Philip Kaufman | |
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 Kaufman in 1991 | |
| Born | (1936-10-23)October 23, 1936 (age 89) Chicago, Illinois, U.S. |
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| Years active | 1964–2012 |
| Style | |
| Spouse | |
| Children | 1 |
| Website | PhilipKaufman.com |
Philip Kaufman (born October 23, 1936) is an Americanfilm director andscreenwriter who has directed fifteen films over a career spanning nearly five decades. He has received numerous accolades including aBAFTA Award along with nominations for anAcademy Award, and aPrimetime Emmy Award. He has been described as a "maverick" and an "iconoclast,"[1] notable for his versatility and independence, often directing eclectic and controversial films. He is considered an"auteur" whose films have always expressed his personal vision.[2]: 1 Kaufman's works have included genres such asrealism,horror,fantasy,erotica,western, andcrime.
Kaufman earned his breakthrough for the filmThe Unbearable Lightness of Being (1988) which earned him theBAFTA Award for Best Adapted Screenplay as well as a nomination for theAcademy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay. He is noted for directing such films asThe Wanderers (1979),Rising Sun (1993), the remake ofInvasion of the Body Snatchers (1978),Henry & June (1990), andQuills (2000). He gained prominence forThe Right Stuff (1983), which received eightAcademy Award nominations, includingBest Picture. He is also known for directing theHBO filmHemingway & Gellhorn (2012), for which he received aPrimetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Directing for a Miniseries, Movie or a Dramatic Special nomination.
Kaufman was born inChicago in 1936, the only son of Elizabeth (née Brandau), a housewife, and Nathan Kaufman, a produce businessman. He was the grandson ofGerman Jewish immigrants.[3] One of his grammar and high school friends wasWilliam Friedkin, who also became a director.[3] He developed an early love of movies, and during his youth he would often go todouble features.[2]
He attended theUniversity of Chicago where he received a degree in history, and then enrolled atHarvard Law School where he spent a year. He returned to Chicago for a postgraduate degree, hoping to become a professor of history.[1]
Before graduating Kaufman became involved in thecounterculture movement and in 1960 moved to San Francisco. He took various jobs there, including postal worker, and befriended a number of influential people, such as writerHenry Miller.[1] He and his wife then decided to travel and live in Europe for a while where he would teach.[4] After spending time working on akibbutz in Israel, he taught English and math for two years in Greece and Italy.[4] During his travels he also met authorAnaïs Nin, whose relationship with her lover,Henry Miller, later became the inspiration and subject for Kaufman's filmHenry & June (1990).[1]
He metSaugus, Massachusetts-born Rose Fisher in 1957, when he was 21 and she was 18, and both were undergraduates at theUniversity of Chicago. A year later, in 1958, they married. They had one son, Peter.[5] Rose Kaufman was also a screenwriter and had bit roles in two of her husband's films.[6][5] After backpacking in Europe with his wife and their young son, they returned to the United States. His time in Europe heavily influenced Kaufman's decision to become a filmmaker, when he and his wife would wander into small movie theaters showcasing the works of experimental new filmmakers such asJohn Cassavetes andShirley Clarke, among others.[1] He recalls the effect of being exposed to those filmmakers as the "start of something new" which would later inspire the European flavor of many of his films: "I could feel the cry of America, the sense of jazz ... So I came back to Chicago in 1962 and set about trying to learn as much as I could, seeing every foreign movie I could."[2]
Kaufman returned to Chicago, ready to make his first feature film. He went around town looking for funding for his directorial debut,Goldstein (1964), co-written and co-directed with Benjamin Manaster. Kaufman initially conceived of the story in an unfinished novel, but at the urging ofAnaïs Nin he then made it into a "mystical comedy" film.[2]: 5 It was inspired by a story fromMartin Buber'sTales of the Hasidim, and was filmed on location in Chicago with a cast composed of local actors fromThe Second City comedy troupe.[2]: 5
The film won the Prix de la Nouvelle Critique (New Critics Prize) at the 1964Cannes Film Festival,[3] with French directorJean Renoir calling it the best American film he had seen in 20 years.[3]François Truffaut, another leading French director, was visiting Chicago when the film premiered and he came to the opening. Kaufman recalled that Truffaut "leaped to his feet" in the middle of the screening and began applauding.[2]: 8
Two years later, Kaufman went on to directFearless Frank (1967), a comic book/counterculture fable, which he wrote, produced, and directed. It costarredJon Voight in his film debut. Kaufman spent four years trying to find a distributor, but the film was a box-office failure when it finally played. While the movie did not gain as much attention asGoldstein, it did help Kaufman land a contract inUniversal Studios' Young Directors Program in 1969.[7]
In 1972, Kaufman wrote and directedThe Great Northfield Minnesota Raid starringRobert Duvall asJesse James, in what was his first commercial film after the previous two independent ones. He spent a lot of time researching the real life characters when writing the screenplay, although the film took some liberties portraying some of the factual details.[8] TheLos Angeles Times wrote that "Kaufman is not an angry revisionist, but seems to be trying to tell it like it must have been, with an amused detachment, which sees the events as something close to an absurd spectacle."[8]
Kaufman directedThe White Dawn in 1974, a drama based on the novel of the same name byJames Houston. Shot in documentary style, a story about whalers, played byWarren Oates,Louis Gossett Jr., andTimothy Bottoms, stranded in the Arctic at the turn of the century. To survive they battle polar bears and take advantage of the Eskimos who had originally saved them.[9]
Kaufman wrote and began directingThe Outlaw Josey Wales in 1975, but was fired as director after artistic differences with its starClint Eastwood, who then directed the film himself.[10] The enmity between Kaufman and Eastwood also stemmed from their mutual pursuit of actressSondra Locke, then 32 and married toGordon Leigh Anderson.[11]
Kaufman directed the science fiction thriller,Invasion of the Body Snatchers in 1978, which became his first box office hit. It was a remake of the 1956 version. In this version, Kaufman moved the setting to San Francisco and recreated the alien threat as more a horror film than science fiction,[12] and in a way that was disturbing, humorous, and believable.[4] CriticPauline Kael said "It may be the best movie of its kind ever made."[13] Critics fromthe San Francisco Chronicle stated that unlike other Hollywood depictions of San Francisco, this representation was "geographically correct to the Powell Street line."[14]
In 1979, he directedThe Wanderers, based on comic novel byRichard Price. The direction of the film illustrated Kaufman's mastery of genre quite different from his previous films. It is the story of a benign Italian gang of teenagers in the Bronx of 1963, withKen Wahl andKaren Allen.[9] It was Wahl's debut film, and Allen's second role, and the film has become a cult favorite.[15][16]
In 1981, Kaufman became involved with the firstIndiana Jones film,Raiders of the Lost Ark, for which he received story credit. The story and character of Indiana Jones were created byGeorge Lucas, while Kaufman came up with theMacGuffin in the story being theArk of the Covenant.[4]
In 1983, Kaufman directed and wrote the screenplay for the critically acclaimed film,The Right Stuff, an adaptation of the best-sellingbook of the same name byTom Wolfe. The story is based on the events and lives of the original test pilots who were selected to become the first U.S. astronauts. The film helped launch or boost the careers of numerous little-known actors, includingEd Harris,Scott Glenn,Fred Ward andDennis Quaid.[citation needed]
Kaufman hiredWilliam Goldman to write the screenplay, but after a number of disputes about the focus of the story, Goldman quit and Kaufman wrote the screenplay himself. Goldman wanted the story to portray patriotism and center mostly on the astronauts, whereas Kaufman wanted much of the story to focus onChuck Yeager (played bySam Shepard), whom Goldman's script left out completely. Goldman writes in his memoirs, "Phil's heart was with Yeager."[17] And Shepard's biographer, Don Shewey, explains that "though its chief subject is the astronauts, Yeager is the apple of Kaufman's heroic eye."[18] CriticDavid Thomson agrees:
I think Kaufman picked Shepard for the way he represents the movie star as real man and existentialist ... a man in a leather jacket on a horse meeting a jet plane in the desert. That is an arresting image, and Shepard is all that Kaufman wanted inThe Right Stuff.[19][20]
Historian Michael Barson considers it one of the more ambitious pictures of the 1980s.[9] Roger Ebert said the film was "impressive," noting that the way Kaufman had organized the material into one of the "best recent American movies, is astonishing."[21] The film was nominated for eight Academy Awards (including Best Picture) and won four, yet failed at the box office.[9] Kaufman earned the Writers Guild and Directors Guild nomination for his satiric adaptation of the astronaut program.[4] "It may be the last movie of the heroic 1970s," writes Thomson.[19]
The Unbearable Lightness of Being was directed and co-written by Kaufman in 1988. The film is based on the novel byMilan Kundera which takes place during theSoviet invasion of Czechoslovakia in 1968. Kaufman was nominated for anAcademy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay.[22]
In 1990, he wrote and directedHenry & June, a re-creation of the affairs among and between Henry Miller, June Miller, and Anais Nin in 1931 Paris. The film created some controversy when it was released.[9] It was the first film to be given anNC-17 rating by the MPAA.
Kaufman directedRising Sun in 1993, an adaptation ofMichael Crichton's thriller which takes place in Los Angeles. The film starredSean Connery andWesley Snipes. Crichton angrily withdrew early on as a result of Kaufman softening the book's moreanti-Japan posturing.[9]
In 1995, Kaufman narratedChina: The Wild East a documentary directed by his son, Peter Kaufman.
In 2000, Kaufman directedQuills, a film about the increasingly desperate efforts of the Marquis de Sade's jailers to censor his licentious works, starringGeoffrey Rush,Joaquin Phoenix,Kate Winslet andMichael Caine.
In 2003, he directedTwisted, a thriller about a young policewoman whose casual sex partners are murdered while she herself suffers alcoholic blackouts. It starred Ashley Judd, Samuel L. Jackson and Andy Garcia.
In 2012, eight years after his previous film, Kaufman directed anHBO biopic aboutErnest Hemingway and his relationship withMartha Gellhorn entitledHemingway & Gellhorn. It starredClive Owen andNicole Kidman. The film had been planned for many years, but languished as a project so Kaufman could care for his wife Rose, who was fighting a cancer which would prove terminal.[5] Kidman read the script and told him, "I want to do it ... no matter how long it takes. I'm in."[5] The film was nominated for 15Primetime Emmy Awards, including one for Kaufman forOutstanding Directing for a Miniseries, Movie, or Dramatic Special.
Kaufman lives in San Francisco, where he also runs his production company, Walrus and Associates. In 1958, Kaufman met Rose Fisher and the couple married the following year.[23][24] Their only son, Peter, was born in March 1960.[25] Rose, who made appearances in bit roles inHenry & June andInvasion of the Body Snatchers, died in 2009, aged 70, from cancer.[5] She co-wrote the screenplays ofThe Wanderers andHenry & June. Peter Kaufman was the producer ofHenry & June,Rising Sun,Quills,Twisted, andHemingway & Gellhorn. Peter is married toChristine Pelosi, daughter ofPaul andNancy Pelosi, the formerSpeaker of the United States House of Representatives, and they have a daughter, Isabella, born in 2009.[26][27][28]
| Year | Film | Director | Writer | Producer | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1964 | Goldstein | Yes | Yes | Yes | Co-writer and director Benjamin Manaster |
| 1967 | Fearless Frank | Yes | Yes | Yes | |
| 1972 | The Great Northfield, Minnesota Raid | Yes | Yes | No | |
| 1974 | The White Dawn | Yes | No | No | |
| 1976 | The Outlaw Josey Wales | No | Yes | No | Based on the novelThe Rebel Outlaw: Josey Wales |
| 1978 | Invasion of the Body Snatchers | Yes | No | No | Remake of the1956 film |
| 1979 | The Wanderers | Yes | Yes | No | Based onthe 1974 novel, adapted with Rose Kaufman |
| 1981 | Raiders of the Lost Ark | No | Story | No | WithGeorge Lucas |
| 1983 | The Right Stuff | Yes | Yes | No | Based on the1979 novel |
| 1988 | The Unbearable Lightness of Being | Yes | Yes | No | Based on the1984 novel, adapted withJean-Claude Carrière |
| 1990 | Henry & June | Yes | Yes | No | Written with Rose Kaufman |
| 1993 | Rising Sun | Yes | Yes | No | Based on the1992 novel, adapted with Michael Backes andMichael Crichton |
| 1994 | China: The Wild East | No | No | Yes | Documentary film |
| 2000 | Quills | Yes | No | No | Based on the play of the same name |
| 2004 | Twisted | Yes | No | No |
Also credited as "Based on characters created by" for post-Raiders Indiana Jones films and video games.
| Year | Film | Director | Writer | Producer | Notes | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2012 | Hemingway & Gellhorn | Yes | No | No | HBO Television film |
Appearances
| Year | Film | Role | Notes | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1978 | Invasion of the Body Snatchers | City Official on Phone | Voice cameo | |
| 1988 | The Unbearable Lightness of Being | Man walking on street outside Sabina's flat | Cameo | |
| 2004 | Lumps of Joy | Himself | Short film | |
| 2017 | Adventures in Moviegoing | Host | Episode: "Kareem Abdul-Jabbar" |
| Year | Association | Category | Project | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1972 | Writers Guild of America | Best Drama Written for the Screen | The Great Northfield, Minnesota Raid | Nominated |
| 1981 | Best Comedy Written for the Screen | Raiders of the Lost Ark | Nominated | |
| 1983 | Best Adapted Screenplay | The Right Stuff | Nominated | |
| 1983 | Directors Guild of America | Outstanding Direction of a Motion Picture | Nominated | |
| 1988 | Writers Guild of America | Best Adapted Screenplay | Unbearable Lightness of Being | Nominated |
| Academy Award | Best Adapted Screenplay | Nominated | ||
| BAFTA Award | BAFTA Award for Best Adapted Screenplay | Won | ||
| 2012 | Primetime Emmy Award | Outstanding Directing for TV Movie or a Dramatic Special | Hemingway and Gellhorn | Nominated |
| Directors Guild of America | Outstanding Direction of a Miniseries or Movie | Nominated |
| Year | Film | Academy Awards | BAFTAs | Golden Globes | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nominations | Wins | Nominations | Wins | Nominations | Wins | ||
| 1983 | The Right Stuff | 8 | 4 | 1 | |||
| 1988 | The Unbearable Lightness of Being | 2 | 1 | 1 | 2 | ||
| 1990 | Henry & June | 1 | |||||
| 2000 | Quills | 3 | 4 | 2 | |||
| Total | 14 | 4 | 5 | 1 | 5 | ||
According to film historianAnnette Insdorf, "no other living American director has so consistently and successfully made movies for adults, tackling sensuality, artistic creation, and manipulation by authorities."[2]: 1 Other critics note that Kaufman's films are "strong on mood and atmosphere," with powerful cinematography and a "lyrical, poetic style" to portray different historic periods.[1] His later films have a somewhat European style, but the stories always "stress individualism and integrity, and are clearly American."[4]
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