Michelle Pfeiffer: White Gold at the 2018 Tribeca Film Festival

On April 19, Michelle Pfeiffer joined Al Pacino, director Brian De Palma, and a few others at the Tribeca Film Festival for the thirty-fifth anniversary screening of Scarface, followed by an incredibly awkward question and answer session.

The Q&A's moderator, Jesse Kornbluth, asked Pfeiffer a stunningly stupid and disturbingly sexist question. There, on stage, sat the world's most fabulous actress, a true artist who's crafted an extraordinary career, ostensibly ready to discuss her breakout role as Elvira Hancock in the seminal 1983 film. I mean, this is Elvira Hancock we're talking about! White Gold! Did he ask her about her method, her preparation, or her ideas then and know about the role? No. Instead, he asked how much she weighed during filming.

Alright, I've already rambled more than I wanted to about that and I can feel my blood boiling. Thankfully, this is Michelle Pfeiffer we're talking about. In true, White Gold Queen style, she gracefully deflected with a deadpan answer that barely masked her contempt for the question.

It's unbelievable to me that Scarface is turning thirty-five. I've written about Pfeiffer's performance before, here and here. It's likely the first time I saw Pfeiffer in a film, or at least tied with Witches of Eastwick for that honor. To say it made an enormous impact on me would be the understatement of the century. Elvira was the moment Pfeiffer broke through, when critics and audiences were so startled by the ferocity of her performance that they had no choice but to sit up and take notice. In the thirty-five years since, she's done nothing to break that trust in her fans, racking up one stellar performance after another. By all accounts, her latest, Where Is Kyra?, might well be her best performance yet. As you might imagine, I am positively quaking awaiting the film's wider release (it opened in New York this month), so I can plunk down in a theater and be mesmerized once more but an astonishing Michelle Pfeiffer performance.

And, in case you haven't heard, Michelle Pfeiffer turns sixty in just under a week, on April 29. I'm planning to watch nothing but her movies this week, to celebrate and honor her excellence.

Viva La Pfeiffer!

Comments

Paul SApril 25, 2018 at 12:50 PM
I wouldn't mind seeing Michelle and Al in another film together. As for Jesse Kornbluth, hang your head in shame!
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