Karel Reisz | |
|---|---|
.jpg) Reisz in 1966 | |
| Born | (1926-07-21)21 July 1926 |
| Died | 25 November 2002(2002-11-25) (aged 76) |
| Spouse(s) | Julia Werthimer (m. 1953;div. 1963) |
| Children | 3 |
Karel Reisz (21 July 1926 – 25 November 2002) was a Czech-born British filmmaker and film critic, one of the pioneers of the newrealist strain inBritish cinema during the 1950s and 1960s. Two of the best-known films he directed areSaturday Night and Sunday Morning (1960), a classic ofkitchen sink realism, and the romantic period dramaThe French Lieutenant's Woman (1981).
Reisz was born inOstrava, Czechoslovakia, to a family of Jewish ancestry.[2] His father was a lawyer. Reisz became a refugee, one of the669 children rescued and evacuated from the country bySir Nicholas Winton.[3][4]
He was transported to England in 1938, speaking almost no English, and he eradicated his foreign accent as quickly as possible.[5] After attendingLeighton Park School, he joined theRoyal Air Force toward the end of the war. After the war ended, he learned that both his parents were murdered atAuschwitz.[6][7] Following his war service, Reisz read Natural Sciences atEmmanuel College, Cambridge, and began to write for film journals, includingSight and Sound. He co-foundedSequence in 1947 withLindsay Anderson andGavin Lambert.
Reisz was a founder member of theFree Cinema documentary film movement. His bookThe Technique of Film Editing was first published in 1953, and became a standard textbook in the field.
His first short film,Momma Don't Allow (1955), co-written and co-directed withTony Richardson, was included in the first Free Cinema program shown at theNational Film Theatre in February 1956.[8] The next year he producedEvery Day Except Christmas (1957), directed byLindsay Anderson, followed byBand Wagon (1958).
Reisz and Anderson produced and directedMarch to Aldermaston (1959). Reisz alone directedWe Are the Lambeth Boys (1959), a naturalistic depiction of the members of a South London boys' club, unusual in showing the leisure life of working-class teenagers, withskiffle music and cigarettes,cricket, drawing, and discussion groups.[9] The film was chosen to represent Britain at theVenice Film Festival. (The BBC made two follow-up films about the same people and youth club, broadcast in 1985.) Reisz also producedI Want to Go to School (1959), directed byJohn Krish.
Reisz's first feature film,Saturday Night and Sunday Morning (1960), was based on the social-realism novel byAlan Sillitoe, and used many of the same techniques as his earlier documentaries. In particular, scenes filmed at theRaleigh factory in Nottingham have the look of a documentary, and give the story a vivid sense of verisimilitude.[10] The film won the Grand Award for Best Feature Film at the1961 Mar del Plata International Film Festival.[11] It was successful at the box office and made a film star ofAlbert Finney.
Reisz directed a TV series,Adventure Story (1961). He produced Anderson's feature directorial debutThis Sporting Life (1963),[12] then he and Finney reunited onNight Must Fall (1964).
Reisz directedMorgan – A Suitable Case for Treatment (1966) adapted byDavid Mercer from his 1962 television play.
His fourth feature as director wasIsadora (1968), a biography of dancerIsadora Duncan, with a screenplay byMelvyn Bragg that starredVanessa Redgrave.
Reisz joined theBritish Film Institute's Board of Governors in 1969 with the aim of bolstering support for independent British directors, but left the role after only a year.[13]
Reisz's first film shot in America wasThe Gambler (1974) withJames Caan.[14][15]
He madeWho'll Stop the Rain (1978) withNick Nolte andTuesday Weld.[16][17] He was meant to follow it with an adaptation ofBrian Moore's novelThe Doctor's Wife based on a script byJoe Eszterhas, but the film was never made.[18]
Back in London, Reisz directedThe French Lieutenant's Woman (1981), which was perhaps the most successful of his later films.[19][20] Adapted from theJohn Fowles novel byHarold Pinter, it starredJeremy Irons andMeryl Streep. In 1982, Reisz directedJohn Guare'sGardenia Dreams on stage inBoston.[21]
He directedSweet Dreams (1985), based on the life of country singerPatsy Cline, starringJessica Lange. After it, he made a script aboutLibby Holman forRay Stark, but it was never produced.[22]
Reisz's last feature wasEverybody Wins (1990), with a screenplay byArthur Miller, and based on his play.
From 1991 to 2001, Reisz focused on theatre directing inLondon,Dublin andParis.[23] He directed an adaptation ofThe Deep Blue Sea (1994) for British TV. In 1995, he directedMoonlight byHarold Pinter, starringJason Robards andBlythe Danner. At a Beckett festival at theLincoln Center in 1996, he directedHappy Days. In 1999, he did Pinter'sAshes to Ashes, featuringLindsay Duncan andDavid Strathairn, with theRoundabout Theater Company. At the Pinter Festival at the Lincoln Center in 2001, he stagedA Kind of Alaska andLandscape. When theGate Theatre filmed all Beckett's stage plays, Reisz didAct Without Words I (2001).
Reisz had three sons by his first wife Julia Coppard, whom he later divorced.[24] Reisz wedBetsy Blair, the former wife ofGene Kelly, in 1963, and remained married to her until his death.[19]
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