Nicole Kidman Tribute (Santa Barbara Film Festival’s Cinema Vanguard Award, 2011)

Reviewed by My Eklund. Viewed at the Santa Barbara Film Festival 2011.

Nicole Kidman took on the well-deserved Cinema Vanguard Award in the Arlington Theatre at the Santa Barbara Film Festival on the 5^th of February, for her performance in Rabbit Hole. She started as a film actress in 1983 and has done many films since then, such as Days of Thunder, Far and Away, The Portray of a Lady, the Peacemaker, Eyes Wide Shut, Moulin Rouge, The Hours, Cold Mountain, the Interpreter, Bewitched etc. As you can see, the list can be made long.

With a noble and down to earth attitude Nicole Kidman took us on a journey through her film carrier and life, sitting down with Roger Durlin. With her exuberant energy and jokes it’s hard to not like her. She would sometimes burst out with a memorable laugh.

She takes on roles that are as down to earth and philosophical as possible. It has either put a track in her private experience or is something that she can relate to. She have explored obsession. She have explored loss and love of a sad context, she has been exploring the everyday aspects of marriage. She said for example that she could never have taken on such a heavy role as her character in Rabbit Hole, if she couldn’t identify with it, or more so if she didn’t have children by herself. It’s a film that requires people to think and to feel.

She says that when actresses are younger you are a bit more nonchalant to receive an award and to get caught up in the next work that is going to be done, but at 42 she is really blessed and happy to receive a Cinema Vanguard Award and to be Oscar-nominated for her performance in Rabbit Hole. It also shows how long she has been in the industry. She won best actress for her leading role in the Hours. This is the story of three women in three time periods, whose fate is driven and linked by the same desires, same fears and the same literary works. She was also nominated for an Oscar in Moulin Rouge. The film was totally nominated for eight Oscars and it won two: for art direction and costume design. Moulin Rouge is a 2001 musical film directed by Baz Luhrmann, based largely on the Giuseppe Verdi opera “La Traviata. “Tells the story of children British poet / writer, Christian, who falls in love with the star of the Moulin Rouge, cabaret actress and courtesan Satine, played by Nicole Kidman.

She is most known for her performances in movies, but by heart she tells us that she belongs in the theatre. Rabbit Hole was a play and she, as the producer worked so hard to make this incredible story into a film.

Last but not least she said; “If someone can live like my characters, then the least I can do is act them.”