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For fifty amazing years, Norman Jewison was the driving force of Hollywood drama. He had the ability to elevate anything he worked on with his idealism, confidence, and style. Jewison has an impressive list of iconic and successful films to his name, making him the benchmark for movie experiences for half a century.
During the 1960s, Norman Jewison directed light-hearted comedies starring Doris Day, thrilling capers featuring Steve McQueen in The Cincinnati Kid and The Thomas Crown Affair, and the groundbreaking In the Heat of the Night, which starred Sidney Poitier as a black police officer in the American South. In the 1970s, Jewison helmed the epic Broadway adaptation Fiddler on the Roof, showcasing Topol’s iconic portrayal of a dairyman named Tevye in pre-revolutionary Ukraine. He also directed the musical Jesus Christ Superstar by Andrew Lloyd Webber, as well as the futuristic dystopian film Rollerball, the drama F.I.S.T. about union-busting starring Sylvester Stallone, and the legal thriller And Justice for All, featuring Al Pacino’s famous line, “You’re out of order! The whole trial is out of order!” In the 1980s, Jewison returned to the theme of racism in A Soldier’s Story, starring Howard E Rollins as an African American officer investigating a murder on a military base. He also directed the gripping mystery thriller Agnes of God.
Jewison concluded the 1990s with a highly acclaimed romantic comedy, Moonstruck, and continued into the 2000s with boldness by providing a commentary on the greed-driven Wall Street in Other People’s Money. He then shifted gears back to romantic comedy with Only You featuring Marisa Tomei and Robert Downey Jr, before returning to a thought-provoking and emotionally charged film, The Hurricane, which starred Denzel Washington as Rubin “Hurricane” Carter, a boxer wrongfully imprisoned. In the 21st century, he directed Michael Caine in The Statement, a film about Paul Touvier, a fugitive wanted for war crimes during the Vichy regime.
Jewison’s exceptional direction played a pivotal role in shaping postwar Hollywood cinema, with an impressive array of work under his belt. He was ahead of his time, introducing the iconic duo of Doris Day and Rock Hudson before the swinging 60s era, which later became popularized in Mad Men. In addition, he revolutionized the on-screen presence of Steve McQueen, portraying him as a charming gambler, adventurer, and skilled thief in a split-screen setting that captured the essence of the era. Towards the end of the decade, Jewison tackled the topic of racism in the acclaimed film In the Heat of the Night. Starring Sidney Poitier as a black homicide detective and Rod Steiger as a bigoted white cop, the movie made waves with its powerful scene where Poitier’s character retaliates against a racist slap. It may be considered a conventional issue-based film by some, but it is a masterclass in character development and compelling drama.
Fiddler on the Roof is probably my favourite Jewison film – it is amazing how joyfully it taps into Broadway energy, how it centres so strongly and confidently on Topol’s grandstandingly lovable performance (in fact, at 36 years old, he wasn’t all that much older than Paul Michael Glaser, later to find fame as TV cop Starsky, playing Topol’s Bolshevik radical son-in-law Perchik). Isaac Stern’s violin playing on the soundtrack as the “Fiddler” gives the movie such gusto and Jewison endows it with what David Lean had with Doctor Zhivago: storytelling energy and sweep. The gigantic success of Fiddler on the Roof got Jewison his directing job with Jesus Christ Superstar – a rock’n’roll audience pleaser which in the era before VHS home entertainment, sold millions of soundtrack LPs. Again, like Fiddler on the Roof, it wasn’t exactly fashionable in that heady era of the American new wave. But Jewison could turn his hand to fashionable and unfashionable alike; he could find in any movie project its pulses and its energies.
My second preferred film by Jewison is the magnificent love story Moonstruck, his portrayal of Italian-American sentimentality where characters enthusiastically give in to love when the moon catches their eye like a large pizza. It may sound overly sweet, but it is effortlessly endearing, entertaining, and surprisingly sensual.
Jewison elevated Cher to stardom by tapping into her hidden potential, earning her an Oscar. He also guided Nicolas Cage in his beloved, over-the-top performance as a brooding bakery worker who catches the eye of Cher’s shy widow. Despite her previous acceptance of a marriage proposal from Cage’s dull older brother, she falls for the smouldering assistant. As the brother heads to Sicily for his mother’s deathbed, concerns about the chemistry between the leads were common criticism, but under Jewison’s clever direction, Cher and Cage had electric chemistry. Jewison skillfully balanced comedic elements with passionate moments, allowing the characters to fully express their emotions. While romantic comedies are rarely considered sexy, Jewison captured the intense heat between Cher and Cage when he smashes her kitchen table in anger before they make love.
Perhaps Norman Jewison served as the “fiddler on the roof” of American film for five decades, directing the flow, establishing the pace, and creating the atmosphere, while humbly allowing the lead actors to shine and receive recognition. He was truly a master of his craft.
Source: theguardian.com
