An intimate character-study, Actress follows Brandy Burre, best known for her recurring character on The Wire, Theresa D’Agostino, as she tries to return to the profession after a seven year absence. She gave up acting to raise two children with her partner in small-town New York state, and the film explores the fragility of her latest performance – that of a stay-at-home mum – and how by trying to fulfil a role she has never been convinced of, she has now contributed to the crumbling of her identity, as well as her family.
Actress takes on an unusual style as a documentary, with a number of set pieces that have obviously been staged in collaboration between subject and filmmaker; her standing over a sink in a red dress, or slow motion long shots of her performing her body to camera. When we become more aware of the slow dissolution of her relationship with her partner, it’s therefore hard to figure out how to watch her crying to camera, talking to us about what has happened. Has this been rehearsed? Are these real tears? As a viewer you don’t know, but more disturbing is the fact that you think Burre may not know either.
All of this isn’t to put Burre in a bad light. It’s fascinating being present at a flashpoint in a woman’s life, when she openly admits that she and her partner have been playing the roles that they felt obliged to play – he the breadwinner, she the caregiver – without either ever being convince by them. The fact that their desires, their focus, and their personalities directly contravene these roles has been ignored for too long, and that breaking out brings necessary turmoil.
Despite the artistic turn of the filmmaker, it’s the substance that’s of the most interest in this documentary, being present at the moment when people realise they’re unhappy and want to do something about it. Quiet and demonstrative rather than cathartic and bombastic, this subdued and measured film reminds us of the ways we try to kid ourselves.
BY SAM WILSON
