I was saddened today to learn of the death of this great American actor; undervalued really. The first film which drew my attention to Hurt was "Kiss of the Spider Woman" (Hector Babenco, 1985); Hurt was sensational in his part as a prisoner in a third world jail with Leftist revolutionary, the great (late) Raul Julia. Hurt's character, a homosexual, spins fantasy stories as a way of freeing himself from his incarceration, gradually wearing down the resistance of his hardened, macho cellmate. It's a tour de force performance - from both actors, actually. The sensibility of the storyline reminded me of the great poem by Ted Hughes, "The Jaguar", which captures the kinetic energy of a caged tiger in a zoo:
He spins from the bars, but there’s no cage to him
More than to the visionary his cell:
His stride is wildernesses of freedom:
The world rolls under the long thrust of his heel,
Over the cage floor the horizons come.
Hurt's next film of note was "Children of a Lesser God" - (Randa Haines, 1986 ) - about the relationship between a deaf woman (Marlee Matlin) and a teacher (Hurt). It is essentially a monologue for Hurt since the central character can only sign and not speak. It's a stunning performance from both, actually, but Hurt's role is full of subtlety, compassion and repressed emotion - something he did extraordinarily well.
Finally, "Broadcast News", the following year, to round off three stunning film performances in quick succession. James L. Brooks wrote and directed this cinematic tour de force for Albert Brooks, Holly Hunter and William Hurt. It's a 'three-hander', with each of the actors at the top of their game. Some critics weren't sympathetic with the character played by Hurt - the charismatic, glib, successful and somewhat privileged news anchorman, Tom Grunick. But Brooks will never create one-dimensional characters and his Grunick isn't the flip dim-wit perceived by Jane Craig - the aspiring news producer who puts all her passion into her work and who has a relationship with Grunick - doomed to fail because he doesn't share her ideals of broadcasting. The three characters, in fact, have an interesting 'menage' going on. Brooks will never have Grunick as entirely self-serving; instead Hurt conveys the ambiguity of Grunick with great sympathy; he just doesn't share Jane's all-consuming passion for the news; for him it's a job of work. Finally, it's Jane who doesn't get it.
A wonderful actor for whom roles seemed to dry up into the 1990s. His father was a diplomat and Hurt lived in many countries, finally studying Theology and then into the Juilliard School for acting.
He spins from the bars, but there’s no cage to him
More than to the visionary his cell:
His stride is wildernesses of freedom:
The world rolls under the long thrust of his heel,
Over the cage floor the horizons come.
Hurt's next film of note was "Children of a Lesser God" - (Randa Haines, 1986 ) - about the relationship between a deaf woman (Marlee Matlin) and a teacher (Hurt). It is essentially a monologue for Hurt since the central character can only sign and not speak. It's a stunning performance from both, actually, but Hurt's role is full of subtlety, compassion and repressed emotion - something he did extraordinarily well.
Finally, "Broadcast News", the following year, to round off three stunning film performances in quick succession. James L. Brooks wrote and directed this cinematic tour de force for Albert Brooks, Holly Hunter and William Hurt. It's a 'three-hander', with each of the actors at the top of their game. Some critics weren't sympathetic with the character played by Hurt - the charismatic, glib, successful and somewhat privileged news anchorman, Tom Grunick. But Brooks will never create one-dimensional characters and his Grunick isn't the flip dim-wit perceived by Jane Craig - the aspiring news producer who puts all her passion into her work and who has a relationship with Grunick - doomed to fail because he doesn't share her ideals of broadcasting. The three characters, in fact, have an interesting 'menage' going on. Brooks will never have Grunick as entirely self-serving; instead Hurt conveys the ambiguity of Grunick with great sympathy; he just doesn't share Jane's all-consuming passion for the news; for him it's a job of work. Finally, it's Jane who doesn't get it.
A wonderful actor for whom roles seemed to dry up into the 1990s. His father was a diplomat and Hurt lived in many countries, finally studying Theology and then into the Juilliard School for acting.