David Lean on the critical reaction to Ryan's Daughter
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 22 ก.ค. 2024
- In an interview with Melvyn Bragg, David Lean talks about the critical reaction to his film Ryan's Daughter, in particular a mauling he suffered in a luncheon with the National Society of Film Critics in the Algonquin Hotel in New York.
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As a 17 year old young woman viewing this heartstring-tugging film upon its theatrical release, the impact was stunningly, profoundly, important. Personally involved with the historical era pictured (a favorite aunt, whom i had not met in person, died while serving as a very young nurse on the WWI battlefield),
absorbed by the beauty of the Irish landscape, moved by the beautiful music and admiring of the heroism of the Irish people....I was deeply absorbed by this special work of Director Extraordinaire, David Lean.
A few years after the film, I met an amazing Canadian (son of a former WWII British soldier) ...to whom my soul opened with a first glance. We were compelled to develop a friendship amidst an invisibly mysterious, timeless reality...and yet, I knew it best not marry: he was ready for a wife who could be a mother - and that could not be me.
After withdrawing from his life, he found the woman who could help him bring four remarkable sons into this world...
Internet obituaries advise that he died suddenly, 17 years ago. Now an old lady, I cherish having been "swept away in love" with him when we were very young. I especially cherish that his lineage continues.
He made three awesome films in a row, Bridge, Lawrence and Zhivago. He'd won an Oscar. I think the critics decided it was time to take Lean down a few notches, like they have some moral obligation to do so. Ryan's Daughter isn't my favorite Lean film, but hell, his worst film is better than a lot of people's best! So he made something that was less than a masterpiece. It's not like he committed a crime. Here's my favorite David Lean quote, "I wouldn't take the advice of a critic on how to shoot a close up of a teapot." Well played, Sir David. People still watch your films. They're monumentally great films and they'll last forever. The critic's opinions, well they're like eunuchs at an orgy, they can watch but they can't do anything.
Touché
...and they were successful because now all you get is STINK films. Also, to make an epic film today like ANY of the ones Lean made takes a lot of money, man power and style and today's young fuck directors don't have that kind of class. Besides, any attempt by a younger director to make such films would be under great pressure to BUMP UP the pacing to meet the demand of YOUNG viewers who do not read books and have absolutely no patience for slow developing movie stories like the ones Lean made.
I wish you'd spell correctly it's Favourite. Americans!
@@paulanthony5274 Seriously?? A truly unimportant spelling "error" that you discovered, was more important to point out, than the gist of John Wesley Downey's response to the hammering David received at the hands of those bellends on that particular evening at the Algonquin? Wow!
@@TTLA69 I know, I agree, I don't understand why I did that as I'm normally very easy going. I furrowed my eyebrows wondering what must have come over me. I do apologise!
Always loved this film. It's the kind of film you can revisit after many years. Beautiful scenery, fantastic acting. One of those films that captures the essence of a time. Be proud David Lean. It will be watched forever xxxx
Ryan's daughter was and still is an epic film.
Unfortunately.
@@m1lst3r89
Fortunately it's not an epic film, it's an intimate movie meant to be visually overwhelming. And there's a reason for that. I don't freaking know why Zhivago, which is morally rough and gross many times is applauded (I applaude it, it's my Lean favourite movie) but Ryan had this stupid response from pedantic, moralistic critics
UNDESERVED CRITICISM OF A GREAT TALENT. THE CINEMATOGRAPHY IS OUTSTANDING, THE SCORE IS WONDERFUL AND THE CHARACTERIZATIONS SPOT ON. I LOVED THIS FILM AND EVERYTHING ABOUT IT.
Thank you so much for this. What a dreadful experience to have gone through. I think Ryan's Daughter is a wonderful film; not perfect but what is? So nice to watch Lean talk so calmly about it all. Thanks again.
I loved the movie
Well said and well put.
If an artist with Lean's filmography can have his confidence shaken by bad reviews, what hope is there for the rest of us?
We must keep in mind Billy Wilder's twist on an old Hollywood adage: "You're only as good as the best thing you've done."
One of my favorite movies of all time. Incredibly romantic.
"one's awfully easily shaken, you know?" what an epic sentence from a epic character and director, master David Lean! To hell with all those critics. They never understood anything, not a single thing. This man here, in this interview alone, a true human being. So fragile. So great. So wise.
Ryan's Daughter was one of my all time favorite movies and I never realized it had such criticism. I found it extremely sensual and provocative.
Agree, Ms. Pierce. It was wonderfully sensual, cruel and Robert Mitchum was outstanding in his characterization of the school master and Christoper, OMG. THEY HAD SUCH CHEMISTRY. Cinematography was exquisite.
I think Ryans Daughter is a magical film. Complete with great acting ( John mills won an Oscar) and superb photography and locations. Highly evocative of the time and place.What a shame those 'critics' might have denied us more films from the
great man.
thank God I don't listen to critics. I loved this film and everything about it.
john mills' performance was awful. served no real purpose to the story.
thevoid99 what are you talking about he was brilliant and subtly offered the viewer a narrative as to what was going on aswell as a good few laughs. Exactly the type of ridiculous criticism lean is speaking of here
@@sydneyshaw607 Yes void by name and void by nature.
Ryan's Daughter is one of my all-time favorite movies. I loved the sound track. Lean did a wonderful job with it; I can't imagine why he would have been hammered for it. Wish I could have seen more of Christopher, last name escapes me, the officer with the artificial leg.
BridgetoSomewhere I believe it was Christopher Jones....
Lorene Fairchild Yes, you are right. I found (or remembered it) and looked up info on his life. If I have all this right, he had Olivia Hussey with him in Ireland during the filming but had something going with Sharon Tate. On the news of her murder, he quit filming altogether except Mad Dog Time 1996 and died Jan. 31, 2014. Thanks for the response.
It breaks my heart to see people like him who, besides being extremely talented, clearly have an utter care and dedication with the ART they produce being slaughtered like this.
I saw this movie when I was 12. I just loved it. I still do. I think it is one of the great ones. Critics have inflated egos and snub their noses all the time. Some of the movies they like are garbage. This is a wonderful movie. The lives in this little community and the war. You don't see that kind of story or acting today. And if one was done today they would pull out so many scenes that you would not get the feeling for the characters.
Wow.. you can tell how hurt he had been and still was. No one should ever humiliate an artist's work like critics did to him. Imagine working for years on a movie (+ he was a perfectionist) and getting trashed by unknown critics who took a few minutes to write an article. But hey he won ultimately : he's the one audience will remember and today Ryan's Daughter is considered a masterpiece and rightfully so.
Ryan's Daughter was hugely successful in every respect. It was financially profitable and was spectacularly impressive. The people of Dingle have benefited greatly for the last half century and into the future. David Lean was surprisingly lacking in confidence apparently, especially considering his immense talent. Critics are has beens who never were !
How could ever a self-confident, strong-hand dictator director like Lean fall into the trap of couple of critics? Almost incredible that he didn't worked for 14 years after that. At his day, the best director in the world.
Mr. Lean one of the greatest Directors, Editor and story teller of all time and Ryan's Daughter was a great movie in all respects. Mr. Lean had such a deep understanding of his subject matter he heightened one's awareness and left you wishing the story would go on you never tired for there was not a mm of film wasted it was almost as though he edited as he filmed. he is a great loss and will be remembered but never equaled
..
Man who directed classics and shows us his talent with his exciting film language all of a sudden produces ''rubbish''?
For me it is not rubbish but film making at it's best. Too bad he didn't have internet back in the days to see how great support he could get from his fans and all film lovers.
Same goes for Kurosawa who even contemplated suicide during 5 years of not being able to work.
That is the way our world works, in one moment you are at the top and everybody praises you, in another you are dragged through the gutter and put to gallows.
Gentle and subtle artistic soul as Lean's needs encouragement. Artists are vulnerable.
I really like his films. A lot.
He is the part of my childhood, youth, adolescence... and will be always with me.
Agreed with you. Gentle and subtle talents like David Lean needs more love. All artists are vulnerable. The saying goes "c'est la vie." I mean, I bet people loved _Ryan's Daughter_ while the critics didn't.
And Kurosawa even contemplated then attempted suicide during what turned out to be the very *_worst_* period of his life, a time when he couldn't find any film directing or financial backing for his films _anywhere in Japan!_ It was energized by two more things: serious health problems, such as a nervous breakdown during the production of _Tora! Tora Tora!_ in 1968, which he left due to that particular breakdown. He either had the breakdown itself or pretended to have one. 1971 was the breaking point. He survived and moved on, making six more films between 1975 and 1993.
It was the time between 1970's _Dodes'kaden,_ which flopped commercially and his co-production with Mosfilm, released by New World Pictures and Academy Award winner for Best Foreign Language Film, (now Best International Film) _Dersu Uzala,_ or _Dersu Uzala: The Hunter._
P.S. I saw _Ryan's Daughter_ a few times. I loved it.
Hardly a more apt use of the following quote than for this great film maker. Thank you David, I enjoy your movies tremendously.
‘It is not the critic who counts, nor the man who points out how the strong man stumbled, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better.
The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs and comes short again and again; who knows the great enthusiasms , the great devotions, and spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best, knows in the end the triumph of high achievement; and who, at the worst, if he fails at least fails while daring greatly so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who know neither victory nor defeat.’
Theodore Roosevelt
He didn't owe an explanation to anyone.
It makes me sad how he lost 14 years of his life.
he didn't lose them, he threw them away. lean's lack of confidence was pathetic. mitchum and miles accounts of how he directed their sex scene demonstrate that pretty well. it's a wonder he allowed himself to get as far as he did as an artist.
It's a pity that David Lean did not live long enough to see Ryan's Daughter being re-evaluated. Most of the critics who were so hostile to Ryan's Daughter lived long enough to admit they were wrong and had come to regard the movie very highly. Part of the problem was that Ryan's Daughter was the wrong movie at the wrong time. The fashion for big romantic epics had waned by the time Ryan's Daughter was released and had it been released a few years earlier the story might have been very different, There was a lot more to that famous 'post Ryan's Daughter' press conference than is generally known or that David Lean let on. Lean was advised by his American agent to stand his ground if the reception was hostile and explain what he was trying to achieve. But to the great surprise of the assembled press, he walked out as soon as the brickbats began to fly. He regretted this later. I any case, Ryan's Daughter was a considerable financial success on it's initial release and it has made many millions in the years since through rentals TV etc. The reputation of this movie continues to grow and it is now generally considered to be a masterwork of it's type. Tourists from all over the world, many from China and Japan, flock to County kerry, every year to see the locations where the movie was shot. David Lean had no intention of taking a long break from film making after Ryan's Daughter was so badly received. He was given the money to start work on 'The Bounty' and as well as spending over one million dollars on a script etc, he built an exact replica of the ship at a cost of over a million dollars. He then got the notion of making two films of 'The Bounty'which horrified the studio who were backing the project. They asked him to make part 1 and if it was successful, they would pay for part 2. Lean wouldn't budge, the project was cancelled and no other studio would back him. He was undoubtedly a genius but he was also very hard to deal with and this led to him being unable to get any project off the ground for over ten years after Ryan's Daughter.
Unappreciated masterpiece.
Poor Mr. Lean! How different that gathering of critics would have turned out for you if you had only taken Robert Mitchum along with you...after the first one had his teeth knocked down his throat, I imagine the others would have been more courteous towards you.
Un grand maître ! J'ai vu et revu très récemment certains de ses premiers films: Passionate friends, Madeleine, Blithe spirit, Brief encounter, Passage to India et Ryan's Daugther, à peu près sur deux semaines: je dois dire que j'ai été positivement emballé et totalement admiratif. Je les reverrai certainement. Grande beauté, classe et maîtrise + grande émotion. Tous m'ont quasiment tiré des larmes.
Sept ans plus tard... J'ai regardé l'intégralité de sa filmographie il y a quelques mois. Jusqu'ici, je n'avais vu que les plus récents, Brève Rencontre, et ses adaptations de Dickens. En regardant ses 15 films chronologiquement, j'ai pu me rendre compte, une bonne fois pour toutes, que David Lean était l'un des plus grands réalisateurs, dont la beauté visuelle imprègne chaque film, même les moins épiques, ou les plus "légers" comme Hobson's Choice ou L'esprit s'amuse. Quant à La Fille de Ryan, c'est une vraie perle... Il n'atteint peut-être pas la grâce d'un Lawrence d'Arabie, mais tout de même, les paysages, la musique, le casting...
Wonderful movie, I was only a teenager when I first saw David Lean's first movie, I think he is a very special human being by transporting us to a living dream. Critics get a real job, I love all his movies!!!!
A simple axiom.
Never listen to anyone who doesn't do the thing they're criticizing.
James Cameron clearly lifted elements of Ryan’s Daughter when he made Titanic... a young woman named Rose dissatisfied with her life awakened by forbidden love? Sound familiar?
YUPPE-DEE-YUP!
I hate Pauline Kael. She verbally slaughtered Ridley Scott in her review for Blade Runner. She even said that 2001 space odyssey was the most unimaginative movie ever made. It's shocking that even the master filmmaker like David Lean was immensely scarred by her.
An evil and ugly woman in every sense of the word.
These critics sound like bullies. Vicious and no reason to be. I'm not a fan of the type of movie that David Lean liked to make (and this is not the same as saying the movie is bad), but that's beside the point. I used to like Pauline Kael a lot and still do think she was a wonderful writer in the 60s, but sometimes she was just plain mean.
Sod the critics...Ryan's Daughter is superb!
How things have changed over the years. Today Ryan's Daughter is now universally regarded as a masterwork and is a landmark movie of it's type. Ryan's Daughter was a victim of changing times when the epic romantic movie was seen as old fashioned and out of step with the times. If Dr Zhivago had been released in 1970 as Ryan's Daughter had been, it would almost certainly have suffered the same savaging from the shamefully rabid critics. Many people are now of the opinion that Ryan's Daughter is the better movie and it undoubtedly is extraordinarily beautiful to look at.
If I’m not mistaken even Zhivago wasn’t that well received when it first dropped
I agree with you Robert. Ryan's Daughter is better than Doctor Zhivago. I find Doctor Zhivago too big and long and boring at times. I don't find Ryan's Daughter boring at all.
Ryan's Daughter is a beautiful film. Better than the overbloated Doctor Zhivago
I enjoyed watching Ryan's daughter,
Unusually handsome the christopher jones,and his performance so subtle yet can't be forgotten.
May his soul rest in great peace.
🕯
Extraordinary looks
film is a visual medium and Ryans Daughter is a visually stunning movie, shot on a large format film ( 70mm panavision) it looks incredible, okay so its a small story but there is drama and the characters are interesting, its not a perfect film but its very watchable and still stands up today, compared to the rubbish that is being churned out by hollywood today makes it a masterpiece by comparison. The critics of the time were vile to David Lean, it was totally uncalled for, it definitely did not deserve the hammering it got nor did Lean, he took it very personally , under that gruff authoritarian director was a sensitive artist, Pauline Kael was a nasty piece of work, she and her NY associates should have been ashamed of themselves, they were responsible for Lean retiring from film making for 14 years, that was just not fair at all.
C’est certainement PARCE QU’IL ÉTAIT LE MEILLEUR RÉALISATEUR qu’il suscita des jalousies et que ces critiques crachèrent sur ce film. Pourtant le public aime ce film riche de poésie, d’amour et d’histoire !
Ryan's Daughter is a beautiful epic film in its on right. Personally the film was depature from Lawerence of Arabia,Dr Zhivago. I did some back reading on Ryan's Daughter when it was release in 71 it flopped at the box office. Which was a surprise to learn. Today Ryan's Daugher is a classic on all levels. I love the use of cinemetagraphy and actors on the Irish coast. The small village which parts of it still stand today is a frequent tourist attraction.
Lean: I didn't want to do a film again.
Bragg: Did that experience prevent you making another film?...
*(For fuck's sake)*
Speaking as an Irish person (and - thus - some relevance to the 2nd point I make), Lean comes over as exhibiting a sort of "reserve and restraint" that's sadly missing from many in the movie business. Secondly - despite the ferocious seas that one can encounter off the west coast of Ireland - apparently, the stormy seas scene in "Ryan's Daughter" was filmed off the coast of South Africa - for once, the Irish weather didn't live up to its reputation !
At the time Lean made Ryan's Daughter the public had grown weary of large scale epic movies and I remember watching it and thinking it was overblown and out of step with 'the new'. He had peaked with 'Lawrence' - no one could argue with that - and it just seemed he was cashing in on that success with yet another extravaganza.
However, as 'the new' became 'the old' the initial reaction to 'Ryan' began to appear invalid. Those who eulogized about Brief Encounter and Trevor Howard's performance in it had to admit that both he and John Mills had acted their socks off in 'Ryan' with arguably the performances of their lives.
Nor was the loose adaptation of Mme Bovary set against the Troubles in Ireland such a bad thing either - in fact it was a pretty good thing. So now - 45 or so years later - having been subjected to vast swathes of cinematic garbage from Hollywood and elsewhere we realize that this film was yet another masterpiece and with the passage of more time might even top 'Lawrence' in the public's estimation.
To quote a word that has almost lost its meaning from over use - Ryan's Daughter was truly awesome!
+willie otoole Well put that man !
The attention spans of the viewers was changing too. Nothing over 80 minutes? And that's pushing it.
The reevaluation reminds me of something I've heard: "people are getting increasingly bored with what's out now and looking to the past for entertainment."
Sure, the big epics might've gotten exhausting in their heyday, but nowadays, they're positively unique.
My first real David Lean film experince happen in College. I saw his last film A Passage To India. I heard of Ryan's Daughter but I never seen it. When I watched it i was impressed with location of Irish coast. Even I agree that Ryan Daughter's was out of step at the time it was release. Since I'm a film buff I did some background research on the film. I learned that Ryan's Daughter had flopped at the box office. A Passage to India his very last film wasn't as long as his previous film sagas of the 60s. But the India locale and cinematography were beautifu to watch.
Mr Lean was referring to the Algonquin Round Table, a gathering of critics, playwrights, and actors dating back to the early 20th century (the earliest group included Dorothy Parker and Alexander Woollcott). The critics he faced flattered themselves by trying to recreate those olden days. Typical of how much they treasure their own opinions! Unfortunately, the critics of that time - such as Pauline Kael, Richard Schickel, John Simon, and Rex Reed - were elevated to positions well above any real achievements.
I’m amazed Mr Lean even bothered to attend; I’d have advised him not to. It is ironic, however, that someone with such a love of film would allow these windbags to put him off for so long. However deflated he felt, he should have carried on. He had thought of “Gandhi” long before Richard Attenborough, and was planning another “Mutiny On The Bounty.” (Why, I don’t know, but anyway . . .) He should have reminded them that “Ryan’s Daughter” made a good profit, and that “Dr Zhivago,” despite critical hammering, was his biggest moneymaker ever!
Well, at least we had the pleasure of “A Passage To India” - fifteen years later! His last one, unfortunately.
I've seen Ryan's Daughter many times and I'll see it many more times. ❤
I'm not sure there was ever a greater director than David Lean.
He was no Ed Wood Jr, but Mr Lean certainly was one truly gifted filmmaker.
Too bad he didn't live long enough to see what is NOW painfully obvious. That the critics are mostly insane. How else to describe the overwhelmingly positive critic reviews for "The Last Jedi"?
It always amazes me that people who can't achieve seek to bring down and denigrate people with real ability. Its quite shocking that someone of his talent should be subject to two hours of nasty vitriolic attack.
It's unfortunate there was no-one around then to say to him, "Mr. Lean, you are a genius film maker. Make whatever films you want to make and fuck the bloody critics. Perhaps we would now be several David Lean films richer.
This is why I hate film critics
I just recently watched this film, and it was years and years, and I was riveted. Maybe it's because I know more of the world now, as I was quite young when it came out, but this movie is -- there's so much in it and it's very good. It made me think a lot, very much like when I watch "Far From the Madding Crowd," which is also just one of the best.
And, sadly, now Hollywood just puts out trash. There are many filmmakers that simply could not work in Hollywood today -- Capra, No. 1, could not, neither could Wyler, not Lean, not Ford, not anyone that wanted to bring real stories to the screen that do far more than entertain in that they will give you pause to think.
David Lean is one of the best directors in movie history.Stupid critics didn't change that.
a most superbe movie i and many others at the times adored it bravo David Lean
Ryan's Daughter was damn good film. No film is perfect not even Lawerance of Arabia. Critics serve their purpose but that is all they're good for at the end of the day. Honesty. Honesty should be brutal but only to the point that it is absorbed, enjoying brutality like critics often do is tantamount to sadism.
Thomas Headley ) the film even displays that.
In my first viewing of RD I was disappointed. I didn't think the Mill's almost Shakespearian fool character worked. But I've come around to see RD as a much deeper film, and more than a romance picture. For one thing, it's a scathing critique of the Irish, while it luxuriates in the Irish landscape. It's a brilliant film.
What these critics who tore him apart with their acid tongues did was to prevent a cinema going public to see more films from a master filmmaker.Ryans daughter is a great film not a masterpiece but an excellent bit of filmaking.It's such a shame that he took their criticisms to heart and refused to make another picture for as long as he did.
+Eddie Campion Lean had tried to get financing for a two-part version of Mutiny on the Bounty in 1979, but United Artists chose to bankroll Michael Cimino's Heaven's Gate instead. They didn't believe that Lean could bring in his two films on the $20 million budget he asked for. They also thought Cimino would bring in his for $11 million (it wound up costing $44 million) Gee, I wonder how that worked out for ya, fellas?
Fabulous film, watch it often.
I don't get what did critics find wrong about Ryan's daughter. It is a great movie especially the second half. Maybe not better than Bridge on the river Kwai or Lawrence but I liked it more then Dr Zhivago. 14 years of wasted talent sadly...
How terrible. These self opinionated Philistines deprived us of how many more luscious Lean masterpieces that could have been made?
i have sometimes wondered if the critical savaging with which "ryan's daughter" was met was due in part to the intense hype of the film's promotion, which proclaimed it a masterpiece ("like all of david lean's films," as the trailer puts it, or something to that effect). the wonderful thing about the present day is the immediate availability of films for viewing in various formats and on multiple platforms, which has led to the critical reassessment of many films previously dismissed as sub-par (as well as the deserved demotion of some films initially hailed as artistic triumphs."my fair lady," anyone?). given the pedigree of the film's creative team and actors, "rd" certainly deserves a serious reassessment on the part of critics, but ordinary viewers and film ethusiasts can also consider and examine the film and draw their own conclusions.
Tragic to here this, but who cares what the critics think its the public that pay and put bums on seats and l loved all his work
Who & where are those “Critics” now?
No one knows their names or what they wrote…..
But Ryan’s Daughter……that is a great film
His talent is stellar!!!
But for me, I can never get enough of Hobsons Choice. John Mills was perfection!!!!
If you want a FEEL GOOD story, THAT IS IT!!!??
This film is an absolute masterpiece. It was slammed, at the time, for political reasons because it was Pro-Ireland and glorified the I.R.A. I love this film. Ryan's Daughter is in my top 20.
I think the critics were WRONG!?
In the end though, the film managed to out live all of those critics who hated it.
Films do, whether they're good or bad so I really don't see your point.
@@ppuh6tfrz646 The point is: the value of this film triumphed after the smoke of hostility cleared with the passage of time.
@@rmp7400 Actually, it didn't.
To this day, the film is not regarded as one of Lean's best.
Those films are almost universally recognised as classics.
Ryan's Daughter isn't.
Some people think it's wonderful, but a lot of people still think it is too long, overblown and that Mitchum and Jones were miscast.
The man was a visionary and critics did him wrong with ryans daughter
Shame eternally on Richard Schickel and all the prudish critics of that time. Ryan' Daughter is a fantastic film and David Lean and immortal director.
He’s talking about the infamous Algonquin Roundtable...
Great man David ...very impressive impression ...amazing intelligence ...it's like looking at a great king 🤴
His ears 👂 wonderful 👏
Epic masterpiece of a film David Lean of of the Greatest Directors of ol times.
Modest, humble genius.
🌹
Film critics? Took a film appreciation intro class and there you have it. Film Critic. They'd be better being fire watchers.
A time when really good movies were made.
Rayan's daughter was a wonderful film. Why on earth they hammered Lean for making such a marvellous film? These critics should be whipped black and blue for depriving public of Lean's films for next fourteen years.
Sweet Jaysus!!! His ears are huge.
Why did he ever go? I mean how soon they forget the triumphs of Kwai and Lawrence.
how sad....
The ultimate example of why one should never read reviews of their art.
The hacks, the self-appointed experts and gate keepers that shook his confidence are all long forgotten and eternally irrelevant. The only thing that stands is art, not someone's opinion about the art.
and by the Way David They where all wrong...your movie is a masterpiece...voilà
Critics? Take a college course in Film 101 and your a critic. Taste is in their GD mouth.Noses so far up in the air, they trip over their own feet.
EVERYONE is a critic.
good onya Davo-ur the best.
I agree with the critics. Love story, intimate story, and all epicness ruins it. Though I don't think it's a bad film. Is it badly acted or shot?
I ALWAYS thought Ryan's DAUGHTER WAS a masterpiece. David Lean exposed the hypocrisy of organized religion and class distinctions. Human nature,the nature of cruelty, bigotry, corruption and envy. Many in the town were jealous of Rosie because she was well bread, better educated, pretty, intelligent and a lady. You even see this today, human nature is the same. Rosie's love for the British soldier, and his love for her. What the town did to Rosie at the end of the film. The stupid wrong headed hatred they had for her.
I think Ryan's Daughter was a misjudgement by Lean, it was a grandiose treatment of a small, intimate story, but he never deserved the bile that those critics threw at him. Criticism, then as now, should be less about the critic's ego and more about the pros and cons of a work of art, but delivered with respect even when the movie is not liked.
It was not a small, intimate story though. Rosy's inner life is grandiose and that's what pits her against the villagers. The critics disagreed because they refused to admit that a woman is worthy of an epic just as much as a man.
I haven't seen the film, and nothing, and I mean nothing justifies walking up to someone amd saying "how could the person who made Brief Encounter make such bullshit as Ryan's Daughter?"
Even if the movie wasn't good, that's going too far.
@@FlyingFocs And if the movie is good, the slander is a declaration of war against integrity.
Fantastic film
One can convincingly say that Richard Schikel was a certified nut and so the critics who mauled this film.I will say again David Lean was a fantastic director and a legend and Ryan s daughter is simply..just simply.. a superb film.So the critics who panned the film were first rate idiots and they should find some other profession --like opening a barber shop.
Vindicated is the only word that occurs to me. Don't pay any attention to the film snob critics - they always get it wrong.
To think a room full of hyeanas could be allowed to get away with that
Brilliant film,far better then the rubbish films they turn out today.
Those who can't do, teach. Those who can't teach become critics. Or to borrow from Elvis Costello, writing about film making is like dancing about architecture. The critics motivation can generally be narrowed down to paying the rent fuelled by a burning jealousy.
It was a great film!
He should have just simply ignored the extremely overrated opinions of the ever more jealous movie critics.
Ever since i discovered cinema, David Lean has always been my favorite movie director.
His Ryans Daughter may actually be his most beautiful film and is in need of some serious reevaluations.
The incredible five epic films he made in a row won a total of 23 Academy Awards and that is amazing.
Despite the fact that winning or not winning Oscars in no way determines how good or bad a movie is.
Although his awesome Doctor Zhivago certainly should have won the Best Picture and Best Director Academy Awards for 1965.
But those two Oscars were given to the vastly inferior The Sound Of Music instead.
Like, just so wrong.
I disagree Doctor Zhivago was overblown and you couldn't keep track of the characters and the film dragged. The Sound of Music on the other hand flowed like a river and was never boring for a minute and it about 3 hours long, about an hour shorter than Doctor Zhivago. The Sound of Music rightly won the Oscar for Best Picture and Best Director for Robert Wise. It should've won for cinematography for Ted McCord. Unfortunately Freddie Young won it for that one
Doctor Zhivago was the inferior film with a storyline you couldn't keep track of with so many characters appearing in the film. It was so confusing and not enjoyable to watch. At least the Sound of Music you could keep track of the characters and the storyline. For Doctor Zhivago, it seems David Lean brought every character that was a citizen of Russia in the film so you wanted the film to end quickly and it never did. That was the torture
Also Julie Christie and Rod Stringer were annoying as was Alec Guiness and Tom Courtney. That made the film more unbearable to watch. The only ones I enjoyed were Omar Sharif and Geraldine Chaplin.
Those Oscars were given to the Sound of Music because it was a superior film, released in March 1965, giving a whole year to becomr a classic. MGM, seeing that their gamble of Doctor Zhivago was not going to pay off because of the unexpected success of The Sound of Music, made Lean release the film in December 1965 instead of releasing in 1966 as he wanted to originally. It would been better for Zhivago to have been released in 1966 because it could've won more Oscars and sidetracked A Man for All Seasons
Why do we need critics? I can't stand them.
It was a great movie 🍿🍿🍿🍿🍿🎥
I loved doctor zhivago
When you fail in the film industry, you can be three things: A critic, a teacher, or script coverage reader.
Unfortunately, your take on being a teacher, because of failure, is the result of brainwashing of capitalism and the pursuit of money. It is (your) the disrespect of the educator which is the demise of our own country. Your shallow observance of education is the equivalent of seeking cash , instead of a life with clean air, clean water, and accurate academic, medical, and news resources
Saw this movie when I was younger, and was very disappointed with it.
It has none of the character of the country in which it's set, all the actors aren't Irish - and practially every irish character is either a liar, a fool, an ignorant farmer or a bigoted angry person, terrorist maybe? and the accents are horribly bad.
The movie location is a beloved area that we all love to go on holidays in, so it's quite strange to see familiar scenes wrapped up into this intense storyline.
However, looking at some clips again, I'm going to give this a second chance, and try to view it as less 'alien'.
Actually during this era of film-making, everything seems a little alien - the music of old movies can be too strong for modern audiences.
I have to say I like David Lean, and he really seems like a good guy, and I'm sure he's very talented, and the actors were also. I appreciated their work... but it's just the believability factor - accents and such, and the charicatures that hurt my sensibilities as a youngster to see urban-coldness, and urban-cynicism in a place that I love where the people are so warm and welcoming in that area.
Ok David lean, if you are reading this from another dimension, I'll watch it again this week with a completely open mind, as a work of art. Bless your efforts and all of your hard work.
+emmo Mmm, maybe you are right about the Irish aspect but they are a particular breed which can also be seen on Merseyside because of the Irish contingent/connection.
+Arc Light I think you're confusing poverty with Irishness. Like you may hear Terry Wogan on the radio, watch Graham Norton later that night, or Dara O'Bríain or Dermot O'Leary, or listen to the many muscians, etc. Danny Boyle, - people that are just part of standard daily TV and who don't stand out for their 'Irishness'. There are 6 million over there, but admittedly, there are the historically poorer immigrants into places like Manchester, Liverpool, Coventry versus the more recent or modern ones in London and the home counties. And there are the ones from decades ago who you probably thought were English like Danny La Rue, Peter O'Toole, or whoever.
So, yeah, you can say the Beatles, or Oasis, who may fit closer to your stereotype, but there are millions who arent
Good on you to take another look...you may discover how you have grown🎆
It was a very good movie !
I didn't like Ryan's Daughter and I think the criticism that it is an overly-inflated adaptation of a small story is entirely justified.
However I don't understand why any film director should be subjected to the type of direct condemnation that Lean received at the hands of the critics.
Why should he have to account to them? If the critics hated the film then they should just say so in their reviews rather than ganging up on him and launching this type of savage personal attack.
You can clearly see that Lean was still hurt by this 15 years later and he deserved to be treated much better than this.
Because it does not show marching armies mowing down millions of lives.. does not mean that it is a "small story". If one life's sorrows has no value, 50 million lives are equally empty.
@@rmp7400 You know *exactly* what I'm talking about when I quoted Bragg referring to it as a small story.
It is not epic in scale like Lawrence of Arabia or Doctor Zhivago and therefore did not need to be filmed in that way.
So your patronising, know-it-all response was totally unnecessary.
Ironic, a lot of the comments here are just as stuck up and arogant as some of the critics who slammed the film.
I thought Ryan's daughter was a brilliant movie. I don't understand all the hostility.
I agree it is a brilliant movie. Perhaps the critics just did not like the Irish....many "self important" people do not....