David Lean
David Lean
The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957)
RANKED:
9. Madeleine (1950)
It has been said that David Lean's least favorite film of his filmography was "Madeleine." Released in 1950, it is based on the true story of a young Glasgow woman from a wealthy family who was tried in 1857 for the murder of her lover. Lean made the film as a wedding present for his newlywed wife, Ann Todd, the film's lead star, as she had previously played the role on stage. Whether or not this contributed to his dislike for the film remains uncertain, as their marriage eventually ended only 7 years later.
8. Blithe Spirit (1945)
Despite being a commercial failure in 1945, David Lean's British screwball comedy "Blithe Spirit" is now retrospectively considered a classic. Filmed in technicolor, this lively affair finds a middle-aged writer being haunted by the ghost of his dead first wife. His second wife is none too pleased. Everyone in the production disliked the project and so did audiences. However, critics noted a certain charm with the film, along with its technical advancements with the colorization and all the special effects involving the ghostly apparitions. "Blithe Spirit" may not be a film everyone will remember, but it is certainly a notable film in the illustrious career of David Lean.
7. Summertime (1955)
The collaboration between iconic British director David Lean and equally iconic Hollywood actress Katharine Hepburn resulted in a film that Lean would retrospectively call the favorite of his career. Given that his career has consisted of works like "Brief Encounter," "Bridge on the River Kwai," and "Lawrence of Arabia," the statement speaks for itself. The film, 1955's "Summertime" follows an unmarried, middle-aged secretary who travels from Akron, Ohio to Venice to spend the summer. What follows is a teenage-style summer romance between her and a local shop owner. Using Eastmancolor negative film and Technicolor prints, Lean's experimentation with color filmmaking would be good practice for his upcoming films that follow, which would change the landscape of British cinema.
6. Great Expectations (1946)
After the war, David Lean adapted two of Charles Dickens most famous novels. The first, released in 1946, was Dickens 1861 novel "Great Expectations." Centering on a young orphan boy who finds himself in the fortunate circumstances of becoming a noble gentleman, the film was praised by critics and audiences for effectively rendering the classic Dickens novel to cinematic terms. After the success of this "Great Expectations" adaptation, Lean would go on to make "Oliver Twist" for his next feature-length film, which would also be a success.
5. Oliver Twist (1948)
After the success of David Lean's 1946 adaption of Charles Dickens classic 1861 novel "Great Expectations," Lean decided once again to adapt a classic work by Dickens. This time, his focus was on the 1837 novel, "Oliver Twist." His 1948 adaptation once again proved that Lean was able to take Dicken's classic work and visualize it for the big screen, as it became the fifth highest grossing film at the UK box office that year and was well-received by critics. Lean would go on to bigger and better projects in the decades to come, but his final film in the 1940s demonstrates his early ability to bring engrossing and enriching works to life.
4. Hobson's Choice (1954)
It's not too often that you encounter a comedy as unique and layered as David Lean's "Hobson's Choice." The film centers on an authoritative father prohibited his three daughters from getting married in 1880's Salford. When one of the daughters hatches a plan to evade his patriarchal oppression, the film begins to dive into interesting themes on capitalism. The economic means by the patriarchal father represents the tyrannical power capitalism affords, while his daughter's headstrong entrepreneurial spirit reflects the means by which one can self-actualize. Comedic, charming, and even sometimes strange, "Hobson's Choice" is sometimes overlooked in Lean's filmography. But by all means, it's a necessary watch.
3. The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957)
Despite having carved out an impressive array of films in his first 15 years of filmmaking, David Lean is not primarily known for this illustrious period. When one brings up Lean, it is primarily his largescale epics that typically come to mind. The first film that kicked off this period for Lean was 1957's "The Bridge on the River Kwai." The film centers on a group of British soldiers building a bridge in a Japanese prison camp. What the film does wonderfully is thematically play with notions of honor, duty, and adherence and bounce these notions off the senselessness and anti-logic of wartime maneuvering. The film's climax is something to note, as its payoff completely singularizes these concepts into a coherent thematic point. "The Bridge on the River Kwai" was the highest grossing film globally in 1957, was honored with critical acclaim, and is now considered one of the greatest war films ever constructed.
2. Brief Encounter (1945)
Adapted from the 1936 play "Still Life" by Noel Coward, David Lean's 1945 British film "Brief Encounter" tells the story of a...well...brief encounter that eventually turns into a doomed romance. A married woman and a married man meet at the train station and begin to form a bond and eventually fall in love, all the while meeting in secret. However, they both know that their relationship is doomed to fail as our protagonist Laura can't disregard her family, her husband, and her values. This is why the film works so well and why it was successful with 1940s British audiences: Laura continues to uphold the values commonly held by British society, while all the while allowing herself moments of respite. The fact that it is only a respite is what drives the romantic tension of the film. Laura does not consummate the romantic relationship and, in the end, ends up back in the arms of her husband. For today's audiences, this might seem like an undesirable ending, as many would feel that Laura is not doing what's 'in her heart' and in her own interest. However, the moral integrity of British society at the time was far too great for such a disintegration of values. Rather, it was the tragic nature of the romance that created a fervor in the viewer and made "Brief Encounter" an iconic British film.
1. Lawrence of Arabia (1962)
"Lawrence of Arabia:" its reach is endless, its technical mastery unparalleled, and its scope boundless. David Lean's 1962 masterpiece follows the legendary British figure, T.E. Lawrence, as he is tasked with leading the Arabs against the Turks during the First World War. The larger thematic point of the film rests on the British infiltration, manipulation, and colonization of the Middle East while the smaller points center on Lawrence's psychological crisis of identity, allegiance, loyalty, and morality. When one speaks about the film, the first point made is the visual achievement made by Lean himself. The utter scope and scale of the film is unmatched. The landscapes of desert terrain, along with the innumerable armies and landmarks make the world of Arabia more bountiful and theoretically unlimited. At the heart of the story, however, is the notion that we are all cogs in the machine of colonialization and our identity is defined by what we are willing to do for others. In Lawrence's case, his intentions and his values become compromised by larger mechanisms at play, stripping him of whatever individuality he had in the beginning in favor of a ruthless killing machine working as a means of a larger war machine by the film's conclusion. These concepts, along with the film's visual masterwork make it the best British film ever made, along with one of the greatest achievements ever put to film.
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