Applause

Danish actress Paprika Steen is not exactly a household name on this side of the Atlantic, but she might have been if Martin Pieter Zandvliet's 2009 drama had received a stronger U.S. theatrical release. Steen delivers a devastating performance here as an emotionally disheveled actress trying to pull her life together. Offstage, Thea Barfoed (Steen) is struggling with acute alcoholism and a disastrous divorce that resulted in her losing custody of her children. Professionally, she has just been cast in a plum role: Martha, in a new production of Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? Thea winds up using Edward Albee's bitterly vicious play to vent the anger, bitterness, and frustrations that have come from a self-destructive life, while struggling in real life to prove her value as a mother. Steen attacks this complex character with ferocity, commanding the screen with a forceful energy that is fearless in its towering rage and poignantly fragile when it comes to emotional failure. Highly recommended. (P. Hall)