Our 2008 Directors Spring Edition is a time to celebrate directors but sadly this column celebrates the life of a noted filmmaker, Anthony Minghella, who unexpectedly passed away last week at the age of 54. While he is best known for his stellar feature work, such as The English Patient, which garnered nine Academy Awards–including the best picture and best director Oscars–Minghella had occasion to direct commercials and was a strong advocate of short format fare.
I spoke to him only once, shortly after he wrapped his first spot in many years, Guinness’ “Mustang” for Abbott Mead Vickers BBDO, London, produced by Independent Media, Santa Monica. But for me that one conversation in 2005 left a lasting impression of him as a thoughtful, intelligent, accomplished yet completely unassuming artist.
During our talk, he spoke of the rapport he had developed with Independent Media executive producer Susanne Preissler and that part of the attraction of directing a select commercial or two was the chance to work with her. Now in remembering Minghella, Preissler related, “He was a man of great talent who was elegant, kind, honest, thoughtful, giving and truthful with himself and others. He didn’t need to do commercials but he valued them as an art form and respected the people in this industry. He wasn’t looking to get anything out of this business. For him, it was always about ‘what can I bring to the project.’ I feel fortunate to have been his friend.”
In my interview with him, Minghella offered both historical and contemporary perspectives on the importance of short films. The former stemmed from his role as chairman of the British Film Institute, which helped to restore the Mitchell & Kenyon Collection consisting of some 500 one-minute films shot around the turn of the 20th century. The films had been stored in barrels and were discovered in the early 1990s in Blackburn. Mitchell & Kenyon produced the films which were commissioned by traveling fairground operators for showing at local fairgrounds across the U.K. Crews would lens people in everyday life and then tell them that they could see the films at an upcoming fair. Indeed people would turn out for the fair just to see themselves.
Minghella was excited that this work would be shown on the BBC in the form of a series co-produced by the BBC and the British Film Institute. Minghella noted that the shorts were fascinating not only in terms of documenting life in the early 1900s, but also for serving as “a breeding ground” for filmmakers, affording them the opportunity to learn and hone their skills.
He then brought the importance of that dynamic to the present, citing the new forms starting to emerge in the advertising arena.
“You can have a ‘Diesel dreams’ DVD with 25 to 30 shorts about people in their [Diesel] jeans,” he related. “It’s a great way for young filmmakers to have their say, to create and express themselves through glamorous calling cards that at the same time can be exploited commercially. I like that alchemy, where talent can go out and play while contributing to the marketplace at large.”
Netflix Series “The Leopard” Spots Classic Italian Novel, Remakes It As A Sumptuous Period Drama
"The Leopard," a new Netflix series, takes the classic Italian novel by Giuseppe Tomasi di Lampedusa and transforms it into a sumptuous period piece showing the struggles of the aristocracy in 19th-century Sicily, during tumultuous social upheavals as their way of life is crumbling around them.
Tom Shankland, who directs four of the eight episodes, had the courage to attempt his own version of what is one of the most popular films in Italian history. The 1963 movie "The Leopard," directed by Luchino Visconti, starring Burt Lancaster, Alain Delon and Claudia Cardinale, won the Palme d'Or in Cannes.
One Italian critic said that it would be the equivalent of a director in the United States taking "Gone with the Wind" and turning it into a series, but Shankland wasn't the least bit intimidated.
He said that he didn't think of anything other than his own passion for the project, which grew out of his love of the book. His father was a university professor of Italian literature in England, and as a child, he loved the book and traveling to Sicily with his family.
The book tells the story of Don Fabrizio Corbera, the Prince of Salina, a tall, handsome, wealthy aristocrat who owns palaces and land across Sicily.
His comfortable world is shaken with the invasion of Sicily in 1860 by Giuseppe Garibaldi, who was to overthrow the Bourbon king in Naples and bring about the Unification of Italy.
The prince's family leads an opulent life in their magnificent palaces with servants and peasants kowtowing to their every need. They spend their time at opulent banquets and lavish balls with their fellow aristocrats.
Shankland has made the series into a visual feast with tables heaped with food, elaborate gardens and sensuous costumes.... Read More