The Paper's reporter Cheng Xiaojun
Richard Donner
On July 5, local time, Richard Donner, an American director who had directed classic Hollywood commercial films such as the old "Superman" series, "Omens" and "Lethal Weapon", died at his home in Los Angeles at the age of 91.
Superman
Facing difficulties and going up to take over "Omen"
Richard Donner, formerly known as Richard Donald Schwartzberg, was born on April 24, 1930, to a Jewish family in the Bronx, New York. When he was studying business at New York University, he suddenly became interested in acting and tried everything he could to find performance opportunities in various folk theater troupes.
By chance, he got an errand under veteran film and television director Martin Ritt, who advised him: "The problem with you as a person is that as an actor, you don't like to listen to the director, so you can simply be a director yourself." So Donner gave up his dream of being an actor and turned to behind-the-scenes work, and later opened his own advertising agency, specializing in shooting various TV commercials as an opportunity to practice and accumulate experience.
At the end of the 1950s, Richard Downer officially became a television director, and participated in more than thirty series, including "Secret Agent", "Yin and Yang Demon World", "Confused Detective" and other milestones in the history of American television development. In 1961, he was hired as a second-crew director for the film "X-15". When the director was slow to find the ideal candidate, Mao volunteered, was promoted to general director, and completed the space film starring Charles Bronson in only 12 days.
The 1976 horror film The Omen was the beginning of Donner's true rise to fame in Hollywood. Starring Gregory Pike, the film tells the thrilling story of Damian, a young boy adopted by the U.S. ambassador to the United Kingdom on June 6, 1966, who is actually the embodiment of satan the devil.
With Gregory Pike on the set of the Omens
Donner's meticulously created atmosphere of suspense, combined with Jerry Goldsmith's brilliant soundtrack, made "Omens" the fifth highest-grossing film of the year in the United States, and still has a place in the list of the best horror films in film history today. Soundtrack master Goldsmith also won the only little golden man in 18 "Rush Olympic" expeditions with this film.
When Donner first took over the project, the script was not titled "The Evil Omen" but "The Anti-Christ", which frightened the major Hollywood studios, and everyone feared that such a subject would cause unnecessary trouble and religious resistance. However, as soon as Donner read the script, he was immediately fascinated. "Yes, there are demons, witches, evil spirits and other things in it, but I thought that if I could get rid of all these elements, what would be left would be a very good suspenseful mystery thriller." 」 Years later Donner recalled.
"Omen"
After the box office hit of "Omen", the film company took advantage of the hot iron to shoot three sequels, plus a new version of "Omen" restarted in 2006, but both the storyline and the directional approach were far behind the standard of Donner's classic work.
"Superman represents part of the country's traditions"
Just two years after the filming of "Omen", Donner successfully directed "Superman" starring Christopher Reeve. His willingness to take over the project was not the million-dollar directorial salary offered by the producers, but their agreement to get his trusted screenwriter, Tom Mankiewicz, to rewrite the script.
In Donner's view, the original script of "Superman" was too focused on comedy, and he wanted to make this classic comic into a positive drama. "I read this comic when I was a kid, and I felt that it represented part of the national tradition of the United States, and when it was brought to the screen, it should be given enough respect." Donner once said.
Richard Donner on location in Superman
The panel used the obscure newcomer Christopher Reeve to play Superman, who was also the director Donner. In addition, he has to deal with DC Comics and several producers from time to time, and has to meet the various demanding requirements of Marlon Brando, the big-name actor who plays Superman's father. However, what is more difficult in comparison is the special effects part of the film. "How to get Superman to fly, no one knew what to do at the time," he recalled, "everyone was blindly touching an elephant, experimenting and shooting." ”
In the end, the release of "Superman" triggered a movie-watching boom around the world, and even cultivated the first batch of enthusiastic fans of Hollywood blockbusters in the land of New China. However, before the taste of success could be tasted, Donner was fired for having a conflict with the producers, leaving the directing of Superman 2 in the hands of Richard Lester.
It is worth mentioning that when the first "Superman" was filmed, Donner had already shot a lot of material for the second part. When the second film began, due to the change of director, many of the content that had been filmed had to be overturned and restarted, but the big actor Gene Hackman, who played the big villain Lex, refused to reshoot, so all the shots we saw in "Superman 2" were actually written by former director Richard Donner, but donner's name could not be found in the credits of the film.
At the end of 2006, Warner released a DVD called "Superman 2: Richard Donner Cut", which claimed to use the six tons of old film found in the library to maximize the material that Donner had already shot, although most of the plot was consistent with the theatrical version completed by Richard Lester, but it finally fulfilled the wish of Donner himself and the ultimate fans who had been struggling to find this secret version for decades.
With Mel Gibson on set on Lethal Weapon
After "Superman", Donner also shot a number of successful commercial films, including the fantasy romance film "The Legend of the Eagle Wolf" starring Michelle Pfeiffer and Rutger Hal, which was introduced and broadcast on many TV stations in China, as well as "Seven Treasures", "Lonely Rich Man", "Gambler Ma Huali", "Assassin Battlefield", "Chain Conspiracy", "Return to the Middle Ages", "Brave 16 Blocks" and so on.
The most internationally recognizable is the "Lethal Weapons" series, which is composed of Mel Gibson and Danny Glover in black and white. The two detectives are in stark contrast in personality and style, and the bright pace is the icing on the cake for the entire series, which has fascinated countless die-hard fans of action movies around the world.
The Legend of the Eagle Wolf
Lethal Weapon
During the filming of The Legend of the Eagle Wolf, Donner fell in love with the female producer Lauren Shuler, and soon after entered the palace of marriage. The two formed the Donners' Company, which co-produced the X-Men series and continued richard Downer's influence in comic book superhero films.
Editor-in-charge: Cheng Yu
Proofreader: Shi Gong