115th Anniversary of David Lean
On March 25, 1908, in South Croydon, then a suburb of London, son David was born to the family of Francis William le Blount Lean and his wife Helena (nee Tangye). David's parents belonged to the Quaker society and, being very religious, especially his father, prevented his son from getting acquainted with the cinema. Perhaps it was these prohibitions that had the opposite effect, and from an early age the boy began to actively show interest in filmmaking. So active that his uncle gave him a Kodak Brownie movie camera for his 10th birthday. The production of his own amateur films became the boy's main hobby.
When David was 15 years old, his father left the family (deep religiosity did not prevent him from doing this). However, at his urging, David left school at 18 and joined his father's accounting firm. The father dreamed of making his son an accountant. However, a year later, David got bored with accounting entries, and, on the advice of his aunt, in 1927 he went to work at Gaumont Studios. Initially, David served as the so-called "tea boy". Moreover, the first month he worked generally without payment. He was then promoted to clapperboy.
In a short period of time, thanks to his enthusiasm for studying the intricacies of cinematic production, David Lean went through all the stages of ancillary services at the film studio and received the position of third assistant director. By 1930 he was already working as a newsreel editor for two film companies: Gaumont Pictures and Movietone. At the same time, David Lean's first contact with feature films took place: on the set of the film "The Night Porter" directed by Sewall Collins, he acted as an editor. But no mention in the credits.
As a member of the supporting staff of the film crew - editor, assistant cameraman, assistant director, etc. - David Lean participated in the creation of several dozen films, including the picture "Pygmalion" by Anthony Esquith and Leslie Howard. Sometimes, without being mentioned in the credits. And even the first film in which David Lean acted as a co-director - "Major Barbara" - was released in 1941 without mentioning his name in the credits. Rather, he was listed in the credits only as an editor.
Finally, in 1942, the name of David Lean appeared in the credits of the film as a co-director. It was the picture "In Which We Serve" where Noel Coward was co-directed by Lean. David Lean's first self-directed feature film, "This Happy Breed", was released in 1944.
During his rather long creative career, and he died of throat cancer in 1991, David Lean independently shot 15 full-length feature films and two more pictures in collaboration with other directors. Of the 15 films made by Lean, 4 films entered the Golden Thousand, including "Lawrence of Arabia", "The Bridge on the River Kwai", "Brief Encounter", "Hobson's Choice". Thanks to this indicator, David Lean is included in the list of the 100 greatest directors of world cinema, compiled by FilmGourmand.
Cinematographic activity of David Lean was marked by 30 film awards, among which the most prestigious are 3 American Golden Globe Awards, 2 Oscars, the Golden Bear of the Berlin International Film Festival, the Grand Prix of the Cannes International Film Festival, the David di Donatello Award of the Italian Film Academy. It is curious that David Lean was nominated four times for the BAFTA award of the British Academy of Film Sciences, but was never awarded it. The explanation for this is quite simple: David Lean was the initiator of the creation of this film academy in 1947, one of its co-founders and the first president. Throughout his life, he had a serious influence on the decisions of the film academy, but his inherent modesty did not allow him to reward himself.
On the day of the 115th anniversary of the birth of the great Master, I want to remind the fans of his work the frames from his best films included in the Golden Thousand.
