Jamie passion and passionfruit!

Nominees:

Nathalie Baye (Le petit lieutenant)

Annette Bening (Running with Scissors)

Marion Cotillard (La Môme)

Judi Dench (Notes on a Scandal)

Inés Efron (XXY)

Annamaria Marinca (4 months, 3 weeks, 2 days)

Helen Mirren (The Queen)

Sarah Polley (The Secret Life of Words)

Carice van Houten (Zwartboek/Black Book)

A sterling list of nominees this year, even the also rans gave us great work.

Special Mentions to:

Annette Bening (Running with Scissors)

Crazy and funny this is another superb performance by Bening as the influenced and ambitious mother finding herself and losing her family.

Judi Dench (Notes on a Scandal)

A tour de force as the scheming and lonely school teacher who heads for Sheba, her prey as the winsome art teacher.  The subtleties of the performance and the timing of the delivery are superb.

Annamaria Marinca (4 months, 3 weeks, 2 days)

For a young actress, the depth of her portrayal is truly magnificent in a harrowing story as the friend who helps to get an abortion.

Equal Winners:

Marion Cotillard (La Môme)

Helen Mirren (The Queen)

Real people strike again and there can be little forgetting Helen Mirren’s meticulous construction of her version of the Queen.  It is subtle, detailed and not the easiest portrayal.  Meanwhile, Cotillard is just amazing in the way she defies her physical stature to present us with an Edith Piaf  which is credible in her fascination and repulsiveness.