Chris Menges
BSC
A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for programs that generally last three to five years.
The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Science was the University ...
,
ASC ASC may refer to:
Educational institutions
* Anglican Schools Commission, Australia
* Andres Soriano Colleges of Bislig, located in Surigao del Sur, Philippines
* Agnes Scott College, Decatur, Georgia
Organizations Australia
* Australian Singing ...
(born 15 September 1940) is a British cinematographer and film director. He is a member of both the
American
American(s) may refer to:
* American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America"
** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America
** American ancestry, pe ...
and
British Societies of Cinematographers.
Life and career
Menges was born in
Kington, Herefordshire
Kington is a market town, electoral ward and civil parish in Herefordshire, England. According to the Parish, the ward had a population of 3,240, while the 2011 Census registered a population of 2,626.
Geography
Kington is from the border w ...
, the son of the composer and conductor
Herbert Menges
Herbert Menges OBE (27 August 190220 February 1972) was an English conductor and composer, who wrote incidental music to all of Shakespeare's plays.
Life and career
Siegfried Frederick Herbert Menges was born in Hove on 27 August 1902. His fat ...
.
He began his career in the 1960s as camera operator for documentaries by
Adrian Cowell Adrian Cowell (2 February 1934 – 11 October 2011) was a British filmmaker, born in Tongshan or Tangshan, China. He was best known for producing documentaries about Chico Mendes and deforestation in the Amazon and the opium/heroin trade out of the ...
and for films like ''
Poor Cow
''Poor Cow'' is a 1967 British kitchen sink drama film directed by Ken Loach and based on Nell Dunn's 1967 novel of the same name. It was Ken Loach's first feature film, after a series of TV productions. The film was re-released in the UK in ...
'' by Ken Loach and ''
If....'' by
Lindsay Anderson
Lindsay Gordon Anderson (17 April 1923 – 30 August 1994) was a British feature-film, theatre and documentary director, film critic, and leading-light of the Free Cinema movement and of the British New Wave. He is most widely remembered for h ...
. ''
Kes'', directed by
Ken Loach
Kenneth Charles Loach (born 17 June 1936) is a British film director and screenwriter. His socially critical directing style and socialist ideals are evident in his film treatment of social issues such as poverty (''Poor Cow'', 1967), homelessne ...
, was his first film as cinematographer. He was also behind the camera on
Stephen Frears
Stephen Arthur Frears (born 20 June 1941) is an English director and producer of film and television often depicting real life stories as well as projects that explore social class through sharply drawn characters. He's received numerous accola ...
' first feature film ''
Gumshoe'' in 1971.
After several documentaries and feature films like ''
Black Beauty
''Black Beauty: His Grooms and Companions, the Autobiography of a Horse'' is an 1877 novel by English author Anna Sewell. It was composed in the last years of her life, during which she was bedridden and seriously ill.Merriam-Webster (1995). ...
'' (1971), ''
Bloody Kids
''Bloody Kids'' is a British television film written by Stephen Poliakoff and directed by Stephen Frears, made by Black Lion Films for ATV, and first shown on ITV on 22 March 1980.
Cast
* Derrick O'Connor as Detective Ritchie (Richard Beckinsa ...
'' (1978), ''The Game Keeper'' (1980), ''Babylon'' (1980) and ''
Angel
In various theistic religious traditions an angel is a supernatural spiritual being who serves God.
Abrahamic religions often depict angels as benevolent celestial intermediaries between God (or Heaven) and humanity. Other roles include ...
'' (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
William David Forsyth (born 29 July 1946). known as Bill Forsyth, is a Scottish film director and writer known for his films ''Gregory's Girl'' (1981), '' Local Hero'' (1983) and '' Comfort and Joy'' (1984) as well as his adaptation of the Ma ...
film ''
Local Hero'' and only a year later won his first
Academy Award
The Academy Awards, better known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international film industry. The awards are regarded by many as the most prestigious, significant awards in the entertainment ind ...
for the film ''
The Killing Fields
A killing field is a concept in military science.
Killing field may also refer to:
* Killing Fields, a number of sites in Cambodia where collectively more than a million people were killed and buried by the Khmer Rouge regime, during its rule of ...
'' about the
genocide
Genocide is the intentional destruction of a people—usually defined as an ethnic, national, racial, or religious group—in whole or in part. Raphael Lemkin coined the term in 1944, combining the Greek word (, "race, people") with the Latin ...
in
Cambodia
Cambodia (; also Kampuchea ; km, កម្ពុជា, UNGEGN: ), officially the Kingdom of Cambodia, is a country located in the southern portion of the Indochinese Peninsula in Southeast Asia, spanning an area of , bordered by Thailand t ...
. He continued his work with helmer
Roland Joffe
Roland (; frk, *Hrōþiland; lat-med, Hruodlandus or ''Rotholandus''; it, Orlando or ''Rolando''; died 15 August 778) was a Frankish military leader under Charlemagne who became one of the principal figures in the literary cycle known as the ...
and he won his second
Oscar
Oscar, OSCAR, or The Oscar may refer to:
People
* Oscar (given name), an Irish- and English-language name also used in other languages; the article includes the names Oskar, Oskari, Oszkár, Óscar, and other forms.
* Oscar (Irish mythology), ...
in 1986 with the historical drama ''
The Mission''. He also shot a television play titled "Made in Britain", starring
Tim Roth
Timothy Simon Roth (born 14 May 1961) is an English actor and producer. He began acting on films and television series in the 1980s. He was among a group of prominent British actors of the era, the "Brit Pack (actors), Brit Pack".
He made hi ...
in 1983.
In 1988 he made his directorial debut with ''
A World Apart''. This film was celebrated at the
1988 Cannes Film Festival
The 41st Cannes Film Festival was held from 11 to 23 May 1988. The Palme d'Or went to the '' Pelle erobreren'' by Bille August.
The festival opened with ''Le Grand Bleu'', directed by Luc Besson and closed with ''Willow'', directed by Ron Howard. ...
and won three major awards.
His second film as director ''
CrissCross
''CrissCross'' is a 1992 American drama film directed by Chris Menges and written by Scott Sommer, based on his homonymous novel. It stars Goldie Hawn, Arliss Howard, Keith Carradine, Steve Buscemi, and David Arnott.
Plot
Divorced mom T ...
'' with
Goldie Hawn
Goldie Jeanne Hawn (born November 21, 1945) is an American actress, dancer, producer, and singer. She rose to fame on the NBC sketch comedy program ''Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In'' (1968–1970), before going on to receive the Academy Award and Go ...
received critical acclaim but was a box-office flop. In 1996 he moved back behind the camera to shoot the award winning films ''
The Boxer
"The Boxer" is a song written by Paul Simon and recorded by the American music duo Simon & Garfunkel from their fifth studio album, '' Bridge over Troubled Water'' (1970). Produced by the duo and Roy Halee, it was released as a standalone sing ...
'' (directed by
Jim Sheridan
Jim Sheridan (born 6 February 1949) is an Irish playwright and filmmaker.
Between 1989 and 1993, Sheridan directed two critically acclaimed films set in Ireland, ''My Left Foot'' and ''In the Name of the Father'', and later directed the film ...
) and ''
Michael Collins Michael Collins or Mike Collins most commonly refers to:
* Michael Collins (Irish leader) (1890–1922), Irish revolutionary leader, soldier, and politician
* Michael Collins (astronaut) (1930–2021), American astronaut, member of Apollo 11 and Ge ...
''. For the latter he received his third Academy Award nomination in 1997.
Menges also made documentaries. In the early 1970s, he went to Burma with British film maker
Adrian Cowell Adrian Cowell (2 February 1934 – 11 October 2011) was a British filmmaker, born in Tongshan or Tangshan, China. He was best known for producing documentaries about Chico Mendes and deforestation in the Amazon and the opium/heroin trade out of the ...
to shoot ''The Opium Warlords'', a film 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. He is mentioned in the book ''Conversations with Cinematographers'' by David A. Ellis, published by Scarecrow Press.
Filmography
Film (as cinematographer)
As director
*1988: ''
A World Apart''
*1992: ''
CrissCross
''CrissCross'' is a 1992 American drama film directed by Chris Menges and written by Scott Sommer, based on his homonymous novel. It stars Goldie Hawn, Arliss Howard, Keith Carradine, Steve Buscemi, and David Arnott.
Plot
Divorced mom T ...
''
*1994: ''
Second Best
In welfare economics, the theory of the second best (also known as the general theory of second best or the second best theorem) concerns the situation when one or more perfect market, optimality conditions cannot be satisfied. The economists Rich ...
''
*1999: ''
The Lost Son''
References
External links
Chris Menges at Screenonline*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Menges, Chris
1940 births
Best Cinematographer Academy Award winners
Best Cinematography BAFTA Award winners
British cinematographers
English film directors
English people of German descent
Living people
People from Kington, Herefordshire