The Greatest Screen Performances

Greatest Performance: Bruce Wayne/Batman - The Dark Knight Trilogy (2005; 2008; 2012, Christopher Nolan)

Performance Description: Christian Bale solves the conundrum of exactly how to display two (or three if you count the fake Bruce) conflicting personalities with understated brilliance. As Batman, he is truly astonishing: in a perpetual state of rage paired with a greater ideal of justice, he captures the inherent humanity, inner turmoil and darkness that drives him to be a force against anarchy and crime. As Bruce Wayne, he reveals a truer, three-dimensional version of the man behind the mask: unearthing the tortured heart and yearning for peace and love beneath an obsessive exterior there is no other portrayal that comes close; behind the iconic cowl, he eclipses being a cipher for the scene-stealing maniacal villains as in the Burton and Schumacher adaptations.

Honourable Mention(s): American Psycho, The Fighter

Greatest Performance: Hannibal Lecter - The Silence of the Lambs (1991, Jonathan Demme)

Honourable Mention(s): The Elephant Man

Greatest Performance: Blanche DuBois - A Streetcar Named Desire (1951, Elia Kazan)

Honourable Mention(s): Gone With the Wind

Greatest Performance: Margo Channing - All About Eve (1950, Joseph L Mankiewicz)

Honourable Mention(s): What Ever Happened to Baby Jane?, The Nanny

Greatest Performance: Michael Corleone - The Godfather Pt II (1974, Francis Ford Coppola)

Honourable Mention(s): Scarface, Serpico

Greatest Performance: RP McMurphy - One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (1975, Milos Forman)

Honourable Mention(s): The Shining, As Good As It Gets

Greatest Performance: Clarice Starling - The Silence of the Lambs (1991, Jonathan Demme)

Performance Description: Jodie Foster plays the formidable heroine Clarice Starling so thoroughly and cerebrally that we can actually sense her subconscious. Thematically and politically complex, this is a multi-angled representation of a strong, young female character (who is not an ingénue) and the strength of Foster’s performance aligns with the film in the way she serves it with a well-played lack of self-confidence. Her ability to play Clarice so vulnerably allows the true terror of the film to set with the viewer in appropriate discomfort as she becomes a tour guide into the darkness. The fact that we can feel her trembling and rethinking, under the uniforms and self-checks, to follow her newly learned protocol, make her emotional and physical predicaments all the scarier. It is a truly exceptional portrayal that deserved its acclaim.

Honourable Mention(s): Taxi Driver, The Accused

Greatest Performance: Travis Bickle - Taxi Driver (1976, Martin Scorsese)

Honourable Mention(s): Raging Bull, The Godfather Pt II

Greatest Performance: Grace Mulligan - Dogville (2003, Lars Von Trier)

Honourable Mention(s): To Die For, Moulin Rouge!

Greatest Performance: Betty Elms/Diane Selwyn - Mulholland Dr. (2001, David Lynch)

Honourable Mention(s): 21 Grams, King Kong

Greatest Performance: The Joker - The Dark Knight (2008, Christopher Nolan)

Honourable Mention(s): Brokeback Mountain

Greatest Performance: Brandon Teena - Boys Don't Cry (1999, Kimberly Pierce)

Honourable Mention(s): Million Dollar Baby, Insomnia

Greatest Performance: Sugar Kane - Some Like It Hot (1959, Billy Wilder)

Honourable Mention(s): Gentleman Prefer Blondes, The Misfits

Greatest Performance: Aileen Wuornos - Monster (2003, Patty Jenkins)

Honourable Mention(s): Young Adult, Snow White & the Huntsman

Greatest Performance: John "Scottie" Ferguson - Vertigo (1958, Alfred Hitchcock)

Honourable Mention(s): It's a Wonderful Life, Rear Window

Greatest Performance: Norma Desmond - Sunset Blvd. (1950, Billy Wilder)

Greatest Performance: Rick Deckard - Blade Runner (1982, Ridley Scott)

Honourable Mention(s): Witness, Star Wars

Greatest Performance: Norman Bates - Psycho (1960, Alfred Hitchcock)

Greatest Performance: Rose DeWitt-Bukater - Titanic (1997, James Cameron)

Honourable Mention(s): Revolutionary Road, Heavenly Creatures

Greatest Performance: Howard Hughes - The Aviator (2004, Martin Scorsese)

Honourable Mention(s): What's Eating Gilbert Grape?, Titanic

Greatest Performance: Holly Golightly - Breakfast At Tiffany's (1961, Blake Edwards)

Honourable Mention(s): My Fair Lady, Roman Holiday

Greatest Performance: Stanley Kowalski - A Streetcar Named Desire (1951, Elia Kazan)

Honourable Mention(s): The Godfather, On the Waterfront

Greatest Performance: Rick Blaine - Casablanca (1942, Michael Curtiz)

Honourable Mention(s): The African Queen, The Big Sleep

Greatest Performance: Jim Stark - Rebel Without a Cause (1955, Nicholas Ray)

Honourable Mention(s): Giant, East of Eden

Greatest Performance: Nina Ivanovna 'Ninotchka' Yakushova - Ninotchka (1939, Ernst Lubitsch)

Honourable Mention(s): Camille, Anna Karenina

Greatest Performance: Jesse James - The Assassination of Jesse James By the Coward Robert Ford (2007, Andrew Dominick)

Honourable Mention(s): Burn After Reading, 12 Monkeys

Greatest Performance: Gilda Farrell - Gilda (1946, Charles Vidor)

Honourable Mention(s): The Lady from Shanghai

Greatest Performance: Jerry/Daphne - Some Like It Hot (1959, Billy Wilder)

Honourable Mention(s): The Apartment, Glengarry Glen Ross

Greatest Performance: Lisa Rowe - Girl, Interrupted (2001, James Mangold)

Honourable Mention(s): Changeling, Gia

Greatest Performance: Alex DeLarge - Clockwork Orange (1971, Stanley Kubrick)

Honourable Mention(s): If...

Greatest Performance: Robert Ford - The Assassination of Jesse James By the Coward Robert Ford (2007, Andrew Dominick)

Honourable Mention(s): The Killer Inside of Me

Greatest Performance: Raymond Babbitt - Rain Man (1988, Barry Levinson)

Honourable Mention(s): Midnight Cowboy, Kramer Vs Kramer

Greatest Performance: Nurse Ratched - One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (1975, Milos Forman)

Greatest Performance: Karen Silkwood - Silkwood (1983, Mike Nichols)

Honourable Mention(s): Kramer Vs Kramer, Death Becomes Her

Greatest Performance: Evelyn Cross Mulwray - Chinatown (1974, Roman Polanski)

Honourable Mention(s): Bonnie & Clyde, Mommie Dearest

Greatest Performance: Esther Blodgett / Vicki Lester - A Star Is Born (1954, George Cukor)

Honourable Mention(s): The Wizard of Oz

Greatest Performance: Rhett Butler - Gone With the Wind (1939, Victor Fleming)

Honourable Mention(s): It Happened One Night, The Misfits

Greatest Performance: George Eastman - A Place in the Sun (1951, George Stevens)

Honourable Mention(s): The Heiress, The Misfits

Greatest Performance: Veronica Sawyer - Heathers (1988, Michael Lehmann)

Honourable Mention(s): Girl Interrupted, The Age of Innocence

Greatest Performance: Carol Ledoux - Repulsion (1965, Roman Polanski)

Honourable Mention(s): The Umbrellas of Cherbourg, Belle De Jour

Greatest Performance: Phyllis Dietrichson - Double Indemnity (1944, Billy Wilder)

Honourable Mention(s): The Lady Eve

Greatest Performance: Annie Wilkes - Misery (1990, Rob Reiner)

Greatest Performance: Margaret White - Carrie (1976, Brian De Palma)

Greatest Performance: Madame Marie de Tourvel - Dangerous Liasons (1988, Stephen Frears)

Honourable Mention(s): The Age of Innocence, Batman Returns

Greatest Performance: The Bride - Kill Bill Vol 1&2 (2003/04, Quentin Tarantino)

Honourable Mention(s): Pulp Fiction

Greatest Performance: Nikki Grace - Inland Empire (2006, David Lynch)

Honourable Mention(s): Wild at Heart, Blue Velvet

Greatest Performance: Vicomte Sébastien de Valmont - Dangerous Liaisons (1988, Stephen Frears)

Honourable Mention(s): In the Line of Fire, Being John Malkovich

Greatest Performance: Edward - Edward Scissorhands (1990, Tim Burton)

Honourable Mention(s): Sweeney Todd, Sleepy Hollow

Greatest Performance: Nina Sayers - Black Swan (2010, Darren Aronofsky)

Honourable Mention(s): V For Vendetta, Leon

Greatest Performance: Mildred Pierce - Mildred Pierce (1945, Michael Curtiz)

Honourable Mention(s): What Ever Happened to Baby Jane?