He wasn't glamorous, he wasn't sexy, he was just a very fine actor, respected by the directors he worked for, profoundly admired by his peers.
Philip Seymour Hoffman had an untimely death to a damned drug addiction, but his magnificent legacy, despite a relatively short career, is here to stay.
I discovered his real talent rather late, despite having seen him perform in numerous short roles as an immaculate supporting actor. It wasn't until I saw him in 2008 movie "Doubt" in his compelling, awesome role as Irish-American priest Brendan Flynn (alongside screen legend Meryl Streep) that I fell head over heels in love with his commanding gesture and his captivating voice.
The last time I had the chance to watch him in a movie theatre was in "A Late Quartet" in the role of Robert Gelbart, the second violinist who is unsatisfied with the secondary role he plays within the quartet.
Yesterday "Dias the Cine", the entertaining film news programme on RTVE, dedicated 9 minutes to his life as an actor by making a quick review of his most memorable roles and scenes (in English with Spanish subtitles, thank God!), along a career that spanned for almost 13 years.
Last week Luis had suggested posting an entry on our blog on which we could discuss which is Philip's best film / performance. I wasn't too sure that was feasible, but I changed my mind after watching Dias de Cine. So I'd like to talk those of you guys who may, one way or another, have admired Hoffman's prolific work into choosing his roles / scenes you like best and what a better way than by embedding my own choice here.
Personally, after giving it some thought, I have to go for this amazing tour de force in "Doubt" between the always great Meryl Streep, playing the domineering school principal of a strict Catholic school, who believes the jovial, open-minded priest performed by Hoffman has molested one of the students. Sheer acting at its best!
So come on folks, send me your comments and fave scenes and I'll insert them on this post. I guess you can find them yourselves rather easily on YouTube (try this link), like I did myself. If you can't, just tell me and I'll do it for you.
Sara Collantes:
I'm perfectly aware that this isn't Mr. Seymour Hoffman's best performance but I simply love this film!! The Cohen brothers always create a great variety of colourful characters in their films.
In this case, one of these characters is Brandt, the personal assistant of Mr. Lebowski, played by our beloved, deceased actor. Thanks to this kind of roles he turned into a luxury supporting actor. Philip Seymour Hoffmann always disappeared into his characters, and it isn't easy to find an actor who can give life to a character without remembering others he'd played before.
In this case, one of these characters is Brandt, the personal assistant of Mr. Lebowski, played by our beloved, deceased actor. Thanks to this kind of roles he turned into a luxury supporting actor. Philip Seymour Hoffmann always disappeared into his characters, and it isn't easy to find an actor who can give life to a character without remembering others he'd played before.
Luis Sanchez:
I'm glad you changed your mind, José Luis!
In fact, I have already written about Philip in my post about the film '25th Hour', but he deserves more attention than that. So, as I promised you, my selected scene from him comes from a very good movie, which is actually a great adaptation of one of Patricia Highsmith's novels, 'The talented Mr. Ripley', with Matt Damon, Gwyneth Paltrow, Jude Law and our dear Philip Seymour.
In my fave scene, he has a tense 'face to face' with Damon ...
And I'm sure the rest of you guys have seen many of his movies, so come on and send in your comments and scenes ;)
Maite Garcia:
I love this movie because of the way it is shot: an evasive , fragmentary story full of feedbacks and flashbacks. Undoubtedly, director Sidney Lumet’s ability to achieve such an energetic film at the age of eighty has to be recognized. Nevertheless, Ethan Hawke and Hoffman are the key to the narration, as they maintain a continuous dynamic: the aggressive, strong man against the passive, weak one; their superb performances are the highlight of the story, as you can see in the scene below:
It is a really hard moral thriller, so you feel completely devastated at the end of it. However, it is a highly recommendable movie, which I hope you will watch and enjoy it.
