RIP Norman Jewison
“Cinema is the literature of our generation, and therefore it becomes very important to expressing a county’s soul.” Norman Jewison
I often think about the Norman Jewison episode on Inside the Actors Studio and wish I could find it online to watch it again.
His words from 1999 when he was given the Thalberg Award at the 1999 Oscars ceremony.
…my one real regret about winning this prize is that, you know, it's not like the Nobel or the Pulitzer, I mean the Thalberg award comes with no money attached. If it did, I would share it with the Canadian Film Center and the AFI where the next generation of filmmakers are preparing to entertain the world in the new millennium.
And my parting thought to all those young filmmakers is this, just find some good stories. Nevermind the gross, the top ten, bottom ten, what's the rating, what's the demographic.
You know something the biggest grossing picture is not necessarily the best picture, I want to tell you something.
So just tell stories that move us to laughter and tears and perhaps reveal a little truth about ourselves. And as for myself I hope to see you again next year.
True then, true now. The only problem is in current times we are seeing fewer filmmakers and studios that are interested in ‘good stories’, and even fewer directors like Norman Jewison.
RIP Norman Jewison (July 21, 1926 - January 20, 2024)