The Debt

The Debt

Helen Mirren is one of the greatest actresses that this country has produced - enjoying a career that has spanned over forty years.

This week she is back on the big screen in The Debt, which is directed by John Madden and also stars Sam Worthington & Tom Wilkinson.

So to celebrate the release of the movie we take a look at some of the actresses best performances.

The Queen

When looking at her finest work you can start nowhere else than with The Queen, the greats big screen performance of her career.

Directed by Stephen Frears the movie saw Mirren take on the role of Queen Elizabeth II in the aftermath of the death of Princess Diana.

The Queen was a success on all levels; it was a compelling character driven piece as well as having a strong and yet clever script.

Mirren was simply superb as Elizabeth II and she was the toast of the awards season - going on to pick up a Best Actress Oscar.

The Madness of King George

The Madness of King George was a big screen adaptation of the play by Alan Bennett and was directed by Nicholas Hyter.

The movie saw Mirren take on the role of Queen Charlotte during the period where George III's mental health started to deteriorate.

The movie was a critical and award hit as both the performance from Mirren and Nigel Hawthorne as George were acclaimed.

Mirren went on to win Best Actress at the Cannes Film Festival as well as picking up a Best Supporting Actress nod at the Oscars.

Gosford Park

Gosford Park is one of the greatest ensemble pieces of recent years as Mirren was joined by the likes of Eileen Atkins, Michael Gambon, Maggie Smith, Kristen Scott Thomas and Clive Owen in the Robert Altman directed piece.

Gosford Park was a multiple storylined drama set in 1932, showing the lives of upstairs guest and downstairs servants at a party in a country house in England.

Mirren took on the role of housekeeper, Mrs. Wilson, who had a troubled relationship with her sister, played by Atkins.

This movie remains one of the best period pieces to have graced the big screen with superb performances from all of the cast.

The movie was nominated for six Oscars, including a Best Supporting Actress nod for Mirren, but she lost out to Jennifer Connelly for A Beautiful Mind.

The Long Good Friday

Mirren took on the gangster movie in 1980 as she teamed up with Bob Hoskins for The Long Good Friday - which is still regarded as one of the finest movies in this genre.

The Long Good Friday was a gritty movie that launched the career of Bob Hoskins. He starred as an East End gangland boss who’s plans to rejuvenate the docklands comes under threat.

London was laid bare for the very first time packing the film with grim realism as well as creating a portrait of a very cruel man.

Prime Suspect

But no look over Mirren's career go not mention Prime Suspect and the central role as Jane Tennison  - a role that she is still very much known for.

She starred in seven series of the hit show through the nineties and into the noughties and went on to win Emmy Awards, Golden Globe Awards and BAFTA Awards during it's time.

Mirren brought the curtain down on Tennison in 2006 with Prime Suspect: The Final Act

The Debt

This week she tackles the political thriller with The Debt, which is a remake of the 2007 Israeli film of the same name by Assaf Bernstein.

In 1965, three young Israeli Mossad agents on a secret mission capture and kill a notorious Nazi war criminal.

Now, thirty years later, a man claiming to be the Nazi has surfaced in the Ukraine and one of the former agents must go back undercover to seek out the truth.

The Debt is released 30th September.

FemaleFirst Helen Earnshaw


 


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