Nicole Kidman: Five Films for Newcomers
Written by Andreas Babiolakis
Yesterday was Nicole Kidman’s birthday, and it’s never too late to honour her career. One of the few stars to have dominated pretty much every aspect of cinema (mainstream works and blockbusters, awards season darlings, independent works, and even some edgier arthouse films), it’s almost a guarantee that Kidman has starred in a film that would be of your liking. Typically, I use my Five Films for Newcomers segment to try and cover a whole array of a person’s career. Instead, I’m going specifically with my favourite kind of works that Kidman has starred in. Could I have brought up a family film like Paddington and a musical like Moulin Rouge!? Yes, but I’m choosing not to. As fine as she can be in those kinds of works, I really like her when she is pushing herself outside of her comfort zone, so allow me to bring up these kinds of examples. Here are five films for newcomers to the works of Nicole Kidman.
5. Eyes Wide Shut
Eyes Wide Shut is only this low, because Kidman isn’t quite the star of this film (and so it doesn’t show her capabilities nearly as much as the other four films do). However, it’s still a different side of Kidman: a minimalist-yet-emotional take on familial drama. I feel like every time that Kidman comes on screen, you’re always unsure of where you stand; this is proven especially true by the jarring final lines of the film (two words for the ages). Just when Kidman was rising in the ranks of Hollywood, there was a film like Eyes Wide Shut to catapult her into more audacious roles right away.
4. Rabbit Hole
Kidman has received a few Academy Award nominations, and one of the better nods was for the indie film Rabbit Hole. Kidman is given an entire picture to claim as her own, as she plays a grieving mother that cannot find the answers as to why her son had to be killed by a young driver. She presses her luck and dives a little too deeply for her own good, but Kidman makes this character an astonishing spectrum of agony, resilience, and forgiveness.
3. Dogville
One of the most extreme films Kidman has ever starred in is Dogville: a stripped down experimental masterpiece that takes place on a stage. We imagine an entire town, outside of its people and some occasional props. Given the incredibly heavy subject matter, Dogville takes crises that are already bad and makes them even more challenging, with zero walls to block our vision, and seeing the proximity of unexpected civilians and the crimes that happen right around the corner. Kidman takes every threshold with extreme poise and professionalism.
2. Destroyer
Destroyer is arguably Kidman at her furthest outside of her own element. As a tortured cop, Kidman is as gruff, stern, and jaded as she has ever been on film, but every single second of hers is unforgettable. Seeing such a classically graceful actress be so against type is a risk worth seeing already, but knowing that Kidman has rarely been better (which is also saying a lot) means it must be seen at least once; the rest of the film is decent, but it’s Kidman’s show through and through.
1. The Hours
It’s rare for the Academy Awards to honour a performer at their actual highest, but they may have done just that by honouring Nicole Kidman the Best Actress win for The Hours. I know makeup plays a little bit of the part here, but it’s uncommon to see Kidman this unrecognizable in a role. As author Virginia Woolf, Kidman carries the weight of a generational film on her shoulders. Her presence has to resonate loudly enough to justify the effect she has for many decades. Kidman does just that, as she replicates the many facets of Woolf’s complicated life with the utmost of her abilities, resulting in what may just be her finest role to date.
Andreas Babiolakis has a Masters degree in Film and Photography Preservation and Collections Management from Ryerson University, as well as a Bachelors degree in Cinema Studies from York University. His favourite times of year are the Criterion Collection flash sales and the annual Toronto International Film Festival.