Throughout a film career spanning six decades, Dame Judi Dench has established herself as one of the finest character actors of her generation. Although she often plays supporting parts, Dench can outshine actors in bigger roles with ease. She has an incredible emotional range and a sense of control that lets her command scenes alongside any actor. As well as starring in movies, Dench has earned herself a reputation as an outstanding stage performer, especially in Shakespearean productions.
For years now, Judi Dench has played maternal figures. She brings wit and warmth to these types of characters, but her range extends beyond simple classifications. Looking back at Dench’s long career reveals a surprisingly diverse range of characters. One thing that has remained a constant, especially in more recent years, is that her characters tend to possess a lot of power. She has played queens, business executives and matriarchs, and all of these characters benefit from her tight-lipped control. Judi Dench’s best movies show that her reputation is well deserved.
10 The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel (2011)
Evelyn Greenslade
Judi Dench plays a recent widower who moves to Jaipur in search of a more comfortable retirement. What greets her there instead is an eccentric mix of British expatriates, played by several other stalwarts of British comedies, such as Bill Nighy, Celia Imrie, Maggie Smith, and more. It’s a classic fish-out-of-water tale, but the joke is always on the uptight Brits, and never on their Indian hosts. As well as being a positive representation of Indian culture, The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel is also a rare uplifting comedy featuring older actors.
9 Belfast (2021)
Granny
Belfast follows a young boy’s coming-of-age in Northern Ireland in the 1960s, while the country was deep in the throes of The Troubles. Against the backdrop of violence in the streets and neighbors turning against one another, Belfast presents a deeply heartfelt message of hope. Judi Dench plays the boy’s grandmother, a source of love and fun in his life who often distracts him from the grim realities of the world around him. Dench has worked with director Kenneth Brannagh on many occasions, but Belfast is their most moving and personal collaboration.
Related
Belfast: 10 Films About Irish History
From the Potato Famine to present-day crime, 175 years of Irish History as told through film and chronicled according to its historical timeline.
8 Shakespeare In Love (1998)
Queen Elizabeth I
Judi Dench musters every ounce of her regal majesty for Shakespeare in Love, and she was rewarded with an Academy Award. The story focuses on Shakespeare struggling to write Romeo and Juliet until he meets his muse, Viola. Queen Elizabeth I is both powerful and restrained, a woman in a position of great power, in a time when women weren’t even allowed on stage. As well as a masterful turn from Dench, Shakespeare in Love benefits from excellent performances from Joseph Fiennes and Gwyneth Paltrow. It makes no attempt at historical accuracy, but it delicately balances humor with drama.
7 Pride & Prejudice (2005)
Lady Catherine de Bourgh
One of the more faithful adaptations of Jane Austen’s work, Joe Wright’s Pride and Prejudice understands the sumptuous romance of the novel, but also the restricting reality of the English aristocracy’s obsession with status and image. There is a tendency for costume dramas to stray into golden-hour melodrama, but this adaptation is grounded and relatable, while still being firmly rooted in Austen’s time. There have been many adaptations of Pride and Prejudice, but this is up there with the very best, and Judi Dench excels as the stern enforcer of the status quo, Lady Catherine de Bourgh.
6 Iris (2001)
Iris Murdoch
Iris is an ambitious biopic of the seminal novelist and philosopher Iris Murdoch, with Judi Dench playing her at an older age and Kate Winslet portraying her in her youth. It follows her struggles with dementia, but it’s also a tender portrait of a love that lasted for decades. Jim Broadbent strikes up a wonderful rapport with Judi Dench, and their dynamic upstages the younger actors in flashbacks, although this can also be attributed to the script’s increased urgency in Murdoch’s old age. It doesn’t provide a full portrait of Murdoch’s life, but it’s still a mature and intelligent love story.
5 Mrs. Brown (1997)
Queen Victoria
Mrs. Brown isn’t the only movie in which Judi Dench plays Queen Victoria. In Victoria & Abdul, released 20 years after Mrs. Brown, she also portrays one of the aging monarch’s relationships with a younger servant. Mrs. Brown doesn’t directly address the swirl of rumors about the nature of the Queen’s relationship with her late husband’s servant, but it shames those who would care to speculate about a widow’s sex life. Billy Connolly is disarmingly charming as John Brown, and the good times that the pair have together seem genuine.
4 Skyfall (2012)
M
Judi Dench played M in a total of eight James Bond movies, and she evolved the character subtly with each iteration. Skyfall shifts more focus onto M than ever before, as her past comes back to haunt her, and her life is threatened by a rogue agent. Skyfall could be the best James Bond movie of all, and M’s increased role is key to this. M brings out a more emotional side to Bond, as he has to battle for something he truly loves. The action scenes all carry more weight than usual, with Bond facing such personal stakes.
Related
Why James Bond 26 Cannot Repeat Casino Royale’s Genius M Casting Trick
The James Bond movies’ tradition in casting M might come to an end for Bond 26 due to the Daniel Craig era’s continuity.
3 A Room With A View (1985)
Eleanor Lavish
A Room with a View is one of the finest Merchant Ivory classics, concerned with the stiffness and ceremony of the British upper classes. Based on a novel by E.M. Forster, A Room with a View tells the story of a brief love affair which upends the lives of two young people who feel restricted by societal pressures. Judi Dench plays a romance novelist on the fringes of the story. She isn’t the most important character, but Dench is a seasoned character actor capable of stealing the show from smaller roles, and she suits the tone of the film perfectly.
2 Notes On A Scandal (2006)
Barbara Covett
Notes on a Scandal provides Judi Dench with one of her most fascinating characters, a manipulative school teacher who uses a younger colleague’s secrets against her. Dench is engrossing as the sociopathic Barbara Covett, and her dynamic with Cate Blanchett brings the best out of both actors. As the duo engage in a Machiavellian game of cat-and-mouse, they are each pushed to extreme ends. Notes on a Scandal drives at an intoxicating pace, as each furtive glance tells a story of unfulfilled hopes and shameful desire. It’s also undoubtedly one of Cate Blanchett’s best movies.
1 Philomena (2013)
Philomena Lee
Steve Coogan is a wonderful partner for Judi Dench in Philomena, based on the true story of BBC journalist Martin Sixsmith’s attempts to help a woman track down her son whom she gave up for adoption. Coogan is best-known as a comedian, but Philomena lets him show off his talents as a dramatic actor, and he could hardly have asked for a better costar. Dench is superb as Martin’s subject and moral guide. One of her acting trademarks is her ability to show immense emotion through restrained movement, and Philomena‘s emotional climax is an exhilarating payoff.
