A page on young Anna Paquin
At
the age of eighteen she is already an outstanding actress. While
playing little Flora in "The Piano", which brought her
the Oscar later, she was just nine. Having seen with which
expression and at the same time natural intelligence she managed
to play that part convinced me at the first glance.
"Fly away home", in which she was given the main part, is one of the best movies I've seen for years, if not at all - not only because of Anna Paquin starring in the main role but because of the beautiful ultralight flight pictures and the wonderful music, too.
An excellent source for further information about her is The unofficial Anna Paquin Home Page run by Lee Young-Soo. This site is full of information on all of her movies, pictures, trailers, journal articles, shopping links, news... and besides it's done in a tasteful style quite rarely to be found on the Web. For Anna's more recent work you may watch Anna Paquin fan. Moreover, a host of recent material on Anna Paquin can be found on Anna Paquin Online.
There is also a FAQ about Anna Paquin written by Christine Evans in such a nice way that I couldn't resist making a German version years ago, which you find here. I know, both are way outdated, but I still like to keep them.
Well, I'm not a movie critic, so these are a few of my personal impressions on Anna's movies... just to make you curious. For more information and links to virtually unlimited stuff on the net click the titles being linked to the IMDB entries. Anna's main entry in the database can be found here
1.
The Piano
Ada McGrath, a mute young women (Holly Hunter) from Scotland
is married to a man from New Zealand she's never seen before.
When she arrives with her illegitimate daughter (Anna Paquin) in
New Zealand she finds that her husband Stewart (Sam Neill) does
not show much understanding for her. Most of all, he does not
realize that the piano which she brought with her is more than
just an instrument - it's the substitute for her lost voice.
While there emerges a growing gap between Ada and her husband,
their neighbor Baines (Harvey Keitel) realizes what the piano
means to her. He buys the piano and gives her the possibility to
play it. With time there emerges a complex sexual relation
between Ada, Baines and Stewart which unavoidably must result in
a catastrophe.
Unexpectedly even for the director Jane Campion this movie became a bestseller and won three Oscars (which went to Holly, Anna, and Jane, who, in my opinion, all deserved it). The movie is not simple, partly psychologically complex, and not without violence - but I would rank it a masterpiece
2.
Jane Eyre
This is loosely based on the classic novel by Charlotte
Bronte. Jane Eyre (Anna Paquin as young Jane Eyre), a young
orphan, grows up at her aunt, who does not love her. Jane is
given to an orphan asylum where her life is being dictated by
rigid rules. One of her hardest experiences is to see her best
friend Helen (Leanne Rowe, excellent as well in that little part)
die. After living there for eight years as a pupil and two more
as a teacher adult Jane Eyre (now played by Charlotte Gainsbourg)
gets a position as a private teacher. This is the first time she
is not mistreated but taken on an equal basis. In addition, Mr.
Rochester (William Hurt), the master of the house, seems to
develop some interest in her. However, most time he is not at
home, and there seems to be a secret about him and the house.
Occasionally strange things happen and from time to time Jane
hears some foolish laughing...
This novel has been adapted for film several times. While critics had different opinions on this 1996 version I like the whole movie very much (to be honest, without having seen the other versions). Only drawback is that Anna is only acting during the first half of an hour, but this part is simply outstanding.
3.
Fly away home (Amy und die Wildgänse)
Amy's (Anna Paquin) mother dies in a car crash in New Zealand.
Her father (Jeff Daniels) takes her to his home in Canada. There
she finds some geese eggs and takes them home. Finally they
hatch, but as the parents of these geese went away because of
some building measures, Amy is their only mother. She gives them
food and treats them well, but in fall they have to migrate and
someone has to show them the way South. After some discussion her
father has an idea: He has some experience flying home-made sail
planes. Perhaps an ultralight plane might serve well for guiding
them on their way. However, the geese do not follow him but Amy,
thus obviously she has to get another plane and learn to fly...
I really love this movie, too, and can't count how often I've seen it. The director, Carroll Ballard, should be thanked for this poetic and touching film. There are these beautiful flight pictures, a wonderful music by Mark Isham (unfortunately never released on CD!) and, yes, this is a main role where Anna can show all her talents - and she really does. (Somewhere I've read she steals the show even from her adult colleagues, which might be true.)
4.
The Member of the Wedding
This movie is somewhat different from Anna's previous
projects. It was made for the US cable network and supposedly
there will be no chance to see it, for instance, in German
theaters or TV. Again, it is based on a classic novel, this time
by Carson McCullers. The plot centers around Frankie (Anna
Paquin), a twelve year old girl growing up without a mother and
with her father not being able to comprehend too much of her
problems. The only person trying to understand her is the colored
cook Bernice Sadie Brown (Alfre Woodard). While Frankie does not
really know what she wants and expects for her life, she
definitely knows what she does not want: To stay in that kitchen
in that small town with that boring life. Thus, as her brother
marries, it is her final decision to go with him and his wife to
find a better life. Unfortunately, the two newly-married do not
find it a good idea to take Frankie with them...
Although the story seems quite simple, it is
actually psychologically complex. I have read
the novel twice and seen the video numerous times, and I really
like it. In any case, the whole movie is centered around Frankie,
and Anna manages to make her totally believable and a wonderful
and lovable character.
5.
Amistad
Anna Paquin had a cameo in Spielberg's slave epos
"Amistad" as Queen Isabella II of Spain. The movie
describes the events following a mutiny on the slave ship
"Amistad" on its way to the US in 1839. While the movie
starts with the mutiny itself most of it is centered around the
lawsuit following it. Although largely forgotten even in the
States (at least until this movie), this mutiny and the events
following it finally led to the Civil war and marked the
beginning of the end of slavery in the USA.
Isabella II of Spain - being just 12 years
old! - represented by Anna Paquin claims the slaves being her
property which she wants to be given back. The part itself only
consists of three tiny (only a few seconds long) but important
snapshots. While this movie, in my mind, does not have quite the
quality of those named above Anna Paquin does very well in these
episodes - as always.
Recall that exceptional year 1969? The first
man walking on the moon, Vietnam war, and the Woodstock Festival?
This movie
is set in the Catskills, close to the place of that festival, and
in just that year. It talks about a young Jewish woman, Pearl
Kantrowitz (Diane Lane), who after getting a child at the age of
seventeen is caught in a circle of loveless marriage, boring
normality, and hopelessness. Each summer the same garden colony,
the same neighbors, same salesmen... However, during that summer
1969, there's all different. Around Woodstock festival a new
salesman, "The blouse man" (Viggo Mortensen), happens
to enter the colony, being able to show her that life should not
yet have been over. Her own newly found feelings are paralleled
by that of her daughter Alison (Anna Paquin) making her own first
experience with love.
While a Walk on the Moon was shot in summer 1997, it only appeared in US theaters in late 1999 and never made it to Germany. The English DVD is available over Amazon.com, though, where I got mine from.
While in certain places you feel the movie was on low budget (onle a few glances of Woodstock festival, moreover not shot in the Catskills) I overall like it. Notably this is again an excellent performance of Anna Paquin. Just the scene where she announces to her mother her first date is plainly unresistable.
Also in 1997, Anna spoke a part in the
English dubbed version of a Japanese animation movie called
"Castle in the Sky",
to be 
distributed
by Disney. This one (original title: Laputa) belongs
to a series of English re-dubbed originally Japanese movies by
acclaimed Japanese animation director Hayo Miyazaki. Until
now, the film was only shown once on a children's film festival
in New York in February 2000, as Disney seems to have a very
special distribution policy on these films.
This is kind of a fairy tale on Sheeta, a girl, which used to live in a flying castle, falling from heaven. The music as well as the pictures are to be stunning.
This is available on DVD in Germany now, however, the German version does not include the English soundtrack and thus Anna's. So, if you want to hear this, you should prefer the US DVD.
Credits: While most of the scans are my own,
I'd like to thank Lee Young-Soo for permitting me to take one
from her site. Please send me an eMail (
) in case you think there's any copyright violation.
Online since 1997
Last update: 25/10/2008