'Red witch' and diva - Nicole Kidman turns 50

During the last few months, Nicole Kidman made quite a few appearances on the red carpet, much enjoying the limelight of the international film world. At the Cannes Film Festival in May, she presented four new films. And she seemed to glow with happiness at the Oscar gala in February where she was nominated as Best Supporting Actress.

Following her success in various television series in her home country of Australia, Nicole Kidman made it to Hollywood in the mid-1980s. But back then, she looked quite different from nowadays. She presented herself in the typical look of that decade in the thriller "Dead Calm," a US-Australian co-production.

After playing in many commercially successful films, such as "Days of Thunder" and "Batman Forever", she starred in Jane Campion's film adaptation of the Henry James novel "The Portrait of a Lady" in 1996. Kidman made a strong effort to be taken seriously as an actress in ambitious roles.

Her performance in the film "Eyes Wide Shut" (1999) by legendary director Stanley Kubrick was a milestone in her career in art-house films. In the adaptation of a work by Arthur Schnitzler, Kidman starred opposite Tom Cruise with whom she also started a relationship. In 2001, however, the couple divorced.

Nicole Kidman took ballet lessons from age 4 to 12. Not surprisingly, therefore, she easily managed the numerous dance scenes in the wild musical "Moulin Rouge." Starring opposite Ewan McGregor, Kidman impressed audiences with her agility and temperament in the film by her Australian countryman Baz Luhrmann.

Following the wild musical, Nicole Kidman gave a brilliant performance in which she presented herself in a totally different light. Spanish director Alejandro Amenábar engaged her for his psychological thriller "The Others." Kidman played the mother of two young children living in a house in the countryside.

In 2002, Kidman reached a preliminary climax in her career. In "The Hours," an homage to the literary oeuvre of Virginia Wolf, she convincingly played the author. In Los Angeles, she was rewarded with an Oscar as Best Actress - for a Nicole Kidman who was hardly recognizable due to her artificial nose.

Around the turn of the century, Nicole Kidman became one of the world's most sought-after stars - both in Hollywood and European films. In 2003, the excentric Danish director Lars von Trier engaged her for his experimental movie "Dogville."

In the middle of the decade, Nicole Kidman became less lucky - the mystery thriller "Birth" by British director Jonathan Glazer flopped. The film's producers may have also resented having paid her a salary of 15 million dollars.

Nicole Kidman then had to set her sights a little lower. In 2007, she played in the science fiction drama "Invasion" that German director Oliver Hirschbiegel shot in the US. But that film was also neither a commercial, nor an artistic success.

The film "Australia" (2008) was intended as a sort of comeback. Once again, Nicole Kidman worked with Baz Luhrmann with whom she had already worked in "Moulin Rouge." The film's title gives it away: it was all about the history of Australia. Despite its huge budget, the film was not successful at the box office.

Following "Australia," Nicole Kidman had to struggle hard as her reputation had suffered from these flops. Also, critics showed less enthusiasm for her, judging her performances and her appearances in public as too artificial - and this although Kidman did accept unconventional roles, like in "Stoker," a thriller by South Korean director Park Chan-wook.

The opening film of the Cannes Film Festival of 2014 did not exactly add to the image of the actress. In "Grace of Monaco" by Olivier Dahan, Kidman played Princess Grace. As a matter of course, both audiences and critics compared her with Grace Kelly. Kidman didn't have a chance - although she presented herself with a big smile on the red carpet in Cannes.

Nicole Kidman, however, deserves to be credited for not simply withdrawing trom the scene, or accepting only glamorous roles. In 2014, she played a nasty animal preparator in the heartwarming British comedy "Paddington" that depicts the adventures of a Peruvian bear in London - a bitchy performance with a dandified hair style.

Two years ago, Nicole Kidman gave a notable performance as British historian and Africa fan Gertrude Bell in "Queen of the Desert" by German director Werner Herzog. In the eyes of some critics, it was a miscast to have Nicole Kidman playing a courageous woman in a tough environment.

During the last two years, Nicole Kidman's career seems to have taken a turn to the better once again. In the film "Long Way Home" featuring the odyssey of an Indian boy across the subcontinent, Kidman played the boy's future adoptive mother. And she wore her old hairstyle once again - curly and red. She received an Oscar nomination for her performance.

Nicole Kidman made a very special appearance at the Cannes Film Festival in May with no less than four new films, among them Sofia Coppola's "The Beguiled." She presented herself daily on the red carpet and took home the festival's honorary award. It looks as though Nicole Kidman has overcome the doldrums, facing a glamorous future.