American filmmaker, producer and screenwriter Oliver Stone (full name Oliver William Stone) was born in New York on September 15, 1946. Stone's father was an Orthodox Jew and, therefore, adhered to the Jewish religion. Mother was a Catholic with French roots. As a compromise, parents began to raise their son in the spirit of evangelism. It must be assumed that their efforts were in vain, since Oliver, being not at all against Christianity, currently adheres to the religion of Buddhism.
Vietnam
Oliver Stone received his primary education in college, then went to Yale University, but he did not succeed in learning from him, a year later the restless student left for South Vietnam and began to teach English there at Pacific College. And again, a year later, Stone returned to the United States, Oregon, and then moved to Mexico. When he was drafted into the army in 1967, Oliver asked to go to Vietnam. Participated in hostilities, was wounded twice and received several awards. Returning from the war in late 1968, Stone entered the University of New York at the Faculty of Motion Picture Arts, where Martin Scorsese was a teacher at the time . The final work of Oliver Stone was presented to them under the title "Last Year in Vietnam."
Stone and Hitchcock
For a long time, Oliver Stone, whose filmography looked rather modest, shot films of the average level, with a low budget and a weak cast. But in 1981, Oliver surprised all of America by releasing a movie that could argue with the shocking thrillers of genius Alfred Hitchcock. It was called unpretentiously - "Hand". Hero Jonathan Lansdale, inadvertently sticking his hand out of the car window, the oncoming truck tore off that hand. So much so that the police who arrived at the scene could not find the torn part of the unfortunate Lansdaleās body, although they searched every meter in the district. Thus, the director Oliver Stone immediately gave a mystical direction to the plot. Jonathan remained disabled and professionally unsuitable as he was an illustrator. The crippled Lansdale began to beggar and wander. And then his severed arm appeared. Now she was constantly in the field of vision of her master, and Jonathan could watch how Ruka began to brutally take revenge on all those people who had ever hurt or hurt a former artist.
Stone Thrillers
So, having written the script for the film āThe Hand,ā having shot it and even played a small role in the film, director Oliver Stone clearly outlined the future direction of his work. And the next film confirmed its reputation. It was a fantasy film "Conan the Barbarian" with Arnold Schwarzenegger as Conan, the Cimmerian warrior, the cruel avenger. However, Oliver Stone only wrote the script for the film, directed by John Milius, and produced the film Dino De Laurentis.
After Conan the Barbarian, according to Stoneās script, another action movie was shot - Scarface. Once again, Oliver limited himself to writing the script, the director of the production was Brian De Palma, and Al Pacino played the main role. His character is Tony Montana, a drug dealer who was expelled from Cuba by Fidel Castro and settled in Miami. The Cuban quickly adapted to Florida and became a respected drug lord.
Drug Theme
In 1985, the list of films by Oliver Stone was replenished with another film on the topic of drug trafficking. It was the "Year of the Dragon" about drug dealers in Chinatown in New York. As already customary, the director was not Stone, but Michael Cimino. The producer of the picture again was Dino De Laurentis. The main role of police captain Stan White, called to end the drug trade, was played by Mickey Rourke. It became noticeable that Oliver Stone, whose filmography mainly consisted of films on the subject of drug trafficking, attaches great importance to this problem.
In 1986, Eight Million Ways to Die was shot, the last film to be scripted by Oliver Stone, in which he did not participate as a director. All other paintings, starting with the Platoon of 1986 and ending with the film projects of today, Stone directed himself. Oliver Stoneās films, as a rule, touch upon the most topical aspects of public life.
"Eight Million Ways to Die" is a painting on Stone's favorite theme as a screenwriter: drug trafficking, police, shooting, alcoholism, prostitution and redistribution of spheres of influence. Sometimes itās kind of love between the main characters. However, judging by the actual box office, moviegoers like this topic. The main role in the film was played by Jeff Bridges, directed by Hal Ashby.
Vietnamese trilogy
In the same 1986, Oliver Stone made the first film of his trilogy about the Vietnam War. The painting is called "Platoon" and tells of ordinary soldiers trying to somehow get the "yellow-faced", slipping away like lizards. Events take place on the border with Cambodia, the platoon is conditionally divided into two groups, one under the command of Sergeant Bob Barnes, an experienced brutal warrior, the other under the command of Sergeant Elias Grodin. The protagonist of the film is Private Chris Taylor, in the image of which Stone tried to convey himself.
The second film from the Vietnam War series, Born on the Fourth of July, was shot in 1989. Oliver Stone wrote the script and directed. The film is about a simple American guy Ron Kovik, who was offered to go to Vietnam and there to protect the interests of his country. There was no doubt about the correctness of the military representatives, and Ron set off. Doubts began to appear later, when a soldier saw civilians being killed during the sweeping of villages, what an inexpressible horror around. When Ron Kovik, wounded, got to the hospital, he was struck by the indifference of doctors and staff, dirty medical instruments and complete desolation.
The last film of the Vietnamese trilogy, "Heaven and Earth", describes the tragic fate of a thirty-year-old woman who had a chance to feel fear of death, and torture of cruel executioners, and humiliation. All these tests fell to her share in her native country, torn by war. Le Lee Heyslip, the womanās name, married American sergeant Steve Butler and went to America with him. But Butler does not leave the severity of what he experienced in Vietnam, it is a syndrome of the Vietnam War. In the end, Steve Butler does not withstand stress and commits suicide.
"Dallas Shots"
Between the second and third films of the Vietnamese trilogy, Stone shot the tape "John F. Kennedy. Shots in Dallas." In the list of films by Oliver Stone, thus, got a political detective based on real events. The picture was released in 1991. In the center of the plot is an independent investigation by prosecutor Jim Harrison, refuting the official version put forward by the Warren Commission on the assassination of the president. Lee Harvey Oswald's participation is being questioned by the prosecutor. According to the director himself, special services and large industrial corporations were interested in Kennedy's death. Oliver Stone, whose filmography contained films mainly about the drug trade and the Vietnam War, and then replenished with a political detective, hopes to continue work in this direction.
Failure
There was only one failure in Oliver Stoneās directorial career, but it was a tremendous financial disaster that occurred in 2004 when the historical film about Alexander the Great titled āAlexanderā was released on the big screen. Oliver Stone wrote the script for the film, became its director, as well as the producer. The budget of the film was unprecedentedly high, it amounted to $ 150 million. The main roles were played by Hollywood stars of the first magnitude: Colin Farrell and Angelina Jolie. And box office at the box office amounted to only 34 million dollars.
Personal life
The personal life of Oliver Stone is three marriages and three children.
The first wife of the director Naive Sarkis is a bright representative of the fair sex of Lebanese origin. Oliver met her at a meeting in one of the public organizations at the UN. Naiva worked as a curator of a charity fund for the Eastern Region. They married in 1971 and lived together for six years. Their married life was overshadowed by only one circumstance: the young wife could not have children. Divorce followed in 1977.
Oliver's second wife, actress Elizabeth Stone, gave birth to her husband two sons: Sean Christopher in 1984 and Michael Jack in 1991. The eldest son Sean starred in his father's films in episodic children's roles. Oliver and Elizabeth Stone lived together for 12 years and divorced in 1993.
The directorās third wife was Korean-born Jun-Jung Jung, with whom Oliver has been living for 18 years and feels quite a happy person. The spouses have a daughter, Tara, who turns 17 this year.
Awards
Oliver Stoneās awards reflect the directorās creative legacy as well as indicate his significant potential.
Stone received his first Oscar in the Best Screenplay nomination in 1978. According to the script, the film "Midnight Express" was directed by Alan Parker. The phrase "midnight express" in prison slang means escape. It was the escape of William Hayes, imprisoned for 30 years for drugs, formed the basis of the film.
The director received two other Oscars for the films Platoon and Born on the Fourth of July (both from the Vietnamese trilogy).
In addition to awards of the highest value, Stone also received other prizes, such as the Silver Bear of the Berlin Film Festival in 1987 and the Special Jury Prize at the Venice Film Festival in 1994.