Clive Owen Through The Years

02 September 2010

0Comments | Comment on this Article

Clive Owen is one of the best British actors who has enjoyed success here in American as well as on the stage in recent years. On 13th September Bent is released on DVD and to celabrate we are taking a look back over Owen's varied career.

Close My Eyes: In 1991, Clive won himself critical acclaim for his performance in his first film, following success in television and on the stage.  Playing opposite Alan Rickman’s  Sinclair, Clive took on the role of Richard: estranged brother of Sinclair’s new wife, Natalie.  

The two’s first passionate night together as they begin their incestuous affair, will be well remembered thanks to the raw passion expressed through those piercing eyes, though this role is perhaps most famous among Clive’s fans for the full frontal nudity which features during Richard’s promiscuous days, thus gaining him attention for his well-honed physique.

His acting abilities are also beautifully on display as Richard ranges from successful lothario to suicidal and obsessed with his own sister, all of which Clive handles deftly in his stride.

Bent: Adapted from the hugely controversial play of the same name by Martin Sherman, Bent sees Clive tackling the demanding role of Max, previously played by the likes of Sir Ian McKellen and Richard Gere on the stage. 

Max is a promiscuous young gay man in 1930s Berlin, who is forced to flee the city with his partner, Rudy, after SS troops discover the Sturmabteilung leader, Ernst Röhm in their apartment following a night of Max’s usual debauchery. 

Clive offers a memorable and moving performance as he battles with inner conflict over admitting his homosexuality to his Gestapo captors, helps murder Rudy to escape being further harmed himself, and struggles to come to terms with his new found love at Dachau in the form of fellow prisoner Horst.  

The moving climax of the film comes after Horst’s death, as Max, forced to bury his new friend, lover and confidant swaps his jacket with the deceased’s: finally wearing the infamous pink triangle with pride before taking his own life.  
      
Croupier: A year later and Clive found himself international fame thanks to his title role in this 1998 neo-noir.  Forced to make ends meet to fund his writing career, Jack Manfred takes a job as a croupier and begins to find his world slowly consumed more and more by the casino.  

He begins to see gambler Jani (Alex Kingston) outside of working hours: breaking a cardinal rule in his world. Jani soon proves the casino’s fear over out of hours relations with the punters, as she asks Jack to be the inside man for a planned heist at the casino.  

Meanwhile, Jack has begun using his experiences at the casino to write his novel ‘I, Croupier’ in which he forms his alter-ego Jake. The two personalities slowly begin to get more and more confused, with Jack allowing this new side of him to do more and more which he himself would not under normal circumstances.  This conflict of personalities again allowed Clive to flex his acting muscle.

I’ll Sleep When I’m Dead: Returning to work with director, Mike Hodges, the man behind Croupier, Clive adopts the role of Will, an ex-London gangster back to avenge the death of his brother, Davey (Jonathan Rhys-Meyers).

As Clive uncovers the truth behind his brother’s rape and suicide, Will is driven to take his first drink in three years, and despite his promises to crime boss Frank Turner of having no intention to return to his old life of crime, kills his brother’s attacker and thanks to his cohorts’ prank at Turner’s house has a hitman sent after him by Turner. 

The film ends ambiguously, with Will’s ex-girlfriend Helen (Charlotte Rampling) seen to be held hostage by the hitman and waiting for Will to arrive who had previously instructed her to pack a bag. 

0Comments | Be the first to comment!