He is called the most fruitful movie director in the United States in the second half of the twentieth century. As the best director, he was approved four times at the Oscar. What is known about Sydney Lumet?
Birth
Philadelphia (Pennsylvania) presented one of the main sculptors of American dreams of the second half of the 20th century - on June 25, 1924, actors Baruch Lumet and Eugenia Gitl Vermus, Jews by birth, just a year before the birth of their son Sidney came to America from Poland.
Already at four years old, Sydney pleased the listeners with his voice. He took part in the radio show "Grandfather from Brownsville." As a teenager on Second Avenue, he played at the Jewish Art Theater. He performed in New York on Broadway.
His mother died early.
short biography
Acquaintance with the movie theater at Sydney took place in 1935 on the set of the short film Papyrosn. He is only 11 years old at that moment. He met the movie in “full meter” at the age of 15, when he and his father starred in the film “A Third of the Nation”.
He studied at Columbia University (dramatic literature). The Second World War came and Sydney Lumet went to serve in the army. In Burma and India, he is repairing radars.
In 1946, upon returning home, he created an acting troupe outside Broadway and became its director. Director's career begins on television. His performances and films appear on blue screens. He gained invaluable experience working on films with Frankenheim.
Sidney Lumet made his debut as a director in 1957 with the picture "Twelve Angry Men." He was impeccable in terms of cinematography. The time he worked for CBS is called the Golden Era.
Sidney Lumet’s films do not stick him out as a director in the foreground. He is more concerned with the stylistic authenticity of every detail, atmosphere, without the slightest deviation from the text. His statements often made the statement that theatrical drama, good literature - this is what the movie needs. He believed in the power of words on the screen.
He did not leave the directorial field until his death in 2011 (he lived 86 years).
Favorite New York
Lumet made most of his films in New York. He was sure that Hollywood companies would not give him enough creative freedom, in which he could fully realize his ideas. In The Big Apple, Sydney had the opportunity to recruit real actors even for the crowd, which reflected his meticulousness with respect to details. The scenes themselves by director Sidney Lumet often unfold within the city and with a small number of characters.
Awards
During his long career, he was nominated as the best director for an Oscar for the film Dog Midday (1975). The film is based on real events, with Al Pacino in the title role (about the robbery of the Brooklyn Bank). Three losers try to rob a bank on a hot day, but they can’t do it quickly, and they take hostages. As a result of long negotiations and concessions on both sides - the police and the robbers - they go with the hostages to the airport, where they are waiting for the plane. At the end of the film, one of the robbers dies, and the rest are arrested. The drama also lies in the reasons why they decided to rob.
In 1976, the Golden Globe brought him the picture "Television Network" in several categories at once. In addition, Television Network was the first film to receive three Oscars for the best actor role. Moreover, one of the roles was the shortest in time (five minutes, forty seconds). In 2005, Sidney Lumet received the Honorary Oscar.
Seven times he received the Best Director Award from the Directors Guild of America. The first of them - in 1957 for the painting "12 Angry Men", which is considered one of the greatest legal paintings in history. The film is about twelve jurors who must vote for the guilt of an Italian-born teenager from a slum in the murder of his father. By law, a decision must be unanimous. But one of them, the eighth, votes against, despite the fact that everyone is in a hurry to go home about their business, they are nervous. He smashes the indirect evidence of accusation. Gradually, the majority of the jury goes over to his side and, as a result, the guy is recognized as innocent.
Shoot to the grave
Lumet made more than fifty-three films, not counting those where he acted as a producer or screenwriter. In eleven of them he plays himself. One of the latest works is The Devil’s Games, released in 2007, when he was 83 years old. Filmed in one of Sidney Lumet's favorite genres - this is a robbery movie. The robbers are two brothers. The dream of a carefree life on the coast of Rio de Janeiro and the concealment of their spending in the company of one brother, paying bills for child support - the other, pushing young people to commit a daring crime. One of them offers to rob the parent jewelry store, which is insured. They are joined by an experienced cracker. But their plans go to dust, and through their fault the mother dies. As a result of further misadventures, one of the brothers is killed by his father, learning about their guilt.
The filmography of Sidney Lumet is no doubt worth the attention. Until his very last days, already physically incapable of directing films, he continued to write scripts.