Bruce Beresford
Bruce Beresford
Bruce Beresfordis an Australian film director who has made more than 30 feature films over a 50-year career. Notable films he has directed include Breaker Morant, Tender Mercies, Crimes of the Heartand Driving Miss Daisy...
NationalityAustralian
ProfessionDirector
Date of Birth16 August 1940
CountryAustralia
want way directors
There were movies that always made me want to be a director. You see brilliant scenes and the way the emotions were handled. I thought, I'd really like to do that.
growing-up men white-man
When I was 24 I went to Nigeria and it was such a culture shock, growing up in Australia and suddenly being the only white man in this unit full of black men.
men people stories
I thought, This is fabulous. It sent shivers up my spine. I thought, What kinds of people are these that would produce this kind of music in a camp? All the prison camp stories I've seen, and heard of, were about the heroism of men. As I researched this and heard the music, I realized that women were heroic too, on just as grand a scale. And their treatment was just as appalling.
character singers wonderful
It's not enough to hit the notes. There is no point in the singers just standing there and sounding wonderful if they're not connecting with the characters they are portraying.
cutting down-and cameras
In silent movies, they tended to put the camera down, and everybody walked in front of it and acted, and then they all walked off. Cutting was quite infrequent.
challenges opera too-much
In opera, everyone's watching from a fixed viewpoint, and that really challenges you. Lighting, the sets, stage groupings, the music-but doesn't relate too much to film.
moving government australia
In Australia, they set up a special fund to kick films off. It was quite an enlightened sort of move. You could go to this government bureau with scripts and and get finance for films.
opera staging
I'd really been interested in opera when I was about 16, and I really like staging them.
music art drama
It is essential to do everything possible to attract young people to opera so they can see that it is not some antiquated art form but a repository of the most glorious music and drama that man has created.
perhaps scenes shooting
Perhaps the most difficult thing is shooting scenes set 6,000 feet up in the mountains of Mexico.
casting certainly director directors friends-or-friendship spent strange struck talk talking time wish
I have some director friends who have said that they don't really like working with actors - directors who have said 'I wish they would just get on with it. I don't want to talk to them,' which always struck me as strange because I certainly like talking to actors and I have spent a long time casting them.
bet bring days directing directors effect general good separated studios tend
There are some good writer/directors in the U.S. as well. In general the writing and directing tend to be separated but I bet that most of the directors have a big effect on the scripts. These days the studios tend to bring in hordes of writers.
ideas long theatre
I don't rehearse films as much as opera or theatre. When I began directing films I thought a long rehearsal was a good idea. Experience showed me that the best performance was often left in a rehearsal room.
directors film moments
Film is shot in fragments, and the same moments can be shot again and again until the director is satisfied.