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Chris Menges

 
Cinematographer: Chris Menges
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  • Born: Sep 15, 1940 in Herefordshire, England
  • Occupation: Cinematographer, Director
  • Active: '80s-2000s
  • Major Genres: Drama
  • Career Highlights: Local Hero, The Empire Strikes Back, A World Apart
  • First Major Screen Credit: The War Game (1962)

Biography

British-born Chris Menges worked his way up from the editing room to documentary cameraman, earning the respect of his peers through his willingness to film in perilous locations under near-impossible circumstances. This may be why Menges evinced no fear of formidable director Lindsay Anderson when he was hired in 1968 as camera operator on Anderson's If.... By 1970, Menges was a full director of photography, and during the next two decades amassed such impressive credits as Black Beauty (1971), The Empire Strikes Back (1980), The Killing Fields (1984) and The Mission (1986); for the last two films, Menges won Academy Awards. Menges became a director with 1988's A World Apart, which kept in line with the sociopolitical themes explored in Killing Fields and Mission by exposing the horrors of South African apartheid as seen through the eyes of an activist's teenaged daughter. Menges' subsequent directorial assignment, 1991's Crisscross, was likewise politically charged (Vietnam was the "subtext" this time around) but nowhere near as dramatically involving as A World Apart. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
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Wikipedia: Chris Menges
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Chris Menges
Born 15 September 1940
Kington, Herefordshire

Chris Menges (born 15 September 1940) is an English cinematographer and film director. He is a member of both the American and British Societies of Cinematographers.

Contents

Biography

Menges was born in Kington, Herefordshire, the son of composer/conductor Herbert Menges.[1] He began his career in the 1960s as camera operator for documentaries by Adrian Cowell and for movies like Poor Cow by Ken Loach and If.... by Lindsay Anderson. Kes, directed by Ken Loach, was his first film as cinematographer. He was also behind the camera on Stephen Frears' first feature film Gumshoe in 1971.

After several documentaries and feature films like Black Beauty (1971), Bloody Kids (1978), The Game Keeper (1980), Babylon (1980) and Angel (1982) he became notable for more ambitious works for which he was critically acclaimed.

In 1983 he received his first BAFTA nomination for the Bill Forsyth movie Local Hero and only a year later won his first Academy Award for the film The Killing Fields about the genocide in Cambodia. He continued his work with helmer Roland Joffe and he won his second Oscar in 1986 with the historical drama The Mission.

In 1988 he gave his directional debut with A World Apart. This film was celebrated at the 1988 Cannes Film Festival and won three major awards.[2]

His second film as director CrissCross with Goldie Hawn was a flop. In 1996 he moved back behind the camera to shoot the award winning films The Boxer (directed by Jim Sheridan) and Michael Collins (about the first IRA leader). For the latter he received his third Academy Award nomination in 1997.

Menges also made brave documentaries. In the early 1970s he went to Burma with British film maker Adrian Cowell to shoot The Opium Warlords, a movie about the drug trade. After the release of the documentary in 1974 the Burmese government was said to have put a price on their heads.

Filmography

as Cinematographer (selected)

as Director

References

  1. ^ http://www.filmreference.com/film/19/Chris-Menges.html
  2. ^ "Festival de Cannes: A World Apart". festival-cannes.com. http://www.festival-cannes.com/en/archives/ficheFilm/id/323/year/1988.html. Retrieved 2009-07-26. 

External links


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