Mike Nichols passed away yesterday leaving behind a legacy of great films, plays and musicals, a bi-coastal director, perhaps the finest since Elia Kazan so dominated film and stage in the fifties. Nichols began his work as a director in the theatre, proving to posses that unique gift a few directors have which makes them an actors director. He loved actors perhaps because he was a failed one, understood the process of acting, and trusted them to create along with him. Meryl Streep said once he understood what the relationship of the actor and director should be, and never strayed from it. The hallmark of a Nichols film was almost always the superb quality of the performances. Sixteen actors received Academy Award nominations in his films, another five won Emmys in the films he made for HBO more recently, and the list of Tony Award winners for acting is too long to post. He was part of the New American Film movement in the sixties with his breakthrough picture Who s Afraid of Virginia Woolf (66) a vicious and startling adaptation of the Albee play performed with raw power by Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor. The film received an astounding thirteen Academy Award nominations and Taylor won her second Oscar for what is considered one of the great film performances of all time. He followed that with his own Oscar win for Best Director with the ground breaking The Graduate (67) which spoke to the youth of the time, struggling to find their way in an America though no longer understood or trusted. Had Nichols not gone back and forth between film and stage so often through his career he might be better thought of as a film director, but the theatre was always his first love. He became pickier about the films he made, and when he suffered some failures in the seventies, he walked away for eight years. Carnal Knowledge (71) challenged critics with its lead characters pointed hatred of women, yet impressed with its performances, but Day of the Dolphin (73) a film I actually admire, was crucified by the critics. It was however The Fortune (75) that sent him back to New York, a comedy with Jack Nicholson, Warren Beatty and Stockard Channing that no one but a handful of people (me included) really liked. When he came back to film, he did so with a brilliant work, Silkwood (83) which earned Meryl Streep, Cher and Nichols Oscar nominations for their artistry. Working with Streep again, try as they might they could not lift Heartburn (86) into anything other than a clichéd, weak drama-comedy. Not even the addition of Jack Nicholson in the film elevated any more than a dismal two hours. But he came back strong with Working Girl (88), guiding Melanie Griffith to the performance of her career. He and Meryl Streep joined forces again for the delightfully funny drama Postcards from the Edge (90) in which we see the inside life of an up and coming Hollywood actress saddled with an overbearing mother who was once a major star. Shirley MacLaine was the mother and the sparks between she and Streep were electrifying. But then a couple of weak films stung Nichols once again. Regarding Henry (91) was a soft picture about a man who is shot in the head and comes back out of a coma a different man, a better man, struggling to find who he is. Harrison Ford starred in the film and the shame of it is the idea could have been something quite special, it just never took off. Wolf (94) saw he and Nicholson together again, this time in a horror film, an odd choice for both, and though fun to watch it is really not much of a film. It might be the most ridiculous film of his career as a director, one he should have passed on. The Birdcage (96) saw him doing what he does best, adapting a play to the screen, guiding a cast of superb actors into some of the best work of their careers. Nathan Lane has never been better, Robin Williams reined in his manic style to give a solid performance as a gay man struggling with his zany lover, and both Gene Hackman and Dianne Weist gave strong performances. It was a fine adaptation of the classic French film La Cage Aux Folles (79) which had become a massively successful play on the stage. Primary Colors (98) remains one of the finest political films I have ever seen, dripping with caustic acid wit, the film takes no prisoners in its study of the Clinton presidency run and what it takes to become the most powerful man in the world. John Travolta gives one of his finest performances as the man who would be President, with Emma Thompson at her best as his long suffering, but ever so ambitious wife. Kathy Bates steals the film as a viciously outspoken campaign trouble shooter, earning an Oscar nomination (she should have won) for her work. Nichols then turned to HBO for his next two films both landmarks in television drama. The first was Wit (01) a dark, brutally honest film about a brilliant English professor and her battle with terminal cancer. Unflinching in what cancer does to the body and mind, critical of the medical community, but powerful in its study of the power of the human spirit and need to live, that built in will to remain alive, the film boated the finest performance of Emma Thompsons career. Both heartbreaking and poignant, it might be the finest film ever made about dying with dignity. Emmys were awarded to the film, Thompson and Nichols, as they should have been. His next project was one of the most demanding of his career, bringing the sprawling play Angels in America (03) to the small screen. At just under six hours long the film is a startling exploration of the beginnings of the AIDS crisis and how it will impact a group of New Yorkers. Filled with stunning performances, all in multiple roles, the cast includes Al Pacino, Meryl Streep, Patrick Wilson, Emma Thompson, Mary Louise Parker, Justin Kirk, Ben Shenkman and the great Jeffrey Wright, all who pushed the boundaries of performance excellence on television. The film dominated the Emmy Awards sweeping the top categories, as well as the Screen Actors Guild Awards and the Golden Globes. The scene of the angel bursting through the ceiling of the room of the apartment building might be the most iconic moment in TV for that decade. An astounding work that I believe is the best of Nichols career, he might not have directed a better, more important film. After the success of Angels in America (03) he had just two films left to make, the acidic relationship drama Closer (04) with stellar work from Julia Roberts, Natalie Portman, Clive Owen and Jude Law, and his last film Charlie Wilsons War (07) again with strong work from Tom Hanks, Julia Roberts and Phillip Seymour Hoffman, the latter earning an Oscar nomination. And now, after 83 years walking the earth, creating art, pushing the boundaries of each art he worked within, Nichols is gone. He won eight Tony Awards as Best Director, was nominated for a slew more, an Oscar, two Emmys, and so many other critics awards. But his greatest legacy, that what makes him immortal is forever in front of us...film and television and the memories of hus Broadway work makes him immortal. Such a loss...
Posted on: Fri, 21 Nov 2014 12:58:31 +0000