Jane Campion | |
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.jpg) Campion in 2016 | |
| Born | Elizabeth Jane Campion (1954-04-30)30 April 1954 (age 71) Wellington, New Zealand |
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| Children | 2, includingAlice Englert |
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Dame Elizabeth Jane CampionDNZM (born 30 April 1954) is a New Zealand filmmaker.[1] Best known for her feature films with themes of rebellion and often focused on women in leading roles who are outsiders in society, Campion is regarded among one of the prominent female filmmakers inwomen's cinema.
Campion made her film debutSweetie (1989), and continues to directingfeminist filmsAn Angel at My Table (1990),The Portrait of a Lady (1996),Holy Smoke! (1998), andBright Star (2009). She is best known for writing and directing the critically acclaimed filmsThe Piano (1993) andThe Power of the Dog (2021), for which she has received twoAcademy Awards altogether. She also co-created the television seriesTop of the Lake (2013) and received numerousPrimetime Emmy Award nominations.
Her accolades including twoAcademy Awards, twoBAFTA Awards, twoGolden Globe Awards, twoPalme d'Or (both feature and short), aSilver Lion award and aDirectors Guild of America Award, and nominations of threePrimetime Emmy Awards. Campion was appointed a Dame Companion of theNew Zealand Order of Merit (DNZM) in the2016 New Year Honours, for services to film.
Campion was born inWellington, New Zealand, the second daughter ofEdith Campion (born Beverley Georgette Hannah), an actress, writer, and heiress; andRichard M. Campion, a teacher, and theatre and opera director.[2][3][4] Her maternal great-grandfather was Robert Hannah, a well-known shoe manufacturer, the founder ofHannahs Shoe Companies, for whomAntrim House was built. Her father came from a family that belonged to the fundamentalist ChristianExclusive Brethren sect.[5] She attendedQueen Margaret College andWellington Girls' College.[6] Along with her sister, Anna, a year and a half her senior, and brother, Michael, seven years her junior, Campion grew up in the world of New Zealand theatre.[3] Their parents founded the New Zealand Players.[7] Campion initially rejected the idea of a career in the dramatic arts and graduated instead with aBachelor of Arts in Anthropology fromVictoria University of Wellington in 1975.[3]
In 1976, she enrolled in theChelsea Art School in London and travelled throughout Europe. She earned a graduate diploma in visual arts (painting) from theSydney College of the Arts at theUniversity of Sydney in 1981. Campion's later film work was shaped in part by her art school education; she has, even in her mature career, cited painterFrida Kahlo and sculptorJoseph Beuys as influences.[3]
Campion's dissatisfaction with the limitations of painting[3] led her to filmmaking and the creation of her first short,Tissues, in 1980. In 1981, she began studying at theAustralian Film, Television and Radio School, where she made several more short films and graduated in 1984.[8]
Campion's first short film,Peel (1982), won theShort FilmPalme d'Or at the1986 Cannes Film Festival,[9] and other awards followed for the shortsPassionless Moments (1983),A Girl's Own Story (1984), andAfter Hours (1984). After leaving the Australian Film and Television School, she directed an episode for ABC's light entertainment seriesDancing Daze (1986), which led to her first TV film,Two Friends (1986), produced by Jan Chapman.[10] Her feature debut,Sweetie (1989), won international awards.
Further recognition came withAn Angel at My Table (1990), a biopic about the life of New Zealand writerJanet Frame, from a screenplay written byLaura Jones. Widespread recognition followed withThe Piano (1993), which won the Palme d'Or at the1993 Cannes Film Festival,[11] Best Director from theAustralian Film Institute, and anAcademy Award for Best Original Screenplay in 1994. At the66th Academy Awards, Campion was the second woman ever to be nominated for Best Director for her movieThe Piano.[12]
Campion's 1996 filmThe Portrait of a Lady, based on theHenry James novel, featuredNicole Kidman,John Malkovich,Barbara Hershey andMartin Donovan.Holy Smoke! (1999) saw Campion teamed withHarvey Keitel for a second time (the first beingThe Piano), this time withKate Winslet as the female lead.In the Cut (2003), anerotic thriller based onSusanna Moore's bestseller, providedMeg Ryan an opportunity to depart from her more familiar onscreen persona. In 2006 she producedAbduction: The Megumi Yokota Story.
Her 2009 filmBright Star, a biographical drama about poetJohn Keats (played byBen Whishaw) and his loverFanny Brawne (Abbie Cornish), was shown at the Cannes Film Festival.[citation needed] In an interview withJan Lisa Huttner, Campion discussed how she focused on Fanny's side of the story, pointing out that only two of the film's scenes did not feature her.[13] Campion created, wrote, and directed the TV mini-seriesTop of the Lake,[14] which received near universal acclaim,[15][16] won numerous awards—including, for its lead actressElisabeth Moss, aGolden Globe Award for Best Actress – Miniseries or Television Film and aCritics' Choice Television Award for Best Actress in a Movie/Miniseries—and was nominated for thePrimetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Miniseries or a Movie.[17] Campion was also nominated for thePrimetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Directing for a Miniseries, Movie or a Dramatic Special.[18]
She was the head of the jury for the Cinéfondation and Short Film sections at the2013 Cannes Film Festival[19] and the head of the jury for the main competition section of the2014 Cannes Film Festival.[20] When Canadian filmmakerXavier Dolan received thePrix du Jury for his filmMommy, he said that Campion'sThe Piano "made me want to write roles for women—beautiful women with soul, will and strength, not victims or objects." Campion responded by rising from her seat to give him a hug.[21][22] In 2014, it was announced that Campion was nearing a deal to direct an adaptation ofRachel Kushner's novelThe Flamethrowers.[23][24]
In 2015, Campion confirmed that she would co-direct and co-write a second season ofTop of the Lake with the story moved toSydney andHarbour City, Hong Kong, and withElisabeth Moss reprising her role as Robin Griffin.[25] The sequel series titledTop of the Lake: China Girl was released in 2017. Shot and set in Sydney,Top of the Lake: China Girl featuresAlice Englert, Campion's daughter, in a lead role as Robin's biological daughter. The series also featuresEwen Leslie,David Dencik andNicole Kidman.
In 2019, Campion's first film in a decade was announced, an adaptation ofThomas Savage's novelThe Power of the Dog. The film was written and directed by her and was released in 2021,[26] having premiered at the78th Venice International Film Festival, where Campion was awarded theSilver Lion for Best Direction.[27] The film was critically acclaimed internationally, winning numerous awards and nominations for the direction, screenplay, and performance of the cast of actors.[28] Campion earned three nominations in the respective categories for Best Director, Best Screenplay and Best Picture at theGolden Globe Awards,AACTA International Awards,Critics' Choice Movie Awards, andSatellite Awards. Campion issued an apology toSerena andVenus Williams following criticism of her acceptance speech forCritics Choice for Best Director, in which Campion said, "And you know, Serena and Venus, you are such marvels. However, you do not play against the guys — like I have to." Her apology included, "I made a thoughtless comment equating what I do in the film world with all that Serena Williams and Venus Williams have achieved," she said. "I did not intend to devalue these two legendary Black women and world-class athletes."[29] In February 2022, the film received 12 nominations at the94th Academy Awards, leading that year's Oscar nominations.[30] The film was nominated for Best Picture, Best Director, Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Actor forBenedict Cumberbatch, Best Supporting Actress forKirsten Dunst, and Best Supporting Actor for bothKodi Smit-McPhee andJesse Plemons.[31] Campion became the first woman to receive multiple Best Director nominations, and she won Best Director for the film.[32] She is also the first woman to win Best Director without also winning a corresponding Best Picture.
In 1992, Campion married Colin David Englert, an Australian who worked as a second unit director onThe Piano.[33] Their first child, Jasper, was born in 1993 but lived for only 12 days.[34] Their second child,Alice Englert, was born in 1994; she is an actress. The couple divorced in 2001.[35]
In V.W. Wexman'sJane Campion: Interviews (1999), criticDavid Thomson describes Campion "as one of the best young directors in the world today."[36] In Sue Gillett's "More Than Meets The Eye: The Mediation of Affects in Jane Campion'sSweetie", Campion's work is described as "perhaps the fullest and truest way of being faithful to the reality of experience"; by utilising the "unsayable" and "unseeable", she manages to catalyze audience speculation.[37] Campion's films tend to gravitate around themes of gender politics, such as seduction and female sexual power. This has led some to label Campion's body of work as feminist; however, Rebecca Flint Marx argues that "while not inaccurate, [the feminist label] fails to fully capture the dilemmas of her characters and the depth of her work."[38] Despite the positive feminist reputation of her work, Campion has received criticism from some feminists.bell hooks argues thatThe Piano "seduces and excites audiences with its uncritical portrayal of sexism andmisogyny" and even though the film touches upon feminist tropes, it "celebrates and eroticizes male domination."[39]
Campion was appointed a Dame Companion of theNew Zealand Order of Merit (DNZM) in the2016 New Year Honours, for services to film.[40][41]
| Year | Title | Director | Writer | Producer | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1986 | Two Friends | Yes | No | No | Television film |
| 1989 | Sweetie | Yes | Yes | No | |
| 1990 | An Angel at My Table | Yes | No | No | |
| 1993 | The Piano | Yes | Yes | No | |
| 1996 | The Portrait of a Lady | Yes | No | No | |
| 1999 | Holy Smoke! | Yes | Yes | No | |
| 2003 | In the Cut | Yes | Yes | No | |
| 2006 | Abduction: The Megumi Yokota Story | No | No | Yes | Documentary |
| 2009 | Bright Star | Yes | Yes | Yes | |
| 2021 | The Power of the Dog | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Year | Title | Director | Writer | Producer | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1980 | Tissues | Yes | Yes | No | |
| 1981 | Mishaps of Seduction and Conquest | Yes | Yes | No | |
| 1982 | Peel: An Exercise in Discipline | Yes | Yes | No | |
| 1983 | Passionless Moments | Yes | Yes | Yes | |
| 1984 | A Girl's Own Story | Yes | Yes | No | |
| After Hours | Yes | Yes | No | ||
| 2006 | The Water Diary | Yes | Yes | No | Segment of8 |
| 2007 | The Lady Bug | Yes | Yes | No | Segment ofTo Each His Own Cinema |
| 2012 | I'm the One | No | No | Yes | |
| 2016 | Family Happiness | No | No | Yes |
| Year | Title | Director | Writer | Producer | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2013 | Top of the Lake | Yes | Yes | Yes | Miniseries; co-directed withGarth Davis |
| 2017 | Top of the Lake: China Girl | Yes | Yes | Yes | Miniseries; co-directed withAriel Kleiman |
Work Actor | 1986 | 1989 | 1990 | 1993 | 1996 | 1999 | 1999 | 2003 | 2009 | 2013 | 2017 | 2021 |
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Two Friends (TV) | Top of the Lake (S1) | Top of the Lake (S2) | ||||||||||
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| Genevieve Lemon | | | | | | | ||||||
| Elisabeth Moss | | | ||||||||||
| Kerry Walker | | |
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