Happy Birthday, Nicolas Roeg! Born today in 1928 as Nicolas Jack Roeg, this English cinematographer and director is known for his stroking visual style and uncompromising, often controversial, narrative choices.
In the early 1960s, Roeg's most notable works were serving as Second Unit Photography on David Lean's 'Lawrence of Arabia'.
Two years later, Roeg shot Roger Corman's 1964 American/British Pathécolor horror/drama film 'The Masque of the Red Death'.
The following year, Roeg served as a cinematographer on some scenes for Lean's 'Doctor Zhivago'. However, Roeg went uncredited.
Of the 1970s, Roeg was best known for shooting and co-directing the 1970 British crime/drama film 'Performance'.
Roeg had co-directed the feature along with Scottish painter, screenwriter, and film director Donald Cammell, of whom also wrote the screenplay.
After killing a rival in self-defense, British gangster Chas (James Fox) must flee both from the law and from his boss, Harry Flowers (Johnny Shannon).
Chas eventually moves into a funhouse-like flat, believing that this would be the last place anyone would even look for him.
However, the house is owned by Turner (Mick Jagger), a former rock star who lives with female companions Pherber (Anita Pallenberg) and Lucy (Michele Breton).
Chas and Turner initially clash, but Turner becomes fascinated with Chas' life as a criminal.
Through drugs and a series of psychological battles with Turner, Chas eventually emerges as a different man.
Completed in 1968, 'Performance' was reluctantly shelved because the distributers at Warner Bros. didn't know what to do with such a feature owing to its sexual content and graphic violence.
Since then, its reputation has grown in stature; it is now regarded as one of the most influential and innovative films of the 1970s, as well as in British cinema.
Jagger, of course, gets a rock-n'-roll solo called "Memo From Turner". The song is accompanied by elliptical, unconventional editing, along with American musician, songwriter, film score composer and record producer Ry Cooder's slide guitar.
The following year upon the release of 'Performance', Roeg shot and directed the second film of which he is best known.
This was the 1971 British-Australian adventure/survival film 'Walkabout'. The film's score was written by English composer and conductor of film and music John Barry.
Under the pretense of having a picnic, a geologist father (John Meillon, credited as Man #1) takes his teenage daughter (Jenny Agutter, credited as Girl) and six-year-old son (Lucien John, credited as White Boy) into the Australian outback and attempts to shoot them.
When he fails, he blows up the car and turns the gun on himself. After this, the two city-bred children must contend with harsh wilderness alone.
They are later saved by a chance encounter with a teenage Aborigine (David Gulpilil), credited as Black Boy) who shows them how to survive. In the process, the Aborigine underscores the disharmony between nature and modern life.
'Walkabout' was loosely based on English author Donald G. Payne's (under the pen name James Vance Marshall) titular 1959 fiction novel. The original title of the book was The Children.
One of the first films in the Australian New Wave cinema movement, 'Walkabout' received positive reviews despite being a commercial failure.
Alongside Canadian film and television director and produce Ted Kotcheff's 1971 British/Australian/American/drama psychological thriller film 'Wake in Fright', 'Walkabout' was one of two Australian films entered in competition for the Grand Prix du Festival at the 24th Cannes Film Festival in May of that same year.
Two years later, Roeg directed the third film of which he is best known. This was the 1973 British/Italian thriller/horror film 'Don't Look Now'.
The feature had been adapted from English author and playwright Daphne du Maurier's 1971 fictional short story Not After Midnight.
Featuring Donald Sutherland and Julie Christie, the reputation of 'Don't Look Now' has grown in the years since its release. It is now considered a classic and an influential work in horror and British film.
Three years later, Roeg directed the fourth and final film of which he is best known. This was the 1976 British science fiction film 'The Man Who Fell to Earth'.
The feature is based on American novelist and short story writer Walter Tevis' titular 1963 science fiction novel.
The film follows Thomas Jerome Newton (David Bowie), an alien who has come to Earth in search of water to save his home planet.
Aided by lawyer Oliver Farnsworth (Buck Henry), Thomas uses his knowledge of advanced technology to create profitable inventions.
While developing a method to transport water, Thomas meets Mary-Lou (Candy Clark), a quiet hotel clerk, and begins to fall in love with her.
Just as he is ready to leave Earth, Thomas is intercepted by the U.S. government, and his entire plan is threatened.
Today. 'The Man Who Fell to Earth' retains a cult following for its use of surreal imagery and Bowie's first starring film role as the alien Thomas Jerome Newton. It is now considered an important work of science fiction cinema and one of the best films of Roeg's career.
Among his other credits, Roeg is known for directing the 1990 British/American dark fantasy comedy family film 'The Witches'.
The feature had been based on British novelist, short-story writer, poet, screenwriter, and wartime fighter pilot Roald Dahl's titular 1983 dark juvenile fantasy children's literature fiction novel.
Roeg made his directorial debut twenty-three years after his entry into the film business. He quickly became known for an idiosyncratic visual and narrative style, characterized by the use of disjointed and disorienting editing.
For this reason, he is considered a highly influential filmmaker, with such directors as Steven Soderbergh, Danny Boyle, and Christopher Nolan citing him as such.
In 1999, the British Film Institute (BFI) acknowledged Roeg's importance in the British film industry by respectively naming 'Performance' and 'Don't Look Now' the 8th and 48th greatest British films of all time in its Top 100 British Films poll.
In 2005, the British Film Institute included 'Walkabout' in their list of the "50 films you should see by the age of 14".
On November 23, 2018, Roeg passed in London, England, United Kingdom. This was due to natural causes. Roeg was 90.
Sutherland (who named one of his sons after Roeg) described him as a "fearless visionary".
Also known by his pen names Nicholas Roeg, Nicolas Jack Roeg, and Nicholas Jack Roeg, Roeg had been active from 1947–2018.
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