Who is Miloš Forman? (Indie Wire) (Mayo 2024)
Si Miloš Forman, (ipinanganak noong ika-18 ng Pebrero, 1932, Čáslav, Czechoslovakia [ngayon sa Czech Republic] - nagmula noong Abril 13, 2018, Danbury, Connecticut, US), pinanganak ng Czech na New Wave na gumagawa ng pelikula na kilala lalo na para sa natatanging mga pelikulang Amerikano na ginawa niya matapos ang kanyang imigrasyon sa Estados Unidos.
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Sino ang naglaro ng pelikulang Merry Brandybuck sa pelikulang Lord of the Rings?
Lumaki si Forman sa isang maliit na bayan malapit sa Prague. Matapos ang kanyang mga magulang, ang aktibistang guro na si Rudolf Forman at isang maybahay na Protestante, namatay sa mga kampong konsentrasyon ng Nazi, siya ay pinalaki ng dalawang tiyuhin at kaibigan ng pamilya; noong 1960 ay nalaman niya na ang kanyang biyolohikal na ama ay hindi Rudolf Forman ngunit isang arkitekturang Judio. Noong kalagitnaan ng 1950s nag-aral si Forman sa Film Faculty ng Academy of Arts sa Prague. Sa pagtatapos ay sumulat siya ng dalawang mga screenplays, ang una sa kung saan, ang Nechte hanggang sa mně (1955; Iwanan Ito sa Akin), ay kinukunan ng nabanggit na direktor ng Czech na si Martin Frič. Si Forman ay isang katulong na direktor sa pangalawa ng mga screenplays, isang pag-iibigan na pinamagatang Štěňata (1958; Cubs).
Sa huling bahagi ng 1950s at unang bahagi ng '60s si Forman ay kumilos bilang manunulat o katulong na direktor sa iba pang mga pelikula. Ang kauna-unahang pangunahing mga produktong ginawa niya, sina Černý Petr (1964; Black Peter) at Lásky jedné plavovlásky (1965; Loves of a Blonde), ay nagkaroon ng malaking tagumpay kapwa sa loob ng bansa at sa buong mundo — ang huli ay nakatanggap ng isang nominasyon ng Academy Award para sa pinakamahusay na pelikulang pang-wikang banyaga At si Forman ay tinawag bilang isang pangunahing talento ng Czech New Wave. Ang kanyang mga unang pelikula ay nailalarawan sa kanilang pagsusuri sa buhay-klase na buhay at ang kanilang sigasig para sa isang sosyalistang pamumuhay. Ang mga elementong ito ay maliwanag din sa Hoří, má panenko (1967; The Firemen's Ball), na ginalugad ang mga isyu sa lipunan at moral na may banayad na satire. Kapag ang Ball ng Firemen ay pinagbawalan sa Czechoslovakia pagkatapos ng pagsalakay ng Sobyet noong 1968, ang Forman ay lumipat sa Estados Unidos; siya ay naging isang USmamamayan noong 1975.
Forman’s first American film was Taking Off (1971), a story about runaway teenagers and their parents. Although not a box-office success, it won the jury grand prize at the Cannes film festival. The movie was also notable for being the last of Forman’s works to incorporate his early themes. Most of his American films are also bereft of the earlier social concerns that defined his Czech films, although he clearly demonstrated his mastery of the craft of direction and showed a remarkable ability to work with actors.
One Flew over the Cuckoo’s Nest (1975) was an independent production that had been turned down by every major studio, but it catapulted Forman to the forefront of Hollywood directors. A potent adaptation of Ken Kesey’s 1962 novel, it starred Jack Nicholson as Randle P. McMurphy, an irrepressible free spirit who cons his way from a prison work farm into a mental hospital. Against his better judgment, he enters into a war of wills with the sadistic head nurse (played by Louise Fletcher). The film became the first since It Happened One Night (1934) to win all five major Academy Awards: best picture, actor (Nicholson), actress (Fletcher), director, and screenplay (Bo Goldman and Lawrence Hauben).
Hair (1979) was Forman’s much-anticipated version of the Broadway musical, but it was a disappointment at the box office, despite receiving generally positive reviews. The director then made Ragtime (1981), a handsomely mounted, expensive adaptation of E.L. Doctorow’s best-selling novel about early 20th-century America. The historical drama starred James Cagney in his first credited big-screen appearance in some 20 years; it was the actor’s last feature film. Ragtime, however, also failed to find an audience, although it received eight Oscar nominations.
Forman rebounded from those mild disappointments with the acclaimed Amadeus (1984), Peter Shaffer’s reworking of his stage success. F. Murray Abraham gave an Oscar-winning performance as the jealous Antonio Salieri, and Tom Hulce earned praise as Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. The lavish production won eight Oscars, including for best picture and Forman’s second for best director. After that triumph he took a five-year break from directing, reappearing with Valmont (1989), an adaptation of Pierre Choderlos de Laclos’s classic novel Dangerous Liaisons. However, Forman’s version—which starred Colin Firth, Annette Bening, and Meg Tilly—was generally compared unfavourably to Stephen Frears’s adaptation, which had been released the previous year.
In 1996 Forman returned to form with The People vs. Larry Flynt, a biopic of the pornographic magazine publisher whose legal battles provoked debates about freedom of speech. The dramedy featured strong performances, notably by Woody Harrelson in an Oscar-nominated turn as the controversial Flynt, Courtney Love as Flynt’s wife, and Edward Norton as his frustrated attorney. Forman earned an Academy Award nomination for his directing. He also garnered praise for Man on the Moon (1999), in which Jim Carrey channeled the genius of the late comic Andy Kaufman. The fine supporting cast included Danny DeVito, Love, and Paul Giamatti. Less successful was Goya’s Ghosts (2006), a costume drama starring Natalie Portman as a model for the artist Francisco de Goya (Stellan Skarsgård) and Javier Bardem as a church official who rapes her after she is unjustly imprisoned during the Spanish Inquisition. In 2009 Forman codirected the musical Dobre placená procházka (A Walk Worthwhile).
In addition to his directorial efforts, Forman occasionally acted in films, including Heartburn (1986), Keeping the Faith (2000), and Les Bien-Aimés (2011; Beloved). He also cowrote (with Jan Novák) the memoir Turnaround (1994).
