Peter Lindsay Weir ( ; born August 21, 1944) is a retired Australian film director. He's known for directing films crossing various genres over forty years with films such as ''
Picnic at Hanging Rock'' (1975), ''
Gallipoli
The Gallipoli peninsula (; tr, Gelibolu Yarımadası; grc, Χερσόνησος της Καλλίπολης, ) is located in the southern part of East Thrace, the European part of Turkey, with the Aegean Sea to the west and the Dardanelles s ...
'' (1981), ''
Witness
In law, a witness is someone who has knowledge about a matter, whether they have sensed it or are testifying on another witnesses' behalf. In law a witness is someone who, either voluntarily or under compulsion, provides testimonial evidence, e ...
'' (1985), ''
Dead Poets Society
''Dead Poets Society'' is a 1989 American drama film directed by Peter Weir, written by Tom Schulman, and starring Robin Williams. Set in 1959 at the fictional elite conservative boarding school Welton Academy, it tells the story of an English ...
'' (1989), ''
Fearless
Fearless or The Fearless may refer to:
Psychology
* Lack of fear
* Courage or bravery
Film, television and audio Film
* ''Fearless'' (1978 film), an Italian film directed by Stelvio Massi
* ''Fearless'' (1993 film), an American drama directed ...
'' (1993), ''
The Truman Show'' (1998), ''
Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World'' (2003), and ''
The Way Back'' (2010). He's received five
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 ...
nominations ultimately winning the
Academy Honorary Award
The Academy Honorary Award – instituted in 1950 for the 23rd Academy Awards (previously called the Special Award, which was first presented at the 1st Academy Awards in 1929) – is given annually by the Board of Governors of the Academy of Moti ...
in 2022 for his lifetime achievement career.
Early in his career as a director, Weir was a leading figure in the
Australian New Wave
The Australian New Wave (also known as the Australian Film Revival, Australian Film Renaissance, or New Australian Cinema) was an era of resurgence in worldwide popularity of Australian cinema, particularly in the United States. It began in the ea ...
cinema movement (1970–1990). Weir made his feature film debut with ''
Homesdale
''Homesdale'' is a 1971 Australian film directed by Peter Weir. ''Homesdale'' is a black comedy about visitors at a guest-house acting out their violent private fantasies and games under the control of the house staff.
Plot
Several people gather ...
'' and continued with the mystery drama ''
Picnic at Hanging Rock'' (1975), the supernatural thriller ''
The Last Wave
''The Last Wave'' (also released, in the US, as ''Black Rain'') is a 1977 Australian mystery drama film directed by Peter Weir.''Variety'' film review; 16 November 1977, p. 21. It is about a white solicitor in Sydney whose seemingly normal lif ...
'' (1977) and the historical drama ''
Gallipoli
The Gallipoli peninsula (; tr, Gelibolu Yarımadası; grc, Χερσόνησος της Καλλίπολης, ) is located in the southern part of East Thrace, the European part of Turkey, with the Aegean Sea to the west and the Dardanelles s ...
'' (1981). Weir gained tremendous success with the multinational production ''
The Year of Living Dangerously'' (1982).
After the success of ''The Year of Living Dangerously'', Weir directed a diverse group of American and international films covering most genres–many of them major box office hits–including
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 ...
-nominated films such as the thriller ''
Witness
In law, a witness is someone who has knowledge about a matter, whether they have sensed it or are testifying on another witnesses' behalf. In law a witness is someone who, either voluntarily or under compulsion, provides testimonial evidence, e ...
'' (1985), the drama ''
Dead Poets Society
''Dead Poets Society'' is a 1989 American drama film directed by Peter Weir, written by Tom Schulman, and starring Robin Williams. Set in 1959 at the fictional elite conservative boarding school Welton Academy, it tells the story of an English ...
'' (1989), the romantic comedy ''
Green Card
A green card, known officially as a permanent resident card, is an identity document which shows that a person has permanent residency in the United States. ("The term 'lawfully admitted for permanent residence' means the status of having been ...
'' (1990), the social science fiction comedy-drama ''
The Truman Show'' (1998) and the epic historical drama ''
Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World'' (2003). Since 2003, Weir has made only one feature, the well-received ''
The Way Back'' (2010). In 2022, Weir received the
Academy Honorary Award
The Academy Honorary Award – instituted in 1950 for the 23rd Academy Awards (previously called the Special Award, which was first presented at the 1st Academy Awards in 1929) – is given annually by the Board of Governors of the Academy of Moti ...
from
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences at the
Governors Awards
The Governors Awards presentation is an annual award ceremony hosted by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS), at the Grand Ballroom of the Hollywood and Highland Center, in the Hollywood district of Los Angeles, California. Thre ...
.
Early life and education
Peter Lindsay Weir was born in
Sydney, New South Wales
Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountains ...
, in 1944, the son of Peggy (née Barnsley Sutton) and Lindsay Weir, a real estate agent. Weir attended
The Scots College and
Vaucluse Boys High School before studying arts and law at the
University of Sydney
The University of Sydney (USYD), also known as Sydney University, or informally Sydney Uni, is a public research university located in Sydney, Australia. Founded in 1850, it is the oldest university in Australia and is one of the country's si ...
. His interest in film was sparked by his meeting with fellow students, including
Phillip Noyce and the future members of the Sydney filmmaking collective
Ubu Films.
Career
1960s
After leaving university in the mid-1960s, he joined Sydney television station
ATN-7, where he worked as a production assistant on the groundbreaking satirical comedy program ''
The Mavis Bramston Show''. During this period, using station facilities, Weir made his first two experimental short films, ''Count Vim's Last Exercise'' and ''The Life and Flight of Reverend Buckshotte''.
In 1969, the founders of
Producers Authors Composers and Talent (now PACT Centre for Emerging Artists) attended a
Sydney University
The University of Sydney (USYD), also known as Sydney University, or informally Sydney Uni, is a public research university located in Sydney, Australia. Founded in 1850, it is the oldest university in Australia and is one of the country's six ...
Architecture Revue, with sets by
Geoffrey Atherden and
Grahame Bond. They invited Bond, Atherden, Weir, and Weir's friend, composer
Peter Best, a chance to do a show at the
National Art School. Sir
Robert Helpmann saw the show and took it to the
Adelaide Festival
The Adelaide Festival of Arts, also known as the Adelaide Festival, an arts festival, takes place in the South Australian capital of Adelaide in March each year. Started in 1960, it is a major celebration of the arts and a significant cultural ...
. Soon afterward Weir and Best were commissioned to write a Christmas special TV show for
ABC Television ABC Television most commonly refers to:
*ABC Television Network of the American Broadcasting Company, United States, or
*ABC Television (Australian TV network), a division of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, Australia
ABC Television or ABC ...
, called ''Man on a Green Bike''.
1970s
Weir took a position with the
Commonwealth Film Unit
Film Australia was a company established by the Government of Australia to produce films about Australia in 1973. Its predecessors were the Cinema and Photographic Branch (1913–38), the Australian National Film Board (1939–1955, under differ ...
(later renamed
Film Australia
Film Australia was a company established by the Government of Australia to produce films about Australia in 1973. Its predecessors were the Cinema and Photographic Branch (1913–38), the Australian National Film Board (1939–1955, under diff ...
), for which he made several documentaries, including a short documentary about an underprivileged outer Sydney suburb, ''
Whatever Happened to Green Valley
''Whatever Happened to Green Valley?'' is a 1973 Australian documentary directed by Peter Weir.
References
External links
*''Whatever Happened to Green Valley?''at Oz Moviesat Sydney Morning Herald
{{Peter Weir
1973 films
Australian doc ...
'', in which residents were invited to make their own film segments. Another notable film in this period was the short
rock music
Rock music is a broad genre of popular music that originated as " rock and roll" in the United States in the late 1940s and early 1950s, developing into a range of different styles in the mid-1960s and later, particularly in the United States a ...
performance film ''Three Directions in Australian Pop Music'' (1972), which featured in-concert colour footage of three of the most significant
Melbourne
Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/ Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a metro ...
rock acts of the period,
Spectrum
A spectrum (plural ''spectra'' or ''spectrums'') is a condition that is not limited to a specific set of values but can vary, without gaps, across a continuum. The word was first used scientifically in optics to describe the rainbow of colors ...
,
The Captain Matchbox Whoopee Band, and
Wendy Saddington
Wendy June Saddington (26 September 194921 June 2013), also known as Gandharvika Dasi, was an Australian blues, soul and jazz singer, and was in the bands Chain, Copperwine and the Wendy Saddington Band. She wrote for teen pop newspaper ''Go-S ...
. He also directed one section of the three-part, three-director feature film ''Three To Go'' (1970), which won an
AFI award.
After leaving the CFU, Weir made his first major independent film, the short feature ''
Homesdale
''Homesdale'' is a 1971 Australian film directed by Peter Weir. ''Homesdale'' is a black comedy about visitors at a guest-house acting out their violent private fantasies and games under the control of the house staff.
Plot
Several people gather ...
'' (1971), an offbeat
black comedy
Black comedy, also known as dark comedy, morbid humor, or gallows humor, is a style of comedy that makes light of subject matter that is generally considered taboo, particularly subjects that are normally considered serious or painful to disc ...
. It co-starred rising young actress
Kate Fitzpatrick
Kerry Kathleen Fitzpatrick (born 1 October 1947) known as Kate Fitzpatrick, is an Australian television, film, and theatre actress.
Early years
Kate grew up in the Adelaide suburb of Dover Gardens, and it was in Adelaide that her love for cl ...
and musician and comedian
Grahame Bond, who came to fame in 1972 as the star of ''
The Aunty Jack Show''; Weir also played a small role, but this was to be his last significant screen appearance. ''Homesdale'' and Weir's two aforementioned CFU shorts have been released on DVD.
Weir's first full-length feature film was the underground cult classic, ''
The Cars That Ate Paris'' (1974), a low-budget black comedy about the inhabitants of a small country town who deliberately cause fatal car crashes and live off the proceeds. It was a minor success in cinemas but proved very popular on the then-thriving
drive-in
A drive-in is a facility (such as a restaurant or movie theater) where one can drive in with an automobile for service. At a drive-in restaurant, for example, customers park their vehicles and are usually served by staff who walk or rollerskat ...
circuit. The plot of "Cars" had been inspired by a press report Weir had read about two young English women who had vanished while on a driving holiday in France. With this film, along with the earlier ''Homesdale'', Weir set the basic thematic pattern which has persisted throughout his career: nearly all his feature films deal with people who face some form of crisis after finding themselves isolated from society in some way – either physically (''Witness'', ''Mosquito Coast'', ''The Truman Show'', ''Master and Commander''), socially/culturally (''Picnic at Hanging Rock'', ''The Last Wave'', ''Dead Poets Society'', ''Green Card''), or psychologically (''Fearless'').
Weir's major breakthrough in Australia and internationally was the lush, atmospheric period mystery ''
Picnic at Hanging Rock'' (1975), made with substantial backing from the state-funded
South Australian Film Corporation
South Australian Film Corporation (SAFC) is a South Australian Government statutory corporation established in 1972 to engage in film production and promote the film industry, located in Adelaide, South Australia. The Adelaide Studios are manage ...
and filmed on location in South Australia and rural Victoria. Based on the novel by
Joan Lindsay and set at the turn of the 20th century, the film relates the purportedly "true" story of a group of students from an exclusive girls' school who mysteriously vanish from a school picnic on Valentine's Day 1900. Widely credited as a key work in the "Australian film renaissance" of the mid-1970s, ''Picnic'' was the first Australian film of its era to gain both critical praise and be given substantial international theatrical releases. It also helped launch the career of internationally renowned Australian cinematographer
Russell Boyd
Russell Stewart Boyd, , ACS, ASC, (born 21 April 1944) is an Australian cinematographer. He rose to prominence with his highly praised work on '' Picnic at Hanging Rock'' (1975), the first of several collaborations with director Peter Weir. ...
. It was widely acclaimed by critics, many of whom praised it as a welcome antidote to the so-called
"ocker film" genre, typified by ''
The Adventures of Barry McKenzie'' and ''
Alvin Purple''.
Weir's next film, ''
The Last Wave
''The Last Wave'' (also released, in the US, as ''Black Rain'') is a 1977 Australian mystery drama film directed by Peter Weir.''Variety'' film review; 16 November 1977, p. 21. It is about a white solicitor in Sydney whose seemingly normal lif ...
'' (1977), was a supernatural thriller about a man who begins to experience terrifying visions of an impending natural disaster. It starred American actor
Richard Chamberlain, who was well known to Australian and world audiences as the eponymous physician in the popular ''
Dr. Kildare'' TV series. He later starred in the major series ''
The Thorn Birds'', set in Australia. ''The Last Wave'' was a pensive, ambivalent work that expanded on themes from ''Picnic'', exploring the interactions between the native
Aboriginal and European cultures. It co-starred the Aboriginal actor
David Gulpilil, whose performance won the Golden Ibex (Oscar equivalent) at the Tehran International Festival in 1977, but it was only a moderate commercial success at the time.
Between ''The Last Wave'' and his next feature, Weir wrote and directed the offbeat low-budget telemovie ''
The Plumber'' (1979). It starred Australian actors
Judy Morris
Judith Ann Morris (born 17 February 1947) is an Australian character actress, as well as a film director and screenwriter, well known for the variety of roles she played in 58 different television shows and films, starting her career as a child ...
and
Ivar Kants
Ivar Kants (born 19 July 1949) (commonly credited as ''Ivor'' Kants or Ivar Kanz) is an Australian actor of Latvian descent who has played numerous roles in soap operas including ''A Country Practice'', '' G.P.'', '' All Saints'', '' Water Rats ...
and was filmed in three weeks. Inspired by an account told to him by friends, it is a black comedy about a woman whose life is disrupted by a subtly menacing plumber.
1980s
Weir scored a major Australian hit and further international praise with his next film, the historical adventure-drama ''
Gallipoli
The Gallipoli peninsula (; tr, Gelibolu Yarımadası; grc, Χερσόνησος της Καλλίπολης, ) is located in the southern part of East Thrace, the European part of Turkey, with the Aegean Sea to the west and the Dardanelles s ...
'' (1981). Scripted by the Australian playwright
David Williamson
David Keith Williamson AO (born 24 February 1942) is an Australian dramatist and playwright. He has also written screenplays and teleplays.
Early life
David Williamson was born in Melbourne, Victoria, on 24 February 1942, and was brought ...
, it is regarded as classic
Australian cinema. ''Gallipoli'' was instrumental in making
Mel Gibson
Mel Columcille Gerard Gibson (born January 3, 1956) is an American actor, film director, and producer. He is best known for his action hero roles, particularly his breakout role as Max Rockatansky in the first three films of the post-apoca ...
(''
Mad Max'') into a major star, although his co-star
Mark Lee, who also received high praise for his role, has made relatively few screen appearances since.
The climax of Weir's early career was the $6 million multi-national production ''
The Year of Living Dangerously'' (1982), again starring Gibson, playing opposite top Hollywood female lead
Sigourney Weaver in a story about journalistic loyalty, idealism, love and ambition in the turmoil of
Sukarno
Sukarno). (; born Koesno Sosrodihardjo, ; 6 June 1901 – 21 June 1970) was an Indonesian statesman, orator, revolutionary, and nationalist who was the first president of Indonesia, serving from 1945 to 1967.
Sukarno was the leader of ...
's
Indonesia
Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Gui ...
of 1965. It was an adaptation of the novel by
Christopher Koch, which was based in part on the experiences of Koch's journalist brother Philip, the
ABC's Jakarta correspondent and one of the few western journalists in the city during the 1965 attempted coup. The film also won
Linda Hunt (who played a man in the film) an Oscar for
Best Actress in a Supporting Role. The film was produced by
Jim McElroy
James Charles McElroy, Jr. (born October 4, 1953) is an American former professional basketball player. He was born in Cotton Plant, Arkansas.
A 6'3" guard from Central Michigan University, McElroy played in the National Basketball Association ...
, who with his brother
Hal McElroy
Hal and James "Jim" McElroy (born 6 April 1946) are Australian twin film and television producers.
They are best known for three films they produced jointly in the 1970s, all directed by Peter Weir at the start of his career: ''The Cars That A ...
had also (co-)produced Weir's first three films, ''The Cars That Ate Paris'', ''Picnic at Hanging Rock'' and ''The Last Wave''.
Weir's first
American film was the successful thriller ''
Witness
In law, a witness is someone who has knowledge about a matter, whether they have sensed it or are testifying on another witnesses' behalf. In law a witness is someone who, either voluntarily or under compulsion, provides testimonial evidence, e ...
'' (1985), the first of two films he made with
Harrison Ford
Harrison Ford (born July 13, 1942) is an American actor. His films have grossed more than $5.4billion in North America and more than $9.3billion worldwide, making him the seventh-highest-grossing actor in North America. He is the recipient o ...
, about a boy who sees the murder of an undercover police officer by corrupt coworkers and has to be hidden in his
Amish
The Amish (; pdc, Amisch; german: link=no, Amische), formally the Old Order Amish, are a group of traditionalist Anabaptist Christian church fellowships with Swiss German and Alsatian origins. They are closely related to Mennonite churc ...
community to protect him. Weir directed Ford in his only performance to receive an
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 ...
nomination, while child star
Lukas Haas also received wide praise for his debut film performance. ''Witness'' also earned Weir his first Academy Award nomination as
Best Director, and was his first of several films to be nominated for an
Academy Award for Best Picture
The Academy Award for Best Picture is one of the Academy Awards presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) since the awards debuted in 1929. This award goes to the producers of the film and is the only categ ...
, it later won 2 for
Best Film Editing &
Best Original Screenplay.
It was followed by the darker, less commercial ''
The Mosquito Coast'' (1986),
Paul Schrader
Paul Joseph Schrader (; born July 22, 1946) is an American screenwriter, film director, and film critic. He first received widespread recognition through his screenplay for Martin Scorsese's ''Taxi Driver'' (1976). He later continued his collabo ...
's adaptation of
Paul Theroux
Paul Edward Theroux (born April 10, 1941) is an American novelist and travel writer who has written numerous books, including the travelogue, ''The Great Railway Bazaar'' (1975). Some of his works of fiction have been adapted as feature films. He ...
's novel. Ford played a man obsessively pursuing his dream to start a new life in the Central American jungle with his family. These dramatic parts provided Harrison Ford with important opportunities to break the typecasting of his career-making roles in the ''
Star Wars
''Star Wars'' is an American epic space opera multimedia franchise created by George Lucas, which began with the eponymous 1977 film and quickly became a worldwide pop-culture phenomenon. The franchise has been expanded into various film ...
'' and ''
Indiana Jones
''Indiana Jones'' is an American media franchise based on the adventures of Dr. Henry Walton "Indiana" Jones, Jr., a fictional professor of archaeology, that began in 1981 with the film '' Raiders of the Lost Ark''. In 1984, a prequel, '' Th ...
'' series. Both films showed off his ability to play more subtle and substantial characters and he was nominated for a Best Actor Oscar for his work in ''Witness'', the only Academy Awards recognition in his career. ''The Mosquito Coast'' is also notable for a performance by the young
River Phoenix.
Weir's next film, ''
Dead Poets Society
''Dead Poets Society'' is a 1989 American drama film directed by Peter Weir, written by Tom Schulman, and starring Robin Williams. Set in 1959 at the fictional elite conservative boarding school Welton Academy, it tells the story of an English ...
'', was a major international success, with Weir again receiving credit for expanding the acting range of its Hollywood star.
Robin Williams
Robin McLaurin Williams (July 21, 1951August 11, 2014) was an American actor and comedian. Known for his improvisational skills and the wide variety of characters he created on the spur of the moment and portrayed on film, in dramas and come ...
was mainly known for his anarchic stand-up comedy and his popular TV role as the wisecracking alien in ''
Mork & Mindy''; in this film he played an inspirational teacher in a dramatic story about conformity and rebellion at an exclusive New England
prep school in the 1950s. The film was nominated for four Oscars, including
Best Picture and
Best Director for Weir, it later won for
Best Original Screenplay and launched the acting careers of young actors
Ethan Hawke
Ethan Green Hawke (born November 6, 1970) is an American actor and film director. He has been nominated for four Academy Awards, two Golden Globe Awards and a Tony Award. Hawke has directed three feature films, three off-Broadway plays, and a doc ...
and
Robert Sean Leonard. It became a major box-office hit and is one of Weir's best-known films to mainstream audiences.
1990s
Weir's first romantic comedy ''
Green Card
A green card, known officially as a permanent resident card, is an identity document which shows that a person has permanent residency in the United States. ("The term 'lawfully admitted for permanent residence' means the status of having been ...
'' (1990) was another casting risk. Weir chose French screen icon
Gérard Depardieu
Gérard Xavier Marcel Depardieu, CQ (, , ; born 27 December 1948) is a French actor, filmmaker, businessman and vineyard owner since 1989 who is one of the most prolific thespians in film history having completed over 250 films since 1967 al ...
in the lead—Depardieu's first English-language role—and paired him with American actress
Andie MacDowell. ''Green Card'' was a box-office hit but was regarded as less of a critical success, although it helped Depardieu's path to international fame. Weir received an Oscar nomination for his original screenplay.
''
Fearless
Fearless or The Fearless may refer to:
Psychology
* Lack of fear
* Courage or bravery
Film, television and audio Film
* ''Fearless'' (1978 film), an Italian film directed by Stelvio Massi
* ''Fearless'' (1993 film), an American drama directed ...
'' (1993) returned to darker themes and starred
Jeff Bridges
Jeffrey Leon Bridges (born December 4, 1949) is an American actor. He has received various accolades throughout his career spanning over seven decades, including an Academy Award and two Golden Globe Awards.
Bridges comes from a prominent ac ...
as a man who believes he has become invincible after surviving a catastrophic air crash. Though well reviewed, particularly the performances of Bridges and
Rosie Perez
Rosa Perez (born September 6, 1964) is an American actress, choreographer, dancer, and activist. Her breakthrough came with her portrayal of Tina in the film ''Do the Right Thing'' (1989), followed by '' White Men Can't Jump'' (1992). Perez's per ...
—who received an Oscar nomination for
Best Supporting Actress—the film was less commercially successful than Weir's two preceding films. It was entered into the
44th Berlin International Film Festival
The 44th annual Berlin International Film Festival was held from 10 to 21 February 1994. The Golden Bear was awarded to British-Irish film '' In the Name of the Father'' directed by Jim Sheridan. The retrospective dedicated to Austrian director, ...
.
After five years, Weir returned to direct his biggest success to date, ''
The Truman Show'' (1998), a fantasy-
satire
Satire is a genre of the visual, literary, and performing arts, usually in the form of fiction and less frequently non-fiction, in which vices, follies, abuses, and shortcomings are held up to ridicule, often with the intent of shaming o ...
of the media's control of life. ''The Truman Show'' was both a box office and a critical success, receiving positive reviews and numerous awards, including three Academy Award nominations:
Andrew Niccol for
Best Original Screenplay,
Ed Harris
Edward Allen Harris (born November 28, 1950) is an American actor and filmmaker. His performances in ''Apollo 13'' (1995), '' The Truman Show'' (1998), '' Pollock'' (2000), and '' The Hours'' (2002) earned him critical acclaim and Academy Award ...
for
Best Actor in a Supporting Role, and Weir himself for
Best Director. In addition to the Academy Award nominations, the film won the
1999 Hugo Award for Best Dramatic Presentation.
2000s
In 2003, Weir returned to period drama with ''
Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World'', starring
Russell Crowe
Russell Ira Crowe (born 7 April 1964) is an actor. He was born in New Zealand, spent ten years of his childhood in Australia, and moved there permanently at age twenty one. He came to international attention for his role as Roman General Maxi ...
. A screen adaptation from various episodes in
Patrick O'Brian
Patrick O'Brian, CBE (12 December 1914 – 2 January 2000), born Richard Patrick Russ, was an English novelist and translator, best known for his Aubrey–Maturin series of sea novels set in the Royal Navy during the Napoleonic Wars, and cent ...
's blockbuster adventure series set during the
Napoleonic Wars
The Napoleonic Wars (1803–1815) were a series of major global conflicts pitting the French Empire and its allies, led by Napoleon I, against a fluctuating array of European states formed into various coalitions. It produced a period of Fre ...
, it was well received by critics, but only mildly successful with mainstream audiences. Despite another nomination for
Best Picture and
winning two Oscars—for frequent collaborator
Russell Boyd
Russell Stewart Boyd, , ACS, ASC, (born 21 April 1944) is an Australian cinematographer. He rose to prominence with his highly praised work on '' Picnic at Hanging Rock'' (1975), the first of several collaborations with director Peter Weir. ...
's cinematography and for sound effects editing—the film's box office success was moderate ($93 million at the North American box office). The film grossed slightly better overseas, gleaning an additional $114 million.
2010s
Weir wrote and directed his next film, ''
The Way Back'' (2010), a historical epic about escapees from a
Soviet
The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...
gulag
The Gulag, an acronym for , , "chief administration of the camps". The original name given to the system of camps controlled by the State Political Directorate, GPU was the Main Administration of Corrective Labor Camps (, )., name=, group= ...
, which was generally well received critically but not a financial success.
Following ''The Way Back'', Weir did not work on any more projects. As years passed, without an official announcement, he started to be described as "retired". Speaking in 2022, speculating about Weir's unannounced retirement, Ethan Hawke said, "I think
eir
In Norse mythology, Eir (Old Norse: , "protection, help, mercy"Orchard (1997:36).) is a goddess or valkyrie associated with medical skill. Eir is attested in the ''Poetic Edda'', compiled in the 13th century from earlier traditional sources; the ...
lost interest in movies. He really enjoyed that work when he didn't have actors giving him a hard time. Russell Crowe and Johnny Depp broke him."
Personal life
On 14 June 1982, Weir was appointed a Member of the
Order of Australia
The Order of Australia is an honour that recognises Australian citizens and other persons for outstanding achievement and service. It was established on 14 February 1975 by Elizabeth II, Queen of Australia, on the advice of the Australian Go ...
(AM) for his service to the film industry.
It's an Honour
– Member of the Order of Australia
Filmography
Awards and nominations
References
Further reading
Peter Weir Pays Witness to the Amish
– 27 January 1985
Peter Weir: In a Class by Himself
– 4 June 1989
Poetry Man
– ''Premiere'' magazine Interview – July 1989
– 13 October 1993
Staring Death in the Face
– 17 October 1993
– 1994
– 20 April 1998
– 21 May 1998
Interview – Peter Weir
– 3 June 1998
– 4 June 1998
– 15 March 2008
Uncommon Man
– The ''DGA Quarterly'' Interview – Summer 2010
External links
*
Senses of Cinema: Great Directors Critical Database
Peter Weir at the National Film and Sound Archive
{{DEFAULTSORT:Weir, Peter
1944 births
Australian film directors
Best Director BAFTA Award winners
Commanders of the Order of Merit of the Republic of Poland
Filmmakers who won the Best Film BAFTA Award
English-language film directors
European Film Awards winners (people)
Hugo Award winners
Living people
Members of the Order of Australia
People educated at Scots College (Sydney)
People from Sydney
Sydney Law School alumni
University of Sydney alumni
Academy Honorary Award recipients