Стивен Фрирс: Режиссер и его вклад в британское кино и телевидение.

British film director and producer (born 1941)

Sir Stephen Arthur Frears (born 20 June 1941) is a British director and producer of film and television, often depicting real life stories as well as projects that explore social class through sharply drawn characters. He has received numerous accolades including three BAFTA Awards, and a Primetime Emmy Award as well as nominations for two Academy Awards. In 2008, The Daily Telegraph named Frears among the 100 most influential people in British culture. In 2009, he received the Commandeur de l'Ordre des Arts et des Lettres. He received a knighthood in 2023 for his contributions to the film and television industries. Born in Leicester and educated at Gresham's School and Trinity College, Cambridge, Frears started his career working as an assistant director in theatre and film while directing many television plays. Frears directed his debut feature film Gumshoe in 1971 and received critical acclaim for his films in the 1980s such as My Beautiful Laundrette (1985), Prick Up Your Ears (1987), and Dangerous Liaisons (1988). He also received two Academy Award nominations for directing The Grifters (1990) and The Queen (2006). Frears is also known for his work on various television programmes, including the television films Fail Safe (2000), The Deal (2003), and Muhammad Ali's Greatest Fight (2013). He directed the Jeremy Thorpe BBC One biographical miniseries A Very English Scandal (2018), for which he earned a Primetime Emmy Award nomination.

In the late 1980s, Frears came to international attention as a director of feature films. In 1985, Frears found widespread acclaim with My Beautiful Laundrette. Based on Hanif Kureishi's screenplay, the film focuses on an interracial gay romance. It received an Academy Award nomination and two nominations for BAFTA Awards. The success of the film helped launch the careers of both Frears and actor Daniel Day Lewis. Frears worked with Adrian Edmondson on Mr Jolly Lives Next Door, a 45 minute programme starring Peter Cook in The Comic Strip Presents television comedy series that aired on Channel Four in 1988. In 1985, Frears had also directed a Comic Strip parody of Daphne Du Maurier's 1938 novel Rebecca. Frears next directed the Joe Orton biopic Prick Up Your Ears (1987), a collaboration with playwright Alan Bennett. His second film adapted from a Kureishi screenplay was Sammy and Rosie Get Laid (1987). In 1988, Frears directed Dangerous Liaisons to widespread critical acclaim. The film was shot in France, with a cast that included Americans Glenn Close, John Malkovich, and Michelle Pfeiffer, and Uma Thurman. Based on the late 18th century French novel of romantic game playing and adapted by Christopher Hampton, the film received seven Academy Award nominations. These included for Best Picture and Best Actress for Glenn Close and Best Supporting Actress for Michelle Pfeiffer. The film also received ten British Academy Film Award nominations including for Frears for Best Direction.

In 1990, Frears directed the neo noir crime thriller The Grifters, starring John Cusack, Anjelica Huston, and Annette Bening. Martin Scorsese served as a producer on the film. The film won the Independent Spirit Award for Best Film and was declared one of the Top 10 films of 1990 by The National Board of Review of Motion Pictures. Frears was also nominated for the British Academy Film Award for Best Direction and the US Academy Award for Best Director. In 1992, Frears directed the comedy drama Hero, released in the United Kingdom as Accidental Hero. The film starred Dustin Hoffman, Geena Davis, Andy Garcia, and Joan Cusack. Many critics compared the film to those of Preston Sturges and Frank Capra, as did Roger Ebert, who wrote, "It [the film] has all the ingredients for a terrific entertainment, but it lingers over the kinds of details that belong in a different kind of movie. It comes out of the tradition of those rat a tat Preston Sturges comedies of the 1940s." While the film was met with generally positive critical reviews, it was not a box office success. Columbia Pictures lost $25.6 million. Frears has also directed two films adapted from novels by Roddy Doyle, The Snapper (1993) and The Van (1996). Frears's other films include the horror film Mary Reilly and the Western The Hi Lo Country (1998).

In 2000, Frears directed High Fidelity starring John Cusack, Jack Black, Lisa Bonet, and Joan Cusack. The film is based on the 1995 British novel of the same name by Nick Hornby. It is set in Chicago rather than London, and the name of the lead character was changed. After seeing the film, Hornby expressed his happiness with Cusack's performance, saying that "at times, it appears to be a film in which John Cusack reads my book". The film received positive reviews from critics and has a score of 91% on Rotten Tomatoes, based on 165 reviews, with an average rating of 7.7/10. The critical consensus states: "The deft hand of director Stephen Frears and strong performances by the ensemble cast combine to tell an entertaining story with a rock solid soundtrack." In 2002, Frears directed social thriller, Dirty Pretty Things, a film about two immigrants living in London. The film starred Audrey Tautou, and Chiwetel Ejiofor. The film was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay. It won a British Independent Film Award for Best Independent British Film in 2003. For his performance as Okwe, Chiwetel Ejiofor won the 2003 British Independent Film Award for Best Actor. In 2003, Frears was attached to direct the James Bond spin off Jinx, featuring Halle Berry as her character from Die Another Day (2002) co starring with Michael Madsen and Javier Bardem. Neal Purvis and Robert Wade were scheduled to return to write the screenplay, and Wade described it as "a very atmospheric, Euro thriller, a Bourne type movie". Producer Barbara Broccoli described it as the beginning of a "Winter Olympics" style alternative to the conventional Bond films. However, the project was cancelled due to "creative differences" between Eon Productions and MGM and in order to focus on the reboot of the series with Casino Royale (2006). In 2003, Frears returned to directing for television with The Deal (2003), which depicts an alleged deal between Tony Blair and Gordon Brown over which of them should become leader of the Labour Party in 1994. Michael Sheen portrayed Tony Blair to great acclaim. In 2005, Frears directed the British theatre comedy Mrs Henderson Presents starring Judi Dench, Bob Hoskins. The film was praised for its performances by Dench and Hoskins with Dench receiving an Academy Award nomination for Best Actress. Frears’s next film project was The Queen (2006), a film that depicts the death of Princess Diana on 31 August 1997, and the reaction of members of the monarchy and the public. The film premiered at the Venice Film Festival, where Mirren won Best Actress and Peter Morgan won Best Screenplay. Frears was nominated for the Golden Lion. When released within the United States, the film achieved box office success and awards. At the Academy Awards, Frears received his second Academy Award nomination for best direction. Helen Mirren won numerous awards for playing the title role, including the Academy Award for Best Actress.

Frears holds the "David Lean Chair in Fiction Direction" at the National Film and Television School in Beaconsfield, where he teaches. In 2013, Frears directed the drama, Philomena (2013), which was based on the book The Lost Child of Philomena Lee (2009) by journalist Martin Sixsmith. This explored the story of Philomena Lee's 50 year search for her son, who was taken from her when she was a young unwed mother at a Catholic convent, and adopted by an American family. It also recounted Sixsmith's efforts to help her find the son. The film starred Judi Dench and Steve Coogan. The film premiered at the 70th Venice International Film Festival to great acclaim and writers Jeff Pope and Steve Coogan won the best screenplay award for the film. The film won the People's Choice Award Runner Up prize at the 2013 Toronto International Film Festival. The film was nominated for four Oscars at the 86th Academy Awards: Best Picture, Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Actress (for Dench), and Best Original Score. It was also nominated for four British Academy Film Awards and three Golden Globe Awards. The same year, HBO released Frears's television drama Muhammad Ali's Greatest Fight, starring Christopher Plummer and Frank Langella. It explores the United States Supreme Court deliberation over banning Muhammad Ali from boxing for refusing to serve in the US Army during the Vietnam War. Frears directed a biopic of cycling champion Lance Armstrong, The Program, starring Ben Foster, which premiered in the 2015 Toronto International Film Festival. Many of Frears's films are based on stories of living persons, but he has never sought to meet any of his subjects. National Life Stories conducted an oral history interview (C1316/07) with Stephen Frears in 2008 for its The Legacy of the English Stage Company collection held by the British Library. In 2016, Frears directed the film, Florence Foster Jenkins, starring Meryl Streep. The title character is a New York heiress known as an aspiring opera singer despite her poor singing abilities. Hugh Grant plays her manager and long time companion, St. Clair Bayfield. Other cast members include Simon Helberg, Rebecca Ferguson, and Nina Arianda. The film was a critical and commercial success, with many praising Streep and Grant for their performances. At the 89th Academy Awards, it was nominated for Best Costume Design and earned Streep her 20th nomination for Best Actress. It received four Golden Globe nominations, including Best Picture in a Comedy or Musical. In 2017, Frears reunited with Judi Dench, this time in Victoria & Abdul, about the real life relationship between Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom and her Indian Muslim servant Abdul Karim. The film also stars Ali Fazal, Michael Gambon, Eddie Izzard, Tim Pigott Smith (in his final film role), and Adeel Akhtar. The film had its world premiere at the 74th Venice Film Festival, and was theatrically released on 15 September 2017 in the United Kingdom. It has grossed more than $65 million worldwide. In 2018, Frears returned to the limited series with A Very English Scandal, which premiered on BBC One and later on Amazon Prime. The project is a three part 2018 British television comedy drama miniseries based on John Preston's 2016 book of the same name. It is a dramatisation of the 1976–1979 Jeremy Thorpe scandal and more than 15 years of events leading up to it. The series stars Hugh Grant as Jeremy Thorpe, and Ben Whishaw as Norman Scott. The limited series gained great acclaim in both the United Kingdom and the United States. On Rotten Tomatoes, the series holds an approval rating of 97% based on 64 reviews, with an average rating of 9.05/10. Rotten Tomatoes's critical consensus reads, "Hugh Grant and Ben Whishaw impress in A Very English Scandal, an equally absorbing and appalling look at British politics and society". Grant received Primetime Emmy Award, Screen Actors Guild Award, Golden Globe Award, British Academy Television Award, and Critics Choice Award nominations for his performance while Whishaw earned an Emmy, and BAFTA win. In 2022, it was reported that Frears would be directing a film about Billy Wilder titled Wilder & Me. An adaptation by Christopher Hampton of the novel Mr Wilder and Me (2020) by Jonathan Coe, the film is scheduled to begin shooting in early 2025, produced by Jeremy Thomas.

In 1968, Frears married Mary Kay Wilmers, with whom he had two sons, Sam and Will. The couple divorced in the early 1970s. Will Frears became a stage and film director. Early in his career, Frears made a programme featuring the band the Scaffold. He is name checked ("Mr Frears had sticky out ears ") in their hit song "Lily the Pink". Frears lived in London with Anne Rothenstein and their two children.

A convinced republican, in April 2015, Frears was one of several celebrities who endorsed the parliamentary candidacy of Caroline Lucas at the 2015 general election, but not other Green Party candidates. In December 2019, along with 42 other leading cultural figures, Frears signed a letter endorsing the Labour Party under Jeremy Corbyn's leadership in the 2019 general election.

Year Title Distributor1968 The Burning (short film) BFI1971 Gumshoe Columbia Pictures1984 The Hit Palace Pictures1985 My Beautiful Laundrette Orion Pictures1987 Prick Up Your Ears The Samuel Goldwyn Company Sammy and Rosie Get Laid Cinecom Pictures1988 Dangerous Liaisons Warner Bros.1990 The Grifters Miramax Films1992 Hero Columbia Pictures1996 Mary Reilly TriStar Pictures The Van 20th Century Fox1998 The Hi Lo Country Gramercy Pictures2000 High Fidelity Buena Vista Pictures Liam Lionsgate2002 Dirty Pretty Things Buena Vista International2005 Mrs Henderson Presents The Weinstein Company2006 The Queen Pathé2009 Chéri Pathé / Warner Bros. Pictures2010 Tamara Drewe Sony Pictures Classics2012 Lay the Favorite The Weinstein Company2013 Philomena The Weinstein Company / Pathé2015 The Program StudioCanal2016 Florence Foster Jenkins 20th Century Fox / Pathé2017 Victoria & Abdul Focus Features / Universal Pictures2022 The Lost King Pathé / Warner Bros. Pictures