William Shimell is most useful on screen when his reserve gives another actor something to push against. We value that restraint opposite Juliette Binoche in Certified Copy, even when his dialogue sounds too much like a prepared argument.
Fi1m perspective
In Certified Copy (2010), William Shimell’s James Miller gives Juliette Binoche something solid to argue with. His reserve leaves her room to press the conversation, without requiring him to match her intensity. Abbas Kiarostami makes good use of that difference in a romance we find moving, if occasionally laborious. Shimell is a useful partner here, though there are moments when James starts to sound like a spokesman for the script.
This was his film debut, after an established career in opera, and the understated acting is part of its interest. Kiarostami offered him a non-singing role while directing him in Così fan tutte in 2008. On screen, Shimell’s measured delivery puts the emphasis on the words, a sensible approach to a part that involves so much discussion. It also places a burden on the writing: verbal precision cannot make every argument worth having, and some of these exchanges need shortening.
We grew frustrated during the early arguments about authenticity, because James sometimes seems to speak only because the screenplay needs an opposing view. That is partly a problem with the dialogue, but Shimell’s reserve does not always help. Binoche gives the talk a sense that something matters beyond winning the point; he is less consistently able to do so. Yet the same restraint gives her a credible source of resistance, and it would be a mistake to ask him simply to become more demonstrative.
His subsequent screen appearances have been occasional, including Geoff in Michael Haneke’s Amour (2012) and Newman in Claudia Llosa’s Aloft (2014). Amour gives him a supporting part; our enthusiasm for the film centres on Jean-Louis Trintignant and Emmanuelle Riva. It is the work with Kiarostami that gives us the clearest reason to seek Shimell out. For a proper introduction, try Certified Copy with someone who enjoys an argument.
Biography
William Shimell is an English baritone and actor. Born on 23 September 1952 in Brentwood, Essex, he studied at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama and the National Opera Studio. He began his opera career in the late 1970s and performed with companies including English National Opera, Glyndebourne, the Royal Opera House, La Scala and the Metropolitan Opera.
In 2008, while working with director Abbas Kiarostami on a production of Così fan tutte, Shimell was offered a non-singing film role. He made his screen debut as James Miller in Kiarostami's Certified Copy (2010). He subsequently appeared as Geoff in Michael Haneke's Amour (2012) and as Newman in Claudia Llosa's Aloft (2014).
