Beyond the Epic: The Life and Films of David Lean

Prologue: A World on Film

Beyond฀the฀Epic 4 has฀quite฀an฀effect,฀of฀course.”1 ฀Once฀a฀film฀was฀finished฀shooting,฀Lean฀said,฀ he฀was฀particularly฀interested฀in฀supervising฀the฀editing.฀Since฀he฀had฀been฀ an฀editor,฀he฀found฀it฀hard฀to฀keep฀his฀hands฀off฀the฀celluloid.฀Furthermore,฀ he฀always฀tried฀to฀shoot฀with฀a฀plan฀for฀editing฀the฀film฀in฀mind,฀in฀order฀to฀ be฀sure฀to฀get฀the฀shots฀he฀knew฀would฀be฀needed. Andrew฀Sarris,฀one฀of฀the฀most฀articulate฀champions฀of฀the฀film฀director ’s฀vital฀role฀in฀the฀filmmaking฀process,฀has฀written:฀“Only฀the฀director฀can฀ provide฀a฀unity฀of฀style฀out฀of฀all฀the฀diverse฀ingredients฀at฀his฀disposal.฀The฀ script฀writer฀will฀find฀his฀words฀chopped฀up฀into฀shots.฀The฀actor฀who฀performs ฀continuously฀on฀the฀stage฀is฀recorded฀intermittently฀on฀the฀set,฀where฀ his฀ part฀ is฀ slowly฀ eroded฀ out฀ of฀ sequence฀ into฀ little฀ bits฀ and฀ pieces.”2 ฀ Consequently,฀it฀is฀the฀director฀and฀the฀director฀alone฀who฀can฀and฀must฀ confer฀artistic฀unity฀on฀a฀motion฀picture.฀Accordingly,฀the฀key฀role฀that฀the฀ director฀plays฀in฀the฀creation฀of฀a฀motion฀picture฀has฀been฀compared฀to฀that฀ of฀a฀company฀commander,฀a฀quarterback,฀an฀orchestra฀conductor,฀a฀trail฀ boss,฀even฀a฀lion฀tamer. The฀auteur฀theory฀maintains฀that฀the฀director฀is฀at฀the฀center฀of฀the฀filmmaking ฀process.฀When฀the฀role฀of฀the฀director฀is฀viewed฀in฀this฀fashion,฀it฀is฀ clear฀that฀he฀is฀the฀true฀author฀of฀a฀film฀in฀much฀the฀same฀way฀that฀a฀writer฀ is฀the฀author฀of฀a฀novel.฀A฀film฀director฀who฀merely฀puts฀together฀a฀motion฀ picture฀as฀if฀he฀were฀a฀foreman฀on฀an฀assembly฀line฀would฀not,฀of฀course,฀be฀ considered฀the฀author฀of฀a฀film฀that฀he฀has฀directed,฀and฀there฀are฀many฀such฀ directors฀in฀the฀history฀of฀cinema.฀But฀a฀film฀director฀who฀uses฀cinematic฀ techniques฀to฀express฀his฀personal฀vision฀of฀reality฀in฀film฀after฀film฀will฀build฀ up฀a฀coherent฀body฀of฀work฀like฀that฀which฀the฀novelist฀produces. This฀is฀not฀to฀say฀that฀a฀given฀film฀cannot฀be฀analyzed฀and฀enjoyed฀apart฀ from฀the฀other฀films฀made฀by฀the฀same฀director,฀but฀one’s฀appreciation฀of฀a฀ given฀film฀can฀be฀greatly฀enhanced฀when฀it฀is฀examined฀in฀the฀context฀of฀the฀ director’s฀total฀body฀of฀work.฀“The฀fact฀that฀most฀directors฀do฀not฀write฀ their฀own฀scripts,”฀says฀Sarris,฀“is฀enough฀to฀discredit฀the฀role฀of฀the฀director฀ in฀the฀eyes฀of฀the฀literary฀establishment.฀Such฀discredit฀is฀often฀unjustified฀ even฀on฀literary฀grounds฀simply฀because฀many฀directors฀decline฀to฀take฀credit ฀for฀collaborating฀on฀the฀writing฀of฀their฀films.”3 ฀Alfred฀Hitchcock฀implicitly ฀ supported฀ Sarris’s฀ view฀ when฀ he฀ wrote,฀ “Under฀ ideal฀ conditions฀ the฀ screenplay฀is฀prepared฀by฀the฀writer฀in฀collaboration฀with฀the฀director.”4 As฀Lean฀himself฀testified,฀he฀collaborated฀on฀the฀screenplay฀of฀every฀film฀ he฀directed,฀whether฀he฀was฀credited฀as฀a฀screenwriter฀or฀not.฀It฀was฀his฀custom ฀to฀hold฀script฀conferences฀with฀his฀writers฀prior฀to฀filming,฀in฀order฀to฀ trade฀ ideas฀ about฀ plot฀ and฀ dialogue฀ with฀ them—even฀ when฀ one฀ of฀ the฀ screenwriters฀was฀an฀estimable฀author฀like฀Noël฀Coward,฀who฀was฀involved฀ Lean*PrologB.indd 4 9/21/06 2:52:15 PM Prologue 5 in฀coauthoring฀four฀films฀that฀Lean฀made฀early฀in฀his฀career.฀Lean฀was฀confident ฀that฀he฀knew฀how฀to฀aid฀screenwriters฀in฀improving฀what฀they฀had฀written .฀“Working฀on฀a฀script฀is฀important฀and฀very฀necessary,”฀he฀said,฀“but฀I’m฀ not฀a฀word฀man;฀I’m฀a฀picture฀man.฀I฀love฀getting฀behind฀a฀camera฀and฀getting ฀images฀on฀a฀screen.”5 Furthermore,฀whether฀or฀not฀a฀director฀has฀taken฀a฀hand฀in฀script฀preparation ,฀he฀can฀still฀be฀considered฀the฀author฀of฀his฀succession฀of฀films฀if฀he฀has฀ consistently฀chosen฀material฀that฀is฀in฀keeping฀with฀his฀own฀personal฀vision฀ and฀directorial฀style.฀Lean฀saw฀in฀his฀own฀style฀an฀attraction฀to฀characters฀ who฀refuse฀to฀accept฀defeat,฀even฀when฀their฀most฀cherished฀hopes฀go฀unful- filled.฀His฀protagonists฀seek฀to฀transform฀their฀lives,฀but฀often฀fail฀to฀do฀so.฀Pip฀ in฀Great฀Expectations,฀Colonel฀Nicholson฀in฀The฀Bridge฀on฀the฀River฀Kwai,฀and฀ T.฀E.฀Lawrence฀in฀Lawrence฀of฀Arabia,฀among฀others,฀struggle฀against฀the฀ limitations฀of฀their฀own฀personalities฀to฀achieve฀a฀level฀of฀existence฀that฀they฀ deem฀higher฀or฀nobler...