Wednesday, March 14, 2012

The Eyes Have It: Armitage Eyelash Fetish




We’re in Day Four of  the FanstRAvaganza 3 in THE FANDOM tagteam chain!  Also in Day Four check out my  partner's post at Crispin's Eclipse, If you missed the previous days on The Fandom check out the posts at  Feminema, Plylly's Faves,  Something About Love (A),  An Obsessed Fanatic,  The Armitage Effect.. 




By
Faboamanto and Zibeline

One of the wonderful things about being a Richard Armitage fan is getting to know fellow fans. Zibeline, who lives in Europe, and I, who live in the United States, would never have met and become friends if not for our mutual interest in Richard Armitage.  I hope you enjoy our joint post about those amazing Armitage  eyes and lashes.

John Thornton by Zibeline:

In this particular scene, due to the etiquette and the presence of the other characters, nothing can be said between John and Margaret, no gesture can be made. The only way for Mr. Thornton to express his feelings is through his eyes.


“Eyes are the window of the soul”, and we see here its exact illustration, even more when personifying a character from the Victorian era, where the body was the jailer of expressed feelings.


Still today, after so many views of this particular scene, the feelings that Mr. Armitage expresses only through his eyes give me goosebumps  and heartache. 


“So you are leaving, and never to come back”.




… expressing all tenderness and sorrow towards Margaret, feeling all the possibilities that her very being represents. 









… voicing the acknowledgment of her departure – and that he will be craving physically her presence...
Suppressing all expression of his feelings and holding it tight inside by lowering his eyes.





… creating a “lead curtain” through his gaze, when willingly looking down at Margaret not as his potential happiness, but at the loss of it already; recessing inside of himself with the flicker of an eyelash.





Lucas North and Guy of Gisborne by Fabo


I am fascinated by Richard Armitage's eyelashes - long flirtatious eye-fans one minute, human curtains that hide a multitude of emotions the next.  I really can't get enough of looking at those luscious eyelashes.


He's a master at using the movement of his eyelashes to convey pain, disappointment, anger or disdain. There are two characters that stand out for me for his use of eyelash acting: Guy of Gisborne and Lucas North. 




In this scene from Spooks the dialog and the voice are expressing explosive anger but if we look at the movement of his eyelashes in the clip below we can feel pain, disappointment and betrayal when Lucas discovers his lover Sarah was secretly going to bug his apartment for her CIA bosses.  





Armitage used the full sexual allure of those long fan-like eyelashes in his role of Guy of Gisborne in Robin Hood.  One of the scenes that for me best illustrates this is one between the Sheriff and Guy. In this scene Vasey is humiliating Guy over his love for Marian. He tells Guy what he refuses to believe, that Marian doesn't love him and is just using him. 



Armitage's lashes never stop moving during this scene conveying Guy's discomfort at Vasey's invasion of his personal space. So much is conveyed by a flicker of a lash, humiliation at Marian's failure to return his love, and disgust at the Sheriff's power over him. But the flirtatious nature of those eyelashes makes us wish, like the Sheriff, for a kiss.  




So what is your favorite Armitage eyelash acting moment?






For more of THE FANDOM today in FanstRA 3 see Crispin's Eclipse . Tomorrow Th FANDOM tagteam continues at Funky Blue Dandelion. All F3 links can be found here.

24 comments:

  1. I love his eyes... He tells so much with them and no words are necessary!

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    1. I've always thought that scene between Guy and Vasey was Shakespearean in its staging. It also allows a full on blinding bit of acting, especially from RA. Sigh, it is pure and perfect.

      Thanks for the memories!

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    2. Indeed, his eyes and eyelids are not just part of his facial expression. He does act with them, and they are a huge part of his body acting.
      Pi, I agree with you, what a consumed actor he is, and especially in this particular scene, where so many emotions are at stake, like Fabo described it so well!

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  2. Hi Fabo,
    I love the whole Harry and Gerry 3rd date with tongues exchange and the flirtatious way RA uses his eyes. "Sinful indeed"! Ha!
    Cheers! Grati ;->

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    1. It is right that the selected scenes do illustrate moments of shame, sorrow, pain, all negative feelings, and we sadly don’t have so many positives characters to rely one.
      Hopefully Mr A. can play the flirtatious guy with those so beautiful eyes of him… We long for more of those moments!

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  3. who knew eyelashes could be so telling?!

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    1. Just the flicker of those, and the move of his eyelids can tell so much!

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  4. I've noticed his beautiful and expressive eyelashes for a long time too. My favorite eyelashes belong to John Porter. ♥

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    1. Ho our dear John Porter! , …. How those almost girlish eyelashes highlight his masculinity and at the same time fragility… Much more to explore on that !

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  5. I've never really noticed his eyelashes. yet another reason to go back and watch more of his work :)

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    1. Glad we were able to highlight one more aspect of Mr A., and that we brought you one more reason to come back to the man’s performance, … but do we need reasons ? Pleasure is enough.

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  6. I'm not such a detailed watcher,unfortunately. I really admire you for such capacity to notice even the smallest little feature of Richard's acting. Thanks for sharing and helping us to SEE.
    I love all the scenes you mention, difficult to choose. He is great at eyelash acting in all of them!

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    1. It might be easier to catch just a piece of Mr A., than having to embrace his character as a whole… Too overwhelming at times! And it is always fun to try focusing on a specific part of his gorgeous anatomy. … Did anyone already try to scan his Adam’s appel?

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  7. Richard's eyebrows called. They said they were feeling lonely and left out ;)
    Great post, the man can act with EVERY part of his body!

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    1. So sorry for those eyebrows, and so true: he surely can act with any part of his body, even the ones hidden from us (or the camera). I am sure that he must get Goosebumps in some of his scenes, and nobody will ever notice.
      Let’s see if Fabo might be interested into a “eyebrow analysis” in one of her next posts!

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    2. Are his eyebrows sad to be left out! Poor babies.

      Zibeline and iwantobeapinup - I think you're both right, maybe we need to look at those special eyebrows for a future post so they don't feel so lonely :)

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  8. The Guy liner certainly helped the eye lashes stand out but it is his eyes that get me every time with his performances, well that is when I am not having a shallow moment or two.

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    1. I was wondering if there was any translucent mascara applied along the Guy liner during make-up sessions.

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  9. Absolutely the Gisborne eyelashes! Yes, in a sort of way, the Guy and the Sheriff was a bit Shakespearean. He is a well-trained actor, after all. And a few? of we women struggle to achieve eyelashes. :D Just jealous...

    fitzg

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    1. Should we suggest to Mr A.’s agent that he provides us with some training courses for us poor girls? Might become handy, but we might not be too good pupils, if our teacher was Mr Eyelashes himself!

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  10. Great Post! I certainly takes at least two people to properly discuss Richard's eyes...

    For me, North & South will always be tops...his acting was so subtle, so real and it is thanks in great part to what he does with his eyes.

    In one of his early interviews mentioning that he a detailed actor, he praised his fans saying that they were amazing because they noticed even his eye movements. Would love to quote this for you, but it would take too much time and I would probably get caught on Annette's sight pouring over another magazine article.

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    1. It might take many of us to discuss his eyes, lashes, brows, and so many scenes from so different characters might be on the list for discussion!
      I also remember this interview (although not in details), where he mentioned that he discussed the scenes in length with Daniela, and that some part of their acting was subliminal, and that he was amazed that so many viewers had catch it. This speaks loud about his phenomenal performance.
      North and South still remains my favourite one as well, …

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  11. Thanks for writing this -- I, too, feel the eyelashes have been underexamined in the literature heretofore. Both authors have great analytical points; I esp. like the point about the "lead curtain."

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    1. Thanks Servetus, it was a lot of fun. I have to thank Fabo for the invitation and the idea! Mr. Armitage’s eyelashes add depth and intensity to his eyes. He is a lucky man to have so beautiful ones, almost caressing his cheeks when eyes closed.

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