MovieChat Forums > Inspector Clouseau (1968) Discussion > The importance of charisma

The importance of charisma

posted 3 years ago by avortac4 (3751)
1 reply | jump to latest

There are people that not only light the room when they enter, but delight the big screen as well with intensity that forces your focus to be figuratively glued to the screen.

If I mention some names, you will understand what I mean.

Bruce Lee. Can you watch his movie and look away when he's on screen?

Clint Eastwood. He dominates the screen even if he's not saying anything.

Jim Carrey. Ok, he's goofy and an overactor, but he does have a strong screen presence - he's rarely boring (in his comedies anyway).

Sean Connery. His James Bond is intense and yet humorous. There's no other Bond that has been able to pull off this combination as well as he did.

Charlie Sheen. No matter what you think about him otherwise, you have to admit he really brings something "hard-to-explain" on the screen in pretty much all of his classic movies.

The reason these are all men, is that charisma is all men have. Men's looks are secondary to their character and 'feel'.

Women are all about looks, however, they don't need charisma. Some women DO have 'female charisma', but if a woman is easy on the eyes, she captivates the viewer without any need for 'charisma'. Some women have a mysterious 'radiation' in addition to their looks, but that's slightly different (and even harder to explain, but look at almost any 'Leo-beauty' to feel what I mean).

This movie is filled with boring actors that have NO charisma. They don't captivate the audience. Peter Sellers had a sort of charisma, you always 'woke up' a bit when he appeared on screen - he's no Tom Cruise or young Robert Redford, but he delivers in a way that Alan, alas, cannot.

Alan might be a good actor or a comedian, but he does not have charisma, no matter how much he shouts. Why does he shout so much in this movie? Clouseau.. I mean, Peter almost never shouts like that.

This movie proves the importance of charisma. When it's missing, what you get is boring mishmash of cinematic mashed potatoes - old, tasteless and slightly smelly.

[–] [deleted] 3 years ago

You're a typical neckbeard prattling about things you don't understand and I suspect that you're using this movie as a pretext to prattle your autistic-like musings on the differences between men and women.

First of all, you don't understand what "charisma" means. It means to have a magnetic charm/electric personality that draws people to you. So, you're completely off the mark calling Clint Eastwood and Charlie Sheen, and all the other actors you mentioned as being charismatic. The term you're looking for is "screen presence," which is not the same as charisma. Robin Williams, Cary Grant and George Clooney are examples of charismatic actors.

Secondly, Sellers wasn't great as Clouseau because he "had charisma" but because he was perfectly cast for the role and had a director who knew how to work with him (Blake Edwards). If you think Clouseau was so charismatic, try watching him in Lolita and dreck like After the Fox, What's New Pussycat or Casino Royale.

Third, Alan Arkin was one of the biggest stars of his day, so this is a lot of pretentious "blah blah blah" for "I thought Alan Arkin was miscast," or, "Peter Sellers was the best Clouseau."

Neckbeards are so cringe in their pseudo intellectualism.