Miloš Forman
Miloš Forman | |
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Born | Jan Tomáš Forman 18 February 1932 |
Died | 13 April 2018 | (aged 86)
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Occupations |
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Years active | 1953–2011 |
Spouses |
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Children | 4 |
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Signature | |
Jan Tomáš "Miloš" Forman (
Forman was an important figure in the Czechoslovak New Wave. Film scholars and Czechoslovak authorities saw his 1967 film The Firemen's Ball as a biting satire on Eastern European Communism. The film was initially shown in theatres in his home country in the more reformist atmosphere of the Prague Spring. However, it was later banned by the Communist government after the invasion by the Warsaw Pact countries in 1968.[4] Forman was subsequently forced to leave Czechoslovakia for the United States, where he continued making films.[5]
He received two Academy Awards for Best Director for the psychological drama One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (1975) and the biographical drama Amadeus (1984). During this time, he also directed notable and acclaimed films such as Black Peter (1964), Loves of a Blonde (1965), Hair (1978), Ragtime (1981), Valmont (1989), The People vs. Larry Flynt (1996) and Man on the Moon (1999).
Early life
Miloš Forman's childhood was marked by the early loss of his parents. His mother, Anna Formanová, was murdered in 1943 in the
Career
Along with cinematographer
1964–1971
In 1967, he directed
"When Soviet tanks rumbled into Prague in August 1968, Forman was in Paris negotiating for the production of Taking Off (1971), his first American film. Claiming that he was out of the country illegally, his Czech studio fired him, forcing Forman to emigrate to New York"[16]
The first movie Forman made in the United States, Taking Off, shared the Grand Prix (ex aequo)(second prize)[17] with Johnny Got His Gun at the 1971 Cannes Film Festival.[18] The film starred Lynn Carlin and Buck Henry, and also featured, as Jeannie, Linnea Heacock, discovered, with friends, in Washington Square Park.[19] It was critically panned and left Forman struggling to find work.[9] Forman later said that it did so poorly he ended up owing the studio $500.[10]
1975–1989
His next film was
Arthur Knight, film critic of
In 1981, he directed
Forman's adaptation, Valmont (1989) of Pierre Choderlos de Laclos's novel Les Liaisons dangereuses had its premiere on 17 November 1989. Another film adaptation by Stephen Frears from the same source material had been released the previous year, and overshadowed Forman's adaptation.[10] The film starred Colin Firth, Meg Tilly and Annette Bening.[9] The film received mixed reviews with critic of the Los Angeles Times Sheila Benson, praising it's gorgeous costumes, but noting its inferior quality to Dangerous Liaisons. She wrote: "Valmont is gorgeous, and for a while you can coast on its costumes and production details....But to consider Valmont in the light of Baudelaire’s words on Les Liaisons Dangereuses--”This book, if it burns, must burn like ice”—is to see just how far down this ice has been watered."[22]
1996–2006
The 1996 biographical film, The People vs. Larry Flynt was a portrayal of pornography mogul Larry Flynt who brought Forman another directing Oscar nomination.[3] The film starred Woody Harrelson, Courtney Love, and Edward Norton. Though critically acclaimed, it grossed only $20 million at the box office.[10] The biography, Man on the Moon (1999) was of famous actor and avant-garde comic Andy Kaufman (Jim Carrey, who won a Golden Globe for his performance) premiered on 22 December 1999. The film also starred Danny DeVito, Courtney Love, and Paul Giamatti. Several actors from One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest appeared in the film, including DeVito.
In 2000, Forman performed alongside actor Edward Norton in Norton's directorial debut, Keeping the Faith (2000), as the wise friend to Norton's conflicted priest.[14] This biography of the Spanish painter Francisco Goya (an American-Spanish co-production), Goya's Ghosts premiered on 8 November 2006. The film starred Natalie Portman, Javier Bardem, Stellan Skarsgård and Randy Quaid. It struggled at the box office.[10] The film received mixed reviews with Phillip French of The Guardian lauding it writing "This is a most engaging, thoughtful, beautifully mounted film".[23] However, Kirk Honeycut from The Hollywood Reporter wrote, "In general, the filmmakers failed to make several basic decisions before shooting...[the] Below-the-line credits are terrific, which only increases an overwhelming sense of disappointment with the film’s failed ambitions."[24]
Unfinished projects
In the late 1950s, Forman and
In the mid-1960s, Forman, Passer and Papoušek were working on a script about a soldier secretly living in Lucerna Palace in Prague. They got stuck writing the script and went to a village firemen's ball. Inspired by the experience, they decided to cancel the script and write The Firemen's Ball instead.[27]
In early 1970s, Forman worked on a script with Thomas Berger based on his novel Vital Parts.[28]
In the early 1990s, Forman co-wrote a screenplay with Adam Davidson. The screenplay, titled Hell Camp, was about an American-Japanese love affair in the world of sumo wrestlers. The picture was to be funded by TriStar Pictures, and was cancelled just four days before shooting because of the disapproval of the Japan Sumo Association, while Forman refused to make the changes requested by the association.[25]
Forman was hand-picked by writer/producer Michael Crichton to direct Disclosure (1994), but subsequently left the project over creative differences with Crichton.[29]
In 1995, it was announced that Forman would direct a remake of Dodsworth (1936) for Warner Bros. starring Harrison Ford, from a script by Alfred Uhry.[29] It was postponed however, following an injury of Forman's.[30][31]
Around 2000, Forman was in talks to direct a film about the early life of Howard Hughes with screenplay by Scott Alexander and Larry Karaszewski, and Edward Norton in the role of the eccentric young billionaire.[32]
Around 2001, Forman was set to direct and co-write the comic crime caper Bad News, adapted from the novel by Donald E. Westlake. Forman was co-writing the script with Doug Wright.[33][34] The project never came to fruition.
In the early 2000s, Forman developed a film project to be titled Embers, adapted by Jean-Claude Carrière from Hungarian novelist Sándor Márai’s novel. The film was about two men in the former Austria-Hungary Empire from different social backgrounds who become friends in military school and meet again 41 years later. Forman cast Sean Connery and Klaus Maria Brandauer as well as Winona Ryder. Several months before shooting, Sean Connery and the Italian producer had a disagreement, and Connery withdrew from the project. Forman was so convinced that Sean Connery fit the role that he didn't want to shoot the film without him and cancelled the project a few days before the shooting was due to start.[25]
In the late 2000s, the screenplay for Ghost of Munich was written by Forman, Jean-Claude Carriere and Václav Havel (the former Czech president and writer, who had studied at school with Forman), inspired by the novel by the French novelist Georges-Marc Benamou. The story takes a closer look at the events that surrounded the Munich Agreement. The role of the French Prime Minister Édouard Daladier was supposed to have been played by the French actor Mathieu Amalric, with his older self played by Gérard Depardieu. However, the production company Pathé was not able to fund the project.[25]
Personal life
Forman was born in
Forman was subsequently raised by two uncles and by family friends.
In his youth, Forman wanted to become a theatrical producer. After the war, he attended the King George boarding school in
Forman's first wife was Czech movie star Jana Brejchová. They met while making Štěňata (1957). They divorced in 1962. Forman had twin sons with his second wife Czech actress and singer Věra Křesadlová . They separated in 1969. Their sons Petr and Matěj (b. 1964) are both involved in the theatre. Forman married Martina Zbořilová on 28 November 1999, and they also had twin sons Jim and Andy (born 1999).[10]
Forman was professor emeritus of film at
Work
Film
Year | English title[54] | Director | Writer | Original title | Ref. |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1955 | Leave It to Me | No | Yes | Nechte to na mně | [55] |
1964 | Black Peter | Yes | Yes | Černý Petr | [56] |
1964 | Audition | Yes | Yes | Konkurz | [56] |
1965 | Loves of a Blonde | Yes | Yes | Lásky jedné plavovlásky | [56] |
1967 | The Firemen's Ball | Yes | Yes | Hoří, má panenko | [57] |
1971 | Taking Off | Yes | Yes | [56] | |
1975 | One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest | Yes | No | [56] | |
1979 | Hair | Yes | No | [56] | |
1981 | Ragtime | Yes | No | [56] | |
1984 | Amadeus | Yes | No | [56] | |
1989 | Valmont | Yes | Yes | [56] | |
1996 | The People vs. Larry Flynt | Yes | No | [56] | |
1999 | Man on the Moon | Yes | No | [56] | |
2006 | Goya's Ghosts | Yes | Yes | [56] |
Documentary
Year | English title[54] | Director | Writer | Original title | Ref. |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1960 | Magic Lantern II | Yes | Yes | ||
1964 | If Only They Ain't Had Them Bands | Yes | Yes | Kdyby ty muziky nebyly | [58] |
Audition | Yes | Yes | Konkurs | [56] | |
1973 | Visions of Eight | Yes | No | Segment: "The Decathlon" | [56] |
Short Films
Year | English title[54] | Director | Writer | Original title | Ref. |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1971 | I Miss Sonia Henie | Yes | No | Short film | [59] |
Television
Year | English title[54] | Director | Writer | Original title | Ref. |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1966 | A well paid walk | Yes | No | Dobře placená procházka | [60] |
Acting credits
Year | Film[54] | Role | Ref. |
---|---|---|---|
1953 | Slovo dělá ženu (A Woman as Good as Her Word) | Young Worker | [55] |
1954 | Stříbrný vítr (Silver wind)
|
dustojník u Stanku | [55] |
1986 | Heartburn | Dmitri | [56] |
1989 | New Year's Day | Lazlo | [56] |
2000 | Keeping the Faith | Father Havel | [56] |
2008 | Chelsea on the Rocks | Himself | [56] |
2009 | Peklo s princeznou (Hell with a Princess) | Erlebub | [55] |
2011 | Beloved (Les Bien-aimés) | Jaromil | [56] |
Theatre
Year | Title[54] | Director | Writer | Ref. |
---|---|---|---|---|
1958 | Laterna magika | No | Yes | [61] |
1960 | Laterna magika II | No | Yes | [61] |
1972 | The Little Black Book | Yes | No | [61] |
2007 | A Walk Worthwhile | Yes | No | [61] |
Awards and nominations
Throughout Forman's career he won two
Honours and legacy
In 1977, he became a naturalized citizen of the United States.
- 1965: Awarded the state prize of Klement Gottwald for Loves of a Blonde[74]
- 1997: The Crystal Globe award for outstanding artistic contribution to world cinema at the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival.[75]
- 1998: Awarded a lifetime Achievement award by the Czech Lion Awards for his contributions to Czech cinema[76]
- 1995: Awarded Czech Medal of Merit[76]
- 2006: Awarded the Hanno R. Ellenbogen Citizenship Award
- 2009: Forman received an honorary degree from Emerson College in Boston, Massachusetts, US.[77]
- 2015: Awarded honorary Doctor of humane letters degree by Columbia University[78]
Year | Title | Academy Awards | BAFTA Awards | Golden Globe Awards | |||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Nominations | Wins | Nominations | Wins | Nominations | Wins | ||
1965 | Loves of a Blonde | 1 | 1 | ||||
1967 | The Firemen's Ball | 1 | |||||
1971 | Taking Off | 6 | |||||
1973 | Visions of Eight | 1 | 1 | ||||
1975 | One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest | 9 | 5 | 10 | 6 | 6 | 6 |
1979 | Hair | 2 | |||||
1981 | Ragtime | 8 | 1 | 7 | |||
1984 | Amadeus | 11 | 8 | 9 | 4 | 6 | 4 |
1989 | Valmont | 1 | 1 | ||||
1996 | The People vs. Larry Flynt | 2 | 5 | 2 | |||
1999 | Man on the Moon | 2 | 1 | ||||
Total | 33 | 13 | 27 | 10 | 30 | 14 |
See also
- List of Big Five Academy Award winners and nominees
- List of Czech Academy Award winners and nominees
References
The Milos Forman Stories von Antonin J. Liehm (ISBN 978-1-138-65829-5)
- iDNES.cz. 1 June 2018. Retrieved 15 January 2021.
- National Library Service for the Blind and Physically Handicapped. Retrieved 23 February 2019.
- ^ a b c List of Milos Forman nominations Archived 11 January 2012 at the Wayback Machine. Awardsdatabase.oscars.org (29 January 2010). Retrieved on 23 June 2011.
- Criterion Collection. Retrieved 11 November 2021.
- Variety. 27 June 2018. Retrieved 19 July 2023.
- ^ Eintrag Rudolf Forman im Gedenkbuch KZ Mittelbau-Dora
- ISBN 80-85274-30-2, p. 119.
- ^ a b c "The Story of Famed Czech Director Miloš Forman". Cityspy. 28 August 2017. Retrieved 14 April 2018.
- ^ a b c d e "The Story of Famed Czech Director Miloš Forman (Part II)". CitySpy. 6 September 2017. Retrieved 14 April 2018.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i Cieply, Michael (14 April 2018). "Milos Forman, Oscar-Winning Director of 'One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest', Dies at 86". The New York Times. Retrieved 14 April 2018.
- ^ a b c d e f "Milos Forman's Masterclass". Grapevine. 6 October 2009. Retrieved 14 April 2018.
- ^ "A Visit to James Mangold's Office". Criterion.com. Retrieved 14 April 2018.
- ^ "The 39th Academy Awards (1967) Nominees and Winners". oscars.org. Retrieved 9 November 2011.
- ^ a b c d e f "Milos Forman, Oscar-Winning Director of 'One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest,' Dies at 86". Variety. Retrieved 14 April 2018.
- ^ "The 41st Academy Awards (1969) Nominees and Winners". oscars.org. Retrieved 15 November 2011.
- ^ cofresi, diana (12 December 2003). "Milos Forman ~ About Milos Forman". American Masters. PBS. Retrieved 23 October 2023.
- ^ "TAKING OFF". Festival de Cannes. Retrieved 22 October 2023.
- ^ "Festival de Cannes: Taking Off". festival-cannes.com. Retrieved 13 April 2009.
- ^ Horwitz, Jonah. "TAKING OFF: Forman's First American Film (and Last Czech Film ?)". Cinematheque. cinema.wisc.edu. Retrieved 23 October 2023.
This essay on Miloš Forman's Taking Off (1971) was written by Jonah Horwitz, Ph.D Candidate in the Communication Arts Department at UW Madison. A 35mm print of Taking Off, part of our "Universal '71" series, will screen on Sunday, April 5, at 2 p.m., in the Chazen Museum of Art.
- ^ "'One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest': THR's 1975 Review". The Hollywood Reporter. 19 November 2018. Retrieved 19 July 2023.
- ^ "Amadeus - Movie Review". Rogerebert.com. Retrieved 19 July 2023.
- ^ "MOVIE REVIEW : 'Valmont': A Not So Dangerous 'Liaisons'". Los Angeles Times. 17 November 1989. Retrieved 19 July 2023.
- ^ French, Philip (5 May 2007). "Review Goya's Ghosts". The Guardian. Retrieved 19 July 2023.
- ^ "Goya's Ghosts". The Hollywood Reporter. 19 July 2007. Retrieved 19 July 2023.
- ^ a b c d "Unrealized Projects :: Miloš Forman". milosforman.com.
- ^ ČSFD: Eine kleine Jazzmusik (TV film)
- ^ "Hoří, má panenko :: Miloš Forman". milosforman.com. Retrieved 7 February 2020.
- ^ "Vital parts : carbon copy of a typescript with autograph corrections, signed / screenplay by Miloš Forman and Thomas Berger". The Morgan Library & Museum. 25 July 2017. Retrieved 5 September 2022.
- ^ a b Variety Staff (29 May 1995). "MILOS FORMAN BACK IN BIZ WITH FLYNT PIC". Variety. Retrieved 20 September 2023.
- ^ Variety Staff (5 February 1995). "A Milos Mishap". Variety. Retrieved 1 October 2023.
- ^ Archerd, Army (16 October 1995). "Linden returns to tuners with 'Dodsworth'". Variety. Retrieved 20 September 2023.
- ^ McDougal, Dennis (9 January 2005). "A Movie Story as Elusive as Its Main Character". The New York Times. Retrieved 20 September 2023.
- ^ Harris, Dana (18 September 2001). "Warner makes 'News'". Variety. Retrieved 1 October 2023.
- ^ Brodesser, Claude; McNary, Dave (8 April 2002). "Regency, Fox nearing 'News'". Variety. Retrieved 1 October 2023.
- ^ "Hana Brejchová". Česko-Slovenská filmová databáze. POMO Media Group. Retrieved 1 November 2014.
- ^ Milos Forman biography; filmreference.com; retrieved 23 June 2011.
- ^ New York Times Obituary, April 14, 2018
- Times of Israel. AFP., April 14, 2018
- ^ Conf. scan of document from the Arolsen Archives where the words "Fleckfieber" (German for typhus) and apparently "Dora Hosp." are mentioned
- ^ See entry Rudolf Forman in the memorial book of the Mittelbau-Dora concentration camp
- ^ See (untick the "Include synonym" box) documents on Rudolf Forman, prisoner number 16209, from his detention and death in Buchenwald in the Arolsen Archives
- ^ a b Wakeman, John. World Film Directors, Volume 2. H. W. Wilson Company. 1988. 349–356.
- ^ She can be found as Anna Forman at the link (Information on Auschwitz Prisoners); her prisoner number seems to be unknown
- ^ a b Tugend, Tom. (19 July 2007) Milos Forman directs Natalie Portman in 'Goya's Ghosts'—film melds art tour and history | Arts. Jewish Journal. Retrieved on 23 June 2011.
- ^ Milos Forman Biography, Britannica.com, 14 February 2018; retrieved 25 February 2018.
- ^ Turnaround Review – Milos Forman – Salem on Literature. Enotes.com. Retrieved on 23 June 2011.
- ^ I Had a Wild Life. The Guardian; retrieved 23 June 2011.
- ^ Penner, John (13 December 2019). "Milos Forman, Ivan Passer and their 73-year friendship: Childhood, escaping Czechoslovakia and conquering Hollywood". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 10 January 2020.
- ^ Milos Forman page at Columbia University. Directory.columbia.edu; retrieved 23 June 2011.
- ^ "Forman, Oscar-winning director of 'Cuckoo's Nest' and 'Amadeus', dies at 86". Reuters. 14 April 2018. Retrieved 14 April 2018.
- ^ "Milos Forman, Oscar-winning director, dies at 86". The Boston Globe. 14 April 2018. Retrieved 14 April 2018.
- ^ Piccalo, Gina (14 April 2018). "Miloš Forman, Oscar-winning Czech director of 'One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest,' dies at 86". Los Angeles Times.
- ^ "Forman, Oscar-winning director of "Cuckoo's Nest" and "Amadeus",..." Reuters. 14 April 2018 – via uk.reuters.com.
- ^ a b c d e f "Miloš Forman". Česko-Slovenská filmová databáze. Retrieved 14 April 2018.
- ^ a b c d "Filmography". MilosForman.com. Retrieved 14 April 2018.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s "Milos Forman". BFI. Archived from the original on 31 March 2016. Retrieved 14 April 2018.
- ^ "Festival de Cannes: The Fireman's Ball". festival-cannes.com. Retrieved 14 April 2018.
- ^ "Kdyby ty muziky nebyly". Zurich Film Festival. Retrieved 14 April 2018.
- ^ "I Miss Sonia Henie". MilosForman.com. Retrieved 14 April 2018.
- ^ a b c "A Walk Worthwhile". MilosForman.com. Retrieved 14 April 2018.
- ^ a b c d "Theatre Projects". MilosForman.com. Retrieved 14 April 2018.
- ^ a b c d e "BAFTA Awards Search". BAFTA. Retrieved 14 April 2018.
- ^ a b c d "Milos Forman". Golden Globes. Retrieved 14 April 2018.
- ^ a b "Milos FORMAN -Festival de Cannes 2018". Cannes Festival. Retrieved 14 April 2018.
- ^ "Berlinale: 1997 Prize Winners". berlinale.de. Retrieved 12 January 2012.
- ^ a b "PRIZES & HONOURS 2000". berlinale.de. Archived from the original on 15 October 2013. Retrieved 9 June 2014.
- ^ a b c d "Results Milos Forman". Academie des Arted de Cinema. Retrieved 14 April 2018.
- ^ "One Flew over the Cuckoo's Nest Awards: List of Awards won by English movie One Flew over the Cuckoo's Nest". The Times of India.
- ^ "Hair". MilosForman.com. Retrieved 14 April 2018.
- ^ a b "Amadeus". MilosForman.com. Retrieved 14 April 2018.
- ^ "Présidences de Cérémonie". Academie des Arts et Techniques du Cinema. Retrieved 14 April 2018.
- ^ "Největší Čech". Ceskatelvize.cz. Retrieved 14 April 2018.
- ^ "Complete National Film Registry Listing". Library of Congress. Retrieved 5 January 2020.
- ^ "Loves of a Blonde". MilosForman.com. Retrieved 14 April 2018.
- ^ "KVIFF History". KVIFF.com. Retrieved 14 April 2018.
- ^ a b "Milos Forman named honorary citizen". Prague.tv. Retrieved 14 April 2018.
- ^ "News Articles in 2009". Emerson College. 12 July 2023.
- ^ "University Commencement, Morningside Campus". columbia.edu. Archived from the original on 12 March 2016. Retrieved 3 June 2015.
External links
- Official website
- https://catalog.afi.com/Person/186661-Milos-Forman
- Appearances on C-SPAN
- Milos Forman: Bibliography of books and articles via UC Berkeley
- Interview with Milos Forman zakka.dk
- Miloš Forman profile czech.cz
- Miloš Forman at IMDb
- Miloš Forman at Find a Grave