11.27.02
Karel Reisz
Karel Reisz, the Czech-born director who became one of the leading lights of the British New Wave, has died aged 76.
In later years he concentrated primarily on theatre work, so, unfortunately, his legacy will consist of only a few major films, of which the best known are ‘Saturday Night and Sunday Morning’ and ‘The French Lieutenant’s Woman’.
It’s now difficult to find much of Reisz’s early work, including his documentaries made under the banner of the Free Cinema movement, although the BFI seem to be slowly making such material available again. Reisz’s last completed film was ‘Act Without Words’ for Channel 4’s Beckett on Film season, a prestigious commission which the channel managed to botch (not for the first or last time). It was a sorry way to treat a great director at the end of his career.
I will post links to the main obituaries here tomorrow.