"TESS" (1979) is a beautiful movie but Nastassja Kinski is terrible as the lead character

Submitted by Lili_Danube t3_zy3fkh in movies

Nastassja Kinski was clearly cast because of her beauty and as I watched TESS, it's undeniable the camera loves her, she's a vision to watch and you can see why men are transfixed by her BUT whenever Kinski speaks, I shudder. She's absolutely wooden and with little to no expression. Even when Tess gives up to life and becomes a bitter character, Kinski doesn't have the range to pull it off. The reason why the last 30 minutes work is because Peter Firth carries it as the focus is switched on to him.

It says a lot that KInski, as famous as she is for her beauty, never truly gave a memorable performance in her career. The closest she ever got to a good one was in PARIS TEXAS.

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TheEmpressIsIn t1_j23nakp wrote

yes, and imagine all the talented, hard working women who were passed over for roles she got because many men will choose objectifying a beautiful woman over all else.

recently watched Cat People 1982 and i feel so bad for her. it is clear Hollywood men were viewing her like a complete sex doll.

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Lili_Danube OP t1_j23skpq wrote

She was a bit better in that one but it's painfully obvious she was only seen as a sex object. In EXPOSED, Rudolf Nureyev uses her body as a cello.

But the worst movie she did was a creepy "love story" between her and Marcello Mastroianni, she did that movie when she was a minor and he was in his 50s.

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junglespycamp t1_j23vgvn wrote

To be fair this aligns very well (in a dark, sad way) with the story and message of Tess.

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Kimber80 t1_j23osen wrote

About Kinski- I was a teenager in the late 70s and early '80s and I never got the obsession in the media with Kinski. She didn't seem that attractive to me, I saw girls walking around my high school or mall each day who looked as good or better.

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