about a real person, if you forget you are watching an actor then they have done the job well. To take on the persona of a person known to the audience must surely be more testing than assuming a fictional identity.

[Pstreet1 Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Pstreet1]

Well, then, Amin, Queen Elizabeth, and Capote have definitely allowed themselves to be filmed. All three performances are absolutely outstanding. I figure two Capote awards in two years won't fly, so it's Whitaker--with O'Toole as the long shot.

[vlariano Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close vlariano]

I've seen The Queen and Notes on a Scandal and thought the acting in both was superb. I too think that it would be harder to play a real person, and I did forget that it wasn't actually Elizabeth in the film. I haven't seen the Last King of Scotland yet, but want to before the awards.