Neil Jordan | |
|---|---|
 Jordan at the 2010Tribeca Film Festival | |
| Born | Neil Patrick Jordan (1950-02-25)25 February 1950 (age 75) Sligo, Ireland |
| Education | University College Dublin (B.A., 1972) |
| Occupations |
|
| Years active | 1979–present |
| Spouse(s) | Vivienne Shields (divorced) |
| Children | 5 |
Neil Patrick Jordan (born 25 February 1950) is an Irish filmmaker and writer. He first achieved recognition for his short story collection,Night in Tunisia, which won theGuardian Fiction Prize in 1979.[1][2] After a stint working atRTÉ, he made his directorial debut with the 1982 filmAngel.
Jordan's best-known films include the crime thrillersMona Lisa (1986) andThe Crying Game (1992), the horror dramasInterview with the Vampire (1994) andByzantium (2012), the biopicMichael Collins (1996), the black comedyThe Butcher Boy (1997), theGraham Greene adaptationThe End of the Affair (1999), the transgender-themed dramedyBreakfast on Pluto (2005), and the psychological thrillerGreta (2018). Jordan also created theShowtime Network television seriesThe Borgias (2011–2013) and Sky Atlantic'sRiviera (2017–2020).
He is the recipient of numerous accolades for his film work, including anAcademy Award, twoBAFTA Awards, threeIFTA Film & Drama Awards, aGolden Lion and aSilver Bear. In 1996, he was honoured with receiving the FrenchOrdre des Arts et des Lettres.[3]
Jordan was born inSligo, the son of Angela (née O'Brien), a painter, and Michael Jordan, a professor.[4] He was educated atSt. Paul's College, Raheny. Later, Jordan attendedUniversity College Dublin, where he studied Irish history and English literature. He graduated in 1972 with a BA in History. He became involved in student theatre there, where he metJim Sheridan, who was also later to become an important Irish film director. After graduation, in 1976 Jordan produced his first collection of short stories:Night in Tunisia and other Stories.[5]
Of his religious background, Jordan said in a 1999Salon interview: "I was brought up a Catholic and was quite religious at one stage in my life, when I was young. But it left me with no scars whatever; it just sort of vanished." He said about his current beliefs that "God is the greatest imaginary being of all time. Along withEinstein'sGeneral Theory of Relativity, the invention of God is probably the greatest creation of human thought."[6]
Jordan's career began in the late 1970s working for the Irish television channelRTÉ. His work included writing storylines for the children's fantasy seriesWanderly Wagon.[7] His first collection of short stories,Night in Tunisia, was published byDublin's Irish Writers Co-operative in 1976. It won theGuardian Fiction Prize in 1979.[8]
In 1981, whenJohn Boorman was filmingExcalibur in Ireland, he recruited Jordan as a "creative associate". A year later, Boorman was executive producer on Jordan's first featureAngel, a tale of a musician caught up inthe Troubles played byStephen Rea, who has subsequently appeared in almost all of Jordan's films to date. During the 1980s, he directed films that won him acclaim, includingThe Company of Wolves andMona Lisa, both made in England.The Company of Wolves, a dark and sexually themed reimagining of theLittle Red Riding Hood fairy tale based on short stories byAngela Carter, became a cult favourite.
As a writer/director, Jordan has a highly idiosyncratic body of work, ranging from mainstream hits likeInterview with the Vampire to commercial failures likeWe're No Angels to a variety of more personal, low-budgetarthouse pictures. He was also the driving force behind the cable TV seriesThe Borgias.
Unconventional sexual relationships are a recurring theme in Jordan's work, and he often finds a sympathetic side to characters that audiences would traditionally consider deviant or downright horrifying. His filmThe Miracle, for instance, follows two characters who struggle to resist a strong, incestuous attraction.Interview with the Vampire, like theAnne Rice book it was based on, focused on the intense, intimate interpersonal relationship of two undead men who murder humans nightly (although the pair never have sex, they are clearly lovers of a sort), accompanied by an equally complex vampire woman who is eternally trapped in the body of a little girl. While Lestat (Tom Cruise) is depicted in an attractive but villainous manner, his partner Louis (Brad Pitt) and the child vampire Claudia (Kirsten Dunst) are meant to capture the audience's sympathy despite their predatory nature. In the remake ofThe End of the Affair, two people (Ralph Fiennes andJulianne Moore) engage in a love affair that will end as suddenly as it started, with both not wanting its end.
In addition to the unusual sexuality of Jordan's films, he frequently returns to the Troubles ofNorthern Ireland.The Crying Game andBreakfast on Pluto both concern a transgender character (played byJaye Davidson andCillian Murphy, respectively), both concern The Troubles and both feature frequent Jordan leading man Stephen Rea. The two films, however, are very different, withThe Crying Game being a realistic thriller/romance, andBreakfast on Pluto is a much more episodic, stylised, darkly comic biography. Jordan also frequently tells stories about children or young people, such asThe Miracle andThe Butcher Boy. While his pictures are most often grounded in reality, he occasionally directs more fantastic or dreamlike films, such asThe Company of Wolves,High Spirits,Interview with the Vampire andIn Dreams.
The critical success of Jordan's early pictures led him to Hollywood, where he directedHigh Spirits andWe're No Angels; both were critical and financial disasters. He later returned home to make the more personalThe Crying Game, which was nominated for six Academy Awards. Jordan won theAcademy Award for Best Original Screenplay for the film.[9] Its unexpected success led him back to American studio filmmaking, where he directedInterview with the Vampire. He also directed the crime dramaThe Brave One starring Jodie Foster.
Neil Gaiman announced during hisToday show appearance on 27 January 2009, that Neil Jordan would be directing the film of hisNewbery Medal-winning bookThe Graveyard Book.[10] Jordan also wrote and directed the 2009 Irish-made filmOndine, starringColin Farrell andAlicja Bachleda-Curuś. He also directedByzantium, an adaptation of the vampire play of the same name starringSaoirse Ronan,Gemma Arterton andJonny Lee Miller.[11]
In 2011, Jordan's next feature was announced as the later aborted sci-fi romanceBroken Dream, which was to have featuredBen Kingsley andJohn Hurt.[12]
He directed the thrillerGreta (2018), starringIsabelle Huppert andChloë Grace Moretz.
After working on the scripts forRiviera, Jordan has disowned the show, due to his scripts being reworked by others. He said he had no idea who rewrote these episodes. "They were changed, to my huge surprise and considerable upset. There were various sexual scenes introduced into the story and a lot of very expository dialogue. I objected in the strongest terms possible."[13]
Jordan has five children: Anna and Sarah from his marriage to solicitor Vivienne Shields; Dashiel and Daniel from his current marriage to Brenda Rawn, and Ben, from a relationship with architect Mary Donohoe. Jordan lives inDalkey, Dublin.[14]
In 1996, Neil Jordan was honoured with receiving the FrenchOrdre des Arts et des Lettres.[15] He has received many honorary doctorates, including fromTrinity College Dublin,University College Dublin, andQueen's University Belfast.[16][17][18]
In 2009, he signed a petition in support of directorRoman Polanski, calling for his release after he was arrested in Switzerland in relation to his1977 charge for drugging and raping a 13-year-old girl.[19][20]
In 2018, he donated his archives to theNational Library of Ireland. Jordan's donation included TV and film scripts, production files, notebooks, storyboards and personal correspondence with artists and political figures.[21]
| Year | Title | Director | Writer | Producer | Other | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1981 | Excalibur | No | No | No | Yes | Creative associate |
| Traveller | No | Yes | No | No | ||
| 1982 | Angel | Yes | Yes | No | No | Directorial Debut |
| 1984 | The Company of Wolves | Yes | Yes | No | No | |
| 1986 | Mona Lisa | Yes | Yes | No | No | |
| 1988 | High Spirits | Yes | Yes | No | No | |
| 1989 | We're No Angels | Yes | No | No | No | |
| 1991 | The Miracle | Yes | Yes | No | No | |
| 1992 | The Crying Game | Yes | Yes | No | No | |
| 1994 | Interview with the Vampire | Yes | No | No | No | |
| 1996 | Michael Collins | Yes | Yes | No | No | |
| 1997 | The Butcher Boy | Yes | Yes | executive | No | |
| 1999 | In Dreams | Yes | Yes | No | No | |
| The End of the Affair | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | ||
| 2000 | Not I | Yes | No | No | No | Short film |
| 2002 | The Good Thief | Yes | Yes | executive | No | |
| 2003 | The Actors | No | story | executive | No | |
| 2005 | Breakfast on Pluto | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | |
| 2007 | The Brave One | Yes | No | No | No | |
| 2009 | Ondine | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | |
| 2012 | Byzantium | Yes | No | No | No | |
| 2018 | Greta | Yes | Yes | executive | No | |
| 2022 | Marlowe | Yes | Yes | No | No |
Producer only
| Year | Title | Director | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1988 | The Courier | Frank Deasy Joe Lee | Executive producer |
| 1999 | The Last September | Deborah Warner | |
| 2003 | Intermission | John Crowley |
| Year | Title | Director | Writer | Executive Producer | Creator | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1979 | Miracles & Miss Langan | No | Yes | No | No | TV movie |
| 2011–13 | The Borgias | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Directed 6 episodes Wrote 20 episodes |
| 2017–20 | Riviera | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | Wrote 2 episodes |
| Year | Title | Academy Awards | BAFTA Awards | Golden Globe Awards | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nominations | Wins | Nominations | Wins | Nominations | Wins | ||
| 1984 | The Company of Wolves | 4 | |||||
| 1986 | Mona Lisa | 1 | 6 | 1 | 4 | 1 | |
| 1992 | The Crying Game | 6 | 1 | 7 | 1 | 1 | |
| 1994 | Interview with the Vampire | 2 | 4 | 2 | 2 | ||
| 1996 | Michael Collins | 2 | 2 | 2 | |||
| 1999 | The End of the Affair | 2 | 10 | 1 | 4 | ||
| 2005 | Breakfast on Pluto | 1 | |||||
| 2007 | The Brave One | 1 | |||||
| Total | 13 | 1 | 33 | 5 | 15 | 1 | |
| Year | Title | Awards/Nominations |
|---|---|---|
| 1986 | Mona Lisa | Nominated-BAFTA Award for Best Direction Nominated-BAFTA Award for Best Original Screenplay Nominated-Golden Globe Award for Best Screenplay |
| 1992 | The Crying Game | Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay Nominated-Academy Award for Best Director Nominated-BAFTA Award for Best Direction Nominated-BAFTA Award for Best Original Screenplay |
| 1996 | Michael Collins | Golden Lion |
| 1997 | The Butcher Boy | Silver Bear for Best Director |
| 1999 | The End of the Affair | BAFTA Award for Best Adapted Screenplay Nominated-BAFTA Award for Best Direction Nominated-Golden Globe Award for Best Director |
| 2011 | The Borgias | Nominated-Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Directing for a Drama Series (for episodes "The Poisoned Chalice" and "The Assassin" ) |
Under Jordan's direction, these actors have received Academy Award nominations for their performances in these respective roles.
| Year | Performer | Film | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| Academy Award for Best Actor | |||
| 1987 | Bob Hoskins | Mona Lisa | Nominated |
| 1993 | Stephen Rea | The Crying Game | Nominated |
| Academy Award for Best Actress | |||
| 2000 | Julianne Moore | The End of the Affair | Nominated |
| Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor | |||
| 1993 | Jaye Davidson | The Crying Game | Nominated |
