Tags
Director George Miller, the next president of the jury at the Cannes Film Festival, is known for his violent, high-speed ‘Mad Max’ road movies but the ex-doctor is also celebrated as part of the renaissance of Australian cinema.
Post-apocalyptic visions aside, the 70-year-old can also boast a softer oeuvre, bringing to the screen titles such as ‘Happy Feet’, ‘Babe’ and ‘Lorenzo's Oil’.
Miller, the first Australian to chair Cannes, unleashed the first ‘Mad Max’ starring a young Mel Gibson in 1979 and has said the cult feature was influenced by his childhood in car-obsessed rural Queensland.
‘It wasn't until I really ended up being a doctor in emergency and seeing the kind of carnage as a result of car accidents or bike accidents that it kind of got into me,’ he told Australia Screen Online in 2006.
‘It kind of disturbed me quite a bit. And I think all those things were part of the mix of the 'Mad Max' films. Particularly the first one.’
Miller gave up a career as a doctor to concentrate on film and went on to direct ‘Witches of Eastwick’ (1987) starring Jack Nicholson, Cher and Susan Sarandon.
‘Babe: Pig in the City’ (1998) and the penguin movie ‘Happy Feet’ (2006), for which he won an Oscar for best animated feature, followed.
His latest instalment, ‘Mad Max: Fury Road’, starring Charlize Theron and Tom Hardy as Max, has picked up 10 nominations for the upcoming Academy Awards including best director.
Miller has said he has aimed for the audience to be able to pick out the story as the film rushes headlong past, likening it to watching a silent movie.
‘The task was to see how much story or experience or felt life you could create for an audience during a very fast action piece,’ he told The Sydney Morning Herald in October 2015.
‘I'm always interested as to how film language is evolving.
‘It's an acquired language. It basically laid down its syntax in the silent era. In many ways, 'Mad Max' is a silent movie with sound.’
Besides film, Miller has also been involved in making acclaimed television in Australia, including mini-series such as ‘The Dismissal’, ‘Bangkok Hilton’ and ‘Bodyline’.
Miller, whose father came to Australia from Greece, is married to film editor Margaret Sixel.
There are no comments.
SPORT Saying goodbye is never easy, especially when you are saying farewell to those that have left a positive impression. That was the case earlier this month when Canada hosted Mexico in a friendly at BC Place stadium in Vancouver.
TECHNOLOGY Some 60mn primary-school-age children have no access to formal education
CULTURE Lekhwiya’s El Arabi scores the equaliser after Tresor is sent off; Tabata, al-Harazi score for QSL champions
ARABIA The Yemeni Minister of Tourism, Dr Mohamed Abdul Majid Qubati, yesterday expressed hope that the 48-hour ceasefire in Yemen declared by the Command of Coalition Forces on Saturday will be maintained in order to lift the siege imposed on Taz City and ease the entry of humanitarian aid to the besieged
ARABIA Some 200 teachers from schools across the country attended Qatar Museum’s (QM) first ever Teachers Council at the Museum of Islamic Art (MIA) yesterday.
ARABIA The Supreme Judiciary Council (SJC) of Qatar and the Indonesian Supreme Court (SCI) have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on judicial co-operation, it was announced yesterday.
ECONOMY Sri Lanka is keen on importing liquefied natural gas (LNG) from Qatar as part of government policy to shift to clean energy, Minister of City Planning and Water Supply Rauff Hakeem has said.
