Just as in Mahogany, audiences are supposed to forget the very well-known fact that models start their careers young. You can't say, "I want to be a model" when you're in your thirties and get discovered. Most models have to retire at that age because they're too old. So, when Faye Dunaway wants to become a model in Puzzle of a Downfall Child, we have to just nod and smile. We also have to nod and smile when she's caught unawares by how critical the modeling industry is. She's told to lose fifteen pounds, and she acts shocked. Models are torn to shreds on a daily basis. It's not a glamorous industry, despite the beautiful clothes and photographs. Why are we nodding and smiling? Because Faye Dunaway gives a great performance and we want to watch it. She tells her story in flashbacks to a journalist, so the film is a bit "1970s", but her acting is worth the funky zooms and long, aimless walks along the beach.
There's an incredible scene that acting teachers and coaches should show their students. Faye is on the phone with Roy Scheider, and she wants him to come over to her place. He keeps refusing, and with every line of dialogue, Faye gives a different expression. She could have just played the entire scene as "pleading" and read the lines as written, but instead, she said one line straight-forward, another teasing with a passive aggressive accusation, and another as a distraction, and yet another with desperation. I had a teacher once who told his students to write the motivation in the margin next to every line of dialogue. It's as if Faye were teaching that course, and to see her breaking down is a lovely piece of acting.
If you like that classic 1970 style of filmmaking, stories about successful models who have regrets along their climb to the top, or want to see a different Faye Dunaway than Mommie Dearest or Network, definitely check this one out.
