Miloš Forman

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Miloš Forman
at the 44th Karlovy Vary International Film Festival
Born	Jan Tomáš Forman (1932-02-18) February 18, 1932 (age 80) Čáslav, Czechoslovakia
Occupation	Actor Director Screenwriter
Years active	1953–present
Spouse	Jana Brejchová (1958–62; divorced) Vera Kresadlova-Formanova (1964–99; divorced) Martina Zborilova-Forman (1999–present)

Jan Tomáš Forman (Czech pronunciation: [ˈjan ˈtomaːʃ ˈforman]; born February 18, 1932), known as Miloš Forman ([ˈmɪloʃ ˈforman], English /ˈmiːloʊʃ ˈfɔərmən/), is a Czech-American director, screenwriter, professor, and an emigrant from Czechoslovakia. Two of his films, One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest and Amadeus, are among the most celebrated in the history of film, both gaining him the Academy Award for Best Director. He was also nominated for the same award for The People vs. Larry Flynt. He also won Golden Globe, Cannes, Berlinale, BAFTA, Cesar, David di Donatello, European Film Academy, and Czech Lion awards.^[1]

Personal life

Forman was born in Čáslav, Czechoslovakia (present-day Czech Republic), the son of Anna (née Švábová), who ran a summer hotel, and Rudolf Forman, a professor.^[2] His parents were Protestants. During the Nazi occupation a member of the anti-Nazi Underground named Forman's father as a member of the Underground while being interrogated by the Gestapo.^[3] His father was arrested for distributing banned books and died in Buchenwald in 1944. His mother died in Auschwitz in 1943.^[4] Forman has stated that he did not fully understand what had happened to his parents until he saw footage of the concentration camps when he was 16.^[3]

Forman lived with relatives during World War II^[4] and later discovered that his biological father was a Jewish architect, Otto Kohn.^[5] He has a brother, Pavel Forman, 12 years older, a Czech painter who also emigrated after the 1968 invasion, to Australia. In his youth he wanted to become a theatrical producer, bypassing theater.^{[citation needed]}

After the war, Forman attended the elite King George boarding school in the spa town Poděbrady, where his fellow students included Václav Havel, the Mašín brothers and future film-makers Ivan Passer and Jerzy Skolimowski.^[6] He later studied screenwriting at the Academy of Performing Arts in Prague. During the Warsaw Pact invasion of Czechoslovakia in summer 1968, he left Europe for the United States.^{[citation needed]}

Forman's first wife was Czech movie star Jana Brejchová. They met during the making of the movie Štěňata (1957). They divorced in 1962. Forman has twin sons with his second wife, Czech actress Věra Křesadlová-Formanová. Both sons, Petr Forman and Matěj Forman, born 1964, live for the theatre. That marriage lasted for thirty-five years, spanning 1964 to 1999. Then Forman married Martina Zbořilová on November 28, 1999. They also have twin sons, Jim and Andy (born 1999, named for comics Jim Carrey and Andy Kaufman), and reside in Connecticut.^{[citation needed]}

In 2006, he received the Hanno R. Ellenbogen Citizenship Award presented by the Prague Society for International Cooperation.^{[citation needed]}

He is a professor emeritus at Columbia University.^[7]

The asteroid 11333 Forman was named after Forman.^{[citation needed]}

In 2009 a documentary film about Forman directed by Miloš Šmídmajer emerged – Milos Forman: Co te nezabije....

He has written poems and published an autobiography called My Two Worlds.^{[citation needed]}

Career

Along with future favorite cinematographer Miroslav Ondříček and many years friend with school – Ivan Passer Forman has wound mute document Semafor about Semafor theater. Forman's first important achievement is the documentary Audition whose subject was competing singers. He directed several Czech comedies in Czechoslovakia. However, during the Prague Spring and the ensuing 1968 invasion, he was in Paris negotiating the production of his first American film. His employer, a Czech studio, fired him, claiming that he had been out of the country illegally. He moved to New York, where he later became a professor of film at Columbia University and co-chair (with his former teacher František Daniel) of Columbia's film department. One of his protégés was future director James Mangold, whom Forman had advised about scriptwriting.^{[citation needed]}

In 1977, he became a naturalized citizen of the United States.

In 1985 he headed the Cannes film festival and in 2000 did the same for the Venice festival. He presided over a ceremony of Caesar in 1988.^{[citation needed]}

In 1997, he received the Crystal Globe award for outstanding artistic contribution to world cinema at the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival. Forman co-starred alongside actor Edward Norton in the actor's directorial debut, Keeping the Faith (2000), as the wise friend to Norton's conflicted priest.^{[citation needed]}

In April 2007 the jazz opera Dobře placená procházka premiered at the National Theatre, directed by Forman's son, Petr Forman.^{[citation needed]}

Forman received an honorary degree in 2009 from Emerson College in Boston.^[8]

He regularly collaborates with cinematographer Miroslav Ondříček.^{[citation needed]}

Films

Loves of a Blonde

Loves of a Blonde is one of best–known movies of Czechoslovak New Wave and has been rewarded on the Venice and Locarno film festivals. It was also nominated for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film in 1967.^[9]

The Fireman's Ball

A 1967 Czechoslovak-Italian co-production, this was Forman's first color film. It is one of the best–known movies of Czechoslovak New Wave. It was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Film.^[10]

Taking Off

The first movie Forman realized in United States, Taking Off was rewarded at Cannes Film Festival. The film starred Lynn Carlin and Buck Henry.

One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest

In spite of initial difficulties, he started directing in the United States, and achieved success in 1975 with the adaptation of Ken Kesey's novel One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest starring Jack Nicholson and Louise Fletcher. The film won five Oscars in the five most important categories: Best Director, Best Actor, Best Actress, Best Picture and Best Adapted Screenplay, one of only three films in history to do so, along with It Happened One Night and The Silence of the Lambs, and firmly established Forman's reputation.^{[citation needed]}

Hair

Hair (1979).‎

The success of One flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest allowed Forman to direct the long-planned film Hair a (rock opera) in 1979, based on the Broadway musical by James Rado and Gerome Ragni and Galt MacDermot. The film starred Treat Williams, John Savage and Beverly D'Angelo.^{[citation needed]}

Amadeus

Forman's next important achievement was the adaption of Peter Shaffer's Amadeus in 1984—retelling the story of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Antonio Salieri. The internationally acclaimed film starred Tom Hulce, Elizabeth Berridge and F. Murray Abraham. The movie won eight Oscars, including Best Picture, Best Director and Best Actor (Abraham).

Valmont

His adaptation of Pierre Choderlos de Laclos's novel Les Liaisons dangereuses, it had its premiere on November 17, 1989. Another film adaptation by Stephen Frears had been released the previous year and received much acclaim. The film starred Colin Firth, Meg Tilly and Annette Bening. It did not earn favorable reviews.

The People vs. Larry Flynt

The 1996 biopic of pornographic publisher Larry Flynt brought Forman another Oscar nomination.^[1] The film starred Woody Harrelson, Courtney Love and Edward Norton.

Man on the Moon

The biography of famous actor and comic Andy Kaufman (in this role rewarded Golden Globe Jim Carrey) had premiere on December 22, 1999. The film starred Jim Carrey, Danny DeVito, Courtney Love and Paul Giamatti.

Goya's Ghosts

This free biography of Spanish painter Francisco Goya (American-Spain co-production) premiered on November 8, 2006. The film starred Natalie Portman, Javier Bardem, Stellan Skarsgård and Randy Quaid.

The Ghost of Munich

Premiere of Forman's newest historical drama in France based on the novel by Georges-Marc Benamou and written by Forman and Georges-Marc Benamou is expected in 2012. The central topic is the Munich Agreement. There will be a female protagonist, an investigative journalist who, thirty years after the conference, sets out to locate Édouard Daladier, the former French Council president.

Influence on the Czech language

Forman's early films are popular among Czechs. Many situations and phrases from his movies have passed into common use. For example, the Czech term zhasnout (to switch lights off) from The Firemen's Ball, associated with petty theft in the film, has been used to describe the large-scale asset stripping that occurred in the country during the 1990s.^{[citation needed]}

Style

Forman has made his own personal style of comedy. His heroes are outsiders leading unconventional lives. His movies are often closely rooted in reality and possess a "para-documentary" quality. His movies typically involve an amateur cast of actors, or actors that are not typically well known.

Filmography

^{[citation needed]}

Awards, nominations and honours

Academy Awards

• 1975: One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (won)
• 1984: Amadeus (won)
• 1996: The People vs. Larry Flynt (nomination)

Golden Globe

• 1975: One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (won)
• 1984: Amadeus (won)
• 1981: Ragtime (nomination)
• 1996: The People vs. Larry Flynt (won)

Cannes

• 1971: Taking Off (Won)
• 1968: The Fireman's Ball (nomination)

Berlinale

• 1999: Man on the Moon (won)
• 1997: The People vs. Larry Flynt (won)^[11]

BAFTA

• 1975: One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (won)
• 1984: Amadeus (nomination)
• 1971: Taking Off (nomination – Best Film)
• 1971: Taking Off (nomination – Best Screenplay)

César Award

• 1984: Amadeus (won)
• 1975: One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (nomination)
• 1979: Hair (nomination)
• 1989: Valmont (nomination)

David di Donatello

• 1975: One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (won)
• 1984: Amadeus (won – Best Film)
• 1984: Amadeus (won – Best Screenplay)
• 1979: Hair (won)

European Film Academy

• 1996: The People vs. Larry Flynt – Award for European contribution to world cinema – screen Prix International (won)

Czech Lion

• 1997: Contribution to Czech cinema (won)

List of Greatest Czechs

• Největší Čech: # 30 place

• 1995: Medal of Merit

References

External links

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: Milos Forman

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Miloš Forman

• Milos Forman at the Internet Movie Database
• Bibliography of books and articles about Forman via UC Berkeley Media Resources Center
• Milos Forman, BBC News of March 2001
• Interview with Milos Forman: Defender of the Artist and the Common Man
• Miloš Forman profile