I was still in high school when Dr. Zhivago came out and I thought David Lean was a master who knew what visual artistry was as much as Monet or Turner and as good a story teller as Pasternak could hope for. Then I learned that he did Great Expectations that I saw in Jr. high and also had an impact on me; and think his version is the best version. A great sensitive director with a passion for excellence that shows in the movies that stand up to the test of time.
Long before I knew what a director was, nor how movies are made, I met David Lean's The Great Expectations and was flabbergasted by its power and beauty. I did not speak English, but the film's impact on me did not need any linguistic skills to overwhelm me. It was 1947 and I was a 14-year old refugee kid in a displaced persons camp near the notorious Bergen Belsen in the then British Zone of post-war Germany. I have since seen all of Lean's films and although not always impressed with all, continued to think of his output as extremely important to the history and art of film-making. My favourite Lean movie is Bridge on the River Kwai. He was indeed a film master. and there are not many of his ncalibre working today.
Ryan's Daughter is a really special film and the dramatic quality of the Irish landscape was never captured so beautifully before. In fact this film started what became a huge tourist industry in the far south west if Ireland (Dingle Peninsula) People still come from all over the world to see where the movie was shot (I live nearby) but all that remains now is the schoolhouse and that's in very bad condition. As a matter of interest Ryan's Daughter made back it's budget over four times during the first year of it's release and it must have made a massive amount since then. David Lean was undoubtedly a genius and also an old fashioned English gentleman, very few of which are still around today.
David lean was by far a perfectionist, theres no doubt about that, he drove himself to exhaustion to capture the story in every detail, and the characters that were portrayed in his films.
No rear screen projection was used during his five epic masterpieces, all scenes filmed on location, thats definitely one major visual and emotional reason why.
David Lean has always been my favorite film director, ever since i first discovered movies around forty years ago and upon viewing a pristine clear restoration a few years ago, convinced me that Ryans Daughter is his most visually gorgeous motion picture. David Lean here in 1988 looks very much like Jimmy Page does now, minus the longer hair. Unique and fascinating footage > 30:08
I love reading the comments because you learn SO MUCH that you didn’t know Greetings and Love 💕 to All RU-vid Watchers !!! Don’t know what I’d do without RU-vid!!! Namaste 🙏 And so it is
Agree.....a stunning masterpiece... and one I always go back to over his others ...theres something raw and personal about the film despite its huge canvas
The most probable answer for it was that *_Ryan's Daughter_* came at what turned out to be the worst time in the film business. MGM was in a horrible state of production. They were dependent on re-releases to survive. *_The Graduate,_* *_Bonnie and Clyde,_* *_Easy Rider_* and *_Five Easy Pieces_* were successes in the box office and the world decided that films like that were more important now. Such a weird thing about this, some great works come at the worst possible time. Take Richard Kelly's *_Donnie Darko_* for example. It was released into theaters a month after the 9/11 attacks. That was a bad time for a film like *_that_* to be released, but it became a cult film over the years.
I think because it came out around the new Hollywood era when big-scale romantic epics were falling out of fashion. Why it was EVISCERATED to the level it was is beyond me, but then again, I've heard classic rock bands like Queen and Led Zeppelin were trashed by critics in favor of the emerging punk rock. So maybe it's a need to look "of the moment" and "relevant."
You're not the only one to know and understand the obvious here. So, is it evident that, for many critics, David Lean was irrelevant in 1970 with the New Hollywood movement? Because of the punk rock period, Queen went in a less progressive rock direction with _News of the World_ and _Jazz,_ both having some of their best songs, "We Will Rock You," "We Are The Champions," "Fat Bottomed Girls," and finally, "Don't Stop Me Now," and Pink Floyd went into a much _darker_ direction with what should be known as Roger Waters' epic trilogy of albums, which consist of _Animals,_ _The Wall,_ and _The Final Cut._
He could not be better director if he wasn't editor , he was making great movies then without today's advanced technology. We are tired of watching special effects but nothing , RIP
This is why critics need to watch films multiple times, to understand what it means. To put it simply, in the words of Jim Broadbent's character in _Cloud Atlas,_ *_"What is a critic but one who reads quickly, arrogantly, but never wisely?"_* I love movies so this is the best way to put it. And don't forget, in the late-seventies he spent time trying to make a comeback film, which ended up being, _The Bounty,_ but directed by someone else. Shame, too. He was ready to go, but destiny got him on _A Passage to India._ Still, it's a good film. Not only was it his comeback, but it was his final film.
In the English speaking world at least, it’s doubtful whether any of his calibre have ever preceded or succeeded him. I’m not sure whether that’s a shame or a great compliment upon his exceptional talent.
Tradução de comentário crítico sobre David Lean escrito por David Thomson: magiadoreal.blogspot.com/2020/12/o-dicionario-biografico-de-cinema57-sir.html
