Happy 51st Birthday, Steve McQueen! Born toady in 1969 as Steven Rodney McQueen, this black British artist, screenwriter and film director ranges in style from various genres, including neo-noir, experimental and social realism and also to the general public for his feature-length commercial films.
Born in London, England, United Kingdom, McQueen is also of Grenadian and Trinidadian descent. He grew up in Hanwell, West London and, years later, attended and graduated from Drayton Manor High School in London.
McQueen was a keen football player, turning out for the St. George's Colts football team. He took A level art at Ealing, Hammersmith and West London College.
He later studied art and design at Chelsea College of Arts and then fine art at Goldsmiths College, University of London, where he first became interested in film.
McQueen left Goldsmiths and studied briefly at New York University's Tisch School of the Arts in the United States.
However, he found the approach there to be too stifling and insufficiently experimental, complaining that "they wouldn't let you throw the camera up in the air".
He spent less than one semester in New York at Tisch School from 1993-94, but dropped out because he "hated" the experience.
From 1993-2007, McQueen had directed twenty shorts. He did not direct a feature-length film until he was thirty-eight years old. This was the 2008 Irish/British historical political drama film 'Hunger', starring Michael Fassbender.
The following year, 'Hunger' won a BAFTA Award for Outstanding Debut by a British Writer, Director or Producer. This occurred at the 62nd British Academy Film Awards in early February 2009.
Two years later, McQueen directed the first film of which he is best known for co-writing and directing. This was the 2011 British/Canadian/American drama/erotic film 'Shame'. However, the film's explicit scenes reflecting the protagonist's sexual addiction resulted in a rating of NC-17 in the United States.
One of the movie posters for 'Shame'–which was released in Hungary initially–was banned, spelling out the film's title in semen.
Later that same year, in the 2011 Queen's New Years Honours List for his services to Visual Arts, McQueen was awarded the CBE (Commander of the Order of the British Empire).
Two years later, McQueen co-produced and directed the second and final film of which he is best known. This was the 2013 American/British biographical period-drama/history film '12 Years a Slave'.
It was an adaptation of African-American abolitionist and author Solomon Northup's 1853 autobiographical slave narrative.
Most notably among the other co-producers was Brad Pitt, of whom also co-starred as Samuel Bass.
During exceptionally difficult scenes to watch, McQueen says he uses a background distraction.
For example, in the film, there are children innocently playing in the field behind Solomon Northup who is clinging for life as he is hung up. The scene lasts for almost three minutes.
On a budget of $20–22 million, '12 Years a Slave' grossed $187.7 million at the box office.
The Best Picture win made McQueen the first black British producer to ever receive the award and the first black British director of a Best Picture winner.
One year later, '12 Years a Slave' received two BAFTA Awards for Best Film and Best Actor in a Leading Role (Chiwetel Ejiofer). This occurred at the 67th British Academy Film Awards on February 16, 2014.
Two weeks later, '12 Years a Slave' won three Oscars for Best Picture, Best Actress in a Supporting Role (Lupita Nyong'o) and Best Writing (Adapted Screenplay). This occurred at the 86th Academy Awards on March 2, 2014.
'12 Years a Slave' was later named the 44th greatest film since 2000 in a BBC poll of one hundred and seventy-seven critics.
In a 2014 interview, McQueen stated that he had a very bad experience in school, where he had been placed into a class for students believed best suited "for manual labour, more plumbers and builders, stuff like that."
Later, the new head of the school would admit that there had been "institutional" racism at the time. McQueen added that he was dyslexic and had to wear an eyepatch because of a lazy eye, and reflected this may be why he was "put to one side very quickly".
In April 2016, Time magazine named McQueen on of the 100 Most Influential People in the World.
In the 2020 Queen's New Year Honours List for his services to art and film, McQueen was awarded Knight Bachelor of the Order of the British Empire.
McQueen has directed three actors to Oscar-nominated performances: Chiwetel Ejiofor, Michael Fassbender and Lupita Nyong'o.
According to his personal life, McQueen is married to Dutch cultural critic Bianca Stigter. They have two children together.
McQueen's artistic influences include Andy Warhol, Sergei M. Eisenstein, Dziga Vertov, Jean Vigo, Buster Keaton, Carl Theodor Dreyer, Robert Bresson, and Billy Wilder.
His favorite films are 'Zero for Conduct' (1933),'The Rules of the Game' (1939), 'The Wages of Fear' (1953) 'Tokyo Story' (1953), 'Contempt' (1963), 'Couch' (1964) 'The Battle of Algiers' (1966), 'Once Upon a Time in America' (1984),'Do the Right Thing' (1989), and 'Beau Travail' (1999).
The trademarks in McQueen's films include frequently casting Michael Fassbender, utilizing American-born British cinematographer Sean Bobbitt as his director of photography and British-born film editor Joe Walker as his editor, and dialogue scenes shot in a single take or a series of long takes.
Other trademarks include dialogue scenes shot in a single take or a series of long takes, shooting his films mostly with one camera, and an unflinchingly brutal style and approach to difficult subject matter,
He often casts non-American actors as American characters, a brutally realistic portrayal of violence and often have strong-willed female characters.
A devotee of the nouvelle vague style of the 1960s French New Wave, McQueen started his film career off with a series of experimental shorts exhibited in an unusual fashion, including screening without sound and/or on multiple art gallery walls rather than a conventional screen.
Known for his meticulous sense of detail and guarded personality, McQueen maintained that his work was apolitical, though this was disputed, given its implied criticism of how the British government treated Irish Republican Army prisoners and displayed reluctance to suitably honor military personnel killed during the Iraq war.
A widely praised conceptual artist-turned-filmmaker who had been called "a born provocateur" and "a reluctant subversive", McQueen's features are captivating in their simplicity and minimalism.
McQueen has been active from 1993–present.
#borntodirect
#BlackDirectorsMatter
@steverodneymcqueen
@BFI
@bafta
@bbc
@Biography
@time
@theguardian
@empiremagazine
@tategallery
@Britannica
@tubi
No comments:
Post a Comment