Peter Weir - Way too underrated?

[ethanfox]

Do you realise there has not been a decent DVD relesed of "Fearless" (my favourite film) - and this got me to thinking....

Despite various Awards and nominations over the years for films like The Truman Show, Dead Poets Society, Witness and Galipoli -
Peter Weir is largely unknown.

Is he the greatest ignored directer?


TALK TO ME

[Michael Brooke]

I hardly think someone who's made big-budget Hollywood films with major stars can fairly be called "ignored" - especially when the likes of <I>Picnic at Hanging Rock, The Last Wave, Gallipoli, Witness, Dead Poets Society</I> and <I>The Truman Show</I> are still widely discussed and indeed available.

Surely someone who is truly "the greatest ignored director" would have an infinitely lower profile? I'm willing to bet far more reasonably well-informed people will have seen a Weir film than, say, one by Robert Bresson, Abbas Kiarostami, Sergo Paradjanov, Jan Svankmajer, Hou Hsiao-hsien or Edward Yang - and all of those are great by any definition you care to name.

[ethanfox]

A point well made Mr. B, although my original post was a bit rubbish.

What I mean is that in the Hollywood Machine, Peter Weir is not of the renowned stature as other "A list" directors and I question why?

I have always admired PW for his ability to operate in Hollywood, with big stars etc. but keep a sense of his own style.
The directors you mentioned are working on a different set of ideals - ie. more based around film as an "art" form as opposed to an entertainment.

IMO, cinema succeeds best when having an effect on an audience in whatever way whilst keeping its roots in informing and entertaining.

Just realised I've opened myself up to a spanking on the deffinition of art. oops

Be gentle with me.

[nc]

I think it is a good thing that Peter Weir isn't a household name. Without being under the limelight, he is able to make great films. Look at the big name directors such as Spielberg, Bay and Zemeckis. Now their last films weren't very good at all.

[pegasus]

I agree that PW is not considered in the same breath as the A-list director, wrongly IMHO.
Just a remark, no-one has mentionned Mosquito Coast on the list of his films. that's my fav... and the last time that Harrison Ford actually acted in a film (as opposed to just being HF).

[Michael Brooke]

Due to a booking cock-up by the Duke of York's Cinema in Brighton, I watched what turned out to be a genuinely inspired double bill of <I>The Mosquito Coast</I> and Andrei Tarkovsky's <A HREF="http://www.dvdtimes.co.uk/reviews/other/sacrifice.html">The Sacrifice</A> - and although it wasn't planned (the Tarkovsky film's original double-bill partner had failed to turn up), the two films went together remarkably well - they're both about obsessive loners who end up enforcing their vision of a better world onto their far less willing families.

[Cap'n Al]

Weir probably is a great contemporary director, if only on the strength of <i>Picnic at Hanging Rock</i> and <i>Witness</i>. Although I like <i>Dead Poet's Society</i> on a shamelessly manipulative level, I wouldn't call it a masterpiece, and <i>The Truman Show</i> works mainly because of Andrew Niccol's ingenious script (which isn't as good as his script to Gattaca, however.)

[Rollo Tomassi]

Originally posted by ethanfox
Do you realise there has not been a decent DVD relesed of "Fearless" (my favourite film

Fearless is one of my favourites too, and the R1 DVD looks dreadful. Please, please, please, will someone release a decent version of this massively under-seen movie?

[edrch]

I feel that there is another director even more underrated than Peter Weir: Nicolas Roeg. A truly original director who has created some inspired films. Performance, Walkabout, Don't Look Now, The Man Who Feel to Earth, Bad Timing....

I would love a Faber & Faber book dedicated to the man - surely someone must be out there planning a study on his work?

[Michael Brooke]

Unfortunately, he's also made some absolute toss in recent years - from <I>Performance</I> to, erm, <I>Full Body Massage</I> (and yes, I've seen it!) has got to be one of the saddest declines of any once-great director.

Just about the only post-1983 film I really rate is <I>The Witches</I>.

[Cap'n Al]

Originally posted by Michael Brooke
Unfortunately, he's also made some absolute toss in recent years - from <I>Performance</I> to, erm, <I>Full Body Massage</I> (and yes, I've seen it!) has got to be one of the saddest declines of any once-great director.

I can think of far worse, how about:

William Friedkin (The French Connection to Jade)
Michael Cimino (The Deer Hunter to Sunseeker)
Francis Ford Coppola (The Godfather to Jack)
Carol Reed (The Third Man to Flap!)
Michael Powell (The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp to The Boy who turned Yellow)

And that's just for starters...Full Body Massage, from what I've heard, is a halfway interesting psychological drama, and the remarkable Performance was, of course, co-directed by Donald Cammell; in terms of solo credits, Don't Look Now is arguably a more representative film.