Witness, The Year of Living Dangerously, Dead Poets Society, The Truman Show, Green Card, Gallipoli... are some of the best masterpieces of this Australian genius.
Peter Lindsay Weir (born 21 August 1944) is an Australian film director.
He was a leading figure in the Australian New Wave cinema movement (1970–1990), with films such as the mystery drama Picnic at Hanging Rock (1975), the supernatural thriller The Last Wave (1977) and the historical drama Gallipoli (1981). The climax of Weir's early career was the $6 million multinational production The Year of Living Dangerously (1982).
After the success of The Year of Living Dangerously, Weir directed a diverse group of American and international films covering most genres -many of them major box office hits- including Academy Award-nominated films such as the thriller Witness (1985), the drama Dead Poets Society (1989), the romantic comedy Green Card (1990), the social science fiction comedy-drama The Truman Show (1998) and the epic historical drama Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World (2003). For his work on these five films, Weir personally accrued six Academy Award nominations as either a director, writer or producer.
Since 2003, Weir's productivity has declined, having directed only one subsequent feature, the well received box-office flop The Way Back (2010).
More information: FSR
Weir was born in Sydney, the son of Peggy and Lindsay Weir, a real estate agent.
Weir attended The Scots College and Vaucluse Boys' High School before studying arts and law at the University of Sydney. His interest in film was sparked by his meeting with fellow students, including Phillip Noyce and the future members of the Sydney filmmaking collective Ubu Films.
Weir's major breakthrough in Australia and internationally was the lush, atmospheric period mystery Picnic at Hanging Rock (1975), made with substantial backing from the state-funded South Australian Film Corporation and filmed on location in South Australia and rural Victoria.
Weir scored a major Australian hit and further international praise with his next film, the historical adventure-drama Gallipoli (1981). Scripted by the Australian playwright David Williamson, it is regarded as classic Australian cinema.
The climax of Weir's early career was the $6 million multinational production The Year of Living Dangerously (1982), again starring Gibson, playing opposite top Hollywood female lead Sigourney Weaver in a story about journalistic loyalty, idealism, love and ambition in the turmoil of Sukarno's Indonesia of 1965. It was an adaptation of the novel by Christopher Koch, which was based in part on the experiences of Koch's journalist brother Philip, the ABC's Jakarta correspondent and one of the few western journalists in the city during the 1965 attempted coup. The film also won Linda Hunt (who played a man in the film) an Oscar for Best Actress in a Supporting Role.
Weir's first American film was the successful thriller Witness (1985), the first of two films he made with Harrison Ford, about a boy who sees the murder of an undercover police officer by corrupt co-workers and has to be hidden away in his Amish community to protect him. Weir directed Ford in his only performance to receive an Academy Award nomination, while child star Lukas Haas also received wide praise for his debut film performance.
It was followed by the darker, less commercial The Mosquito Coast (1986), Paul Schrader's adaptation of Paul Theroux's novel, with Ford playing a man obsessively pursuing his dream to start a new life in the Central American jungle with his family.
More information: NME
Weir's next film, Dead Poets Society, was a major international success, with Weir again receiving credit for expanding the acting range of its Hollywood star. Robin Williams was mainly known for his anarchic stand-up comedy and his popular TV role as the wisecracking alien in Mork & Mindy; in this film, he played an inspirational teacher in a dramatic story about conformity and rebellion at an exclusive New England prep school in the 1950s.
Fearless (1993) returned to darker themes and starred Jeff Bridges as a man who believes he has become invincible after surviving a catastrophic air crash.
After five years, Weir returned to direct his biggest success to date, The Truman Show (1998), a fantasy-satire of the media's control of life. The Truman Show was both a box office and a critical success.
In 2003, Weir returned to period drama with Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World, starring Russell Crowe.
Weir wrote and directed his next film, The Way Back (2010), a historical epic about escapees from a Soviet gulag, which was well received critically but not a financial success.
On 14 June 1982, Weir was appointed a Member of the Order of Australia (AM) for his service to the film industry.
More information: Directors Guild of America
but I have always liked things that aren't fully realized.
Peter Weir
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