Inception

Inception

Undoubtedly one of Cotillard’s most underrated screen-turns is her fabulous work in Christopher Nolan’s 2010 masterpiece Inception. She wholeheartedly deserved a Best Supporting Actress nomination, like he a Director nod, but let’s leave that can of worms closed before people start getting upset again…her performance as Mal; the psychologically damaged and conflicted wife of protagonist Cobb (Leonardo DiCaprio) is equally mesmerizing as it is earth-shattering.

Locked away in his subconscious, she runs rings around his dream landscaping causing unfathomable problems for the team of dream thieves and architects who endeavourĀ to extract information from their subject’s mind. No matter how many times viewed, this is still an entrancing andĀ beguiling picture – a surging and intelligent blockbuster with breathless pace and impossible imagination, but like all of Nolan’s works, the body and soul of the picture is those who populate it.

Cotillard doesn’t just feature in her scenes, she dominates them; controls and manipulates them. Her involvement is perhaps the single most important entity for the lead character and his journey, yet her singular identity is as equally fleshed and essential too. A rare breed in studio filmmaking these days.