This volume presents detailed interpretations of singular performances by several of the most compelling actors in cinema history, asking in many different and complementary ways what makes performance meaningful, how it reflects a director's style, as well as how it contributes to the development of national cinemas and cultures. Whether noting the precise ways actors shape film narrative, achieve emotional effect, or move toward political subversion, the essays in these books innovate new approaches to studying screen performance as an art form and cultural force.

Table of Contents

• Acknowledgments
• Close-up: great international performances Kyle Stevens and Murray Pomerance
• 1 Victor Sjöström in Wild Strawberries - Homer B. Pettey
• 2 Emil Jannings in The Blue Angel - Jerry Mosher
• 3 Charles Laughton in Hobson's Choice - Marcia Landy
• 4 Nikolai Cherkasov in Ivan the Terrible - Karla Oeler
• 5 Peter Lorre in M - Janet Bergstrom
• 6 Anna Magnani in The Golden Coach - Sergio Rigolett
• 7 Alec Guinness in Last Holiday - R. Barton Palmer
• 8 Ingrid Bergman in Stromboli - Victoria Duckett
• 9 Toshirô Mifune in Throne of Blood - Douglas McFarland
• 10 Setsuko Hara in Tokyo Story - David Desser
• 11 Marcello Mastroianni in 8½ - Adrienne L.McLean
• 12 Jeanne Moreau in The Bride Wore Black - Adrian Danks
• 13 Michel Serrault in La cage aux folles - Kyle Stevens
• 14 Madhubala in Mughal-e-Azam - Corey K. Creekmur
• 15 Michael Caine in Alfie - Jason Jacobs
• 16 Amitabh Bachchan in Deewaar - Ulka Anjaria
• 17 Catherine Deneuve in The Umbrellas of Cherbourg - Alexia Kannas
• 18 Jean-Pierre Léaud in Stolen Kisses - Aaron Taylor
• 19 Isabelle Huppert in The Piano Teacher - Alison Taylor
• 20 Emma Thompson in The Remains of the Day - Timotheus Vermeulen
• 21 Tilda Swinton in I Am Love - Murray Pomerance
• 22 Denis Lavant in Holy Motors - Nick Davis
• 23 Choi Min-sik in Oldboy - Hye Seung Chung and David Scott Diffrient
• 24 Maggie Cheung in In the Mood for Love - 2 Gina Marchetti
• 25 Omotola Jalade-Ekeinde in Mortal Inheritance - Noah Tsika
• 26 Gael García Bernal in The Motorcycle Diaries - Dolores Tierney
• The cast
• The contributors