Michael James Radford (born 24 February 1946) is an English film director and screenwriter. He began his career as a documentary director and television comedy writer before transitioning into features in the early 1980s.
His best-known credits include the 1984 film adaptation of George Orwell's Nineteen Eighty-Four starring John Hurt and Richard Burton (in his final role), the Shakespeare adaptation The Merchant of Venice, the true crime drama White Mischief, and the 1994 Italian-language comedy drama Il Postino: The Postman, for which he won the BAFTA Awards for Best Direction and Best Film Not in the English Language, and earned Academy Award nominations for Best Director and Best Adapted Screenplay.
Early life and career Radford was born on 24 February 1946, in New Delhi, India, to a British father and an Austrian Jewish mother. He was educated at Bedford School before attending Worcester College, Oxford. After teaching for a few years, he went to the National Film and Television School, becoming a student there in its inaugural year.
Between 1976 and 1982, Radford worked as a documentary film maker, mostly on projects for the BBC, covering subjects such as Scottish islanders on the Isle of Lewis in the Outer Hebrides who believe in the literal truth of the Bible: The Last Stronghold of the Pure Gospel; the soprano Isobel Buchanan: La Belle Isobel; the singer songwriter Van Morrison: Van Morrison in Ireland; and the self-explanatory The Making of The Pirates of Penzance. On the last two of these, Radford worked with the cinematographer Roger Deakins, who would later shoot two of Radford's feature films; Nineteen Eighty-Four and White Mischief. Another notable early work was Another Time, Another Place (1983), a feature film set in Scotland during World War II and centred on a love story between a local woman and an Italian POW.
Career Radford came to international attention with Nineteen Eighty-Four, his adaptation of George Orwell's novel 1984, starring John Hurt as Winston Smith, and in which Richard Burton gave his final film performance. The film was made in the time and place (London, April–June 1984) at which the book was set.
Radford's next film, released in 1987, was White Mischief, a period drama set in Kenya during the 1940s. Radford again wrote the screenplay, an adaptation of the novel by James Fox also called White Mischief.
Michael Radford is most widely known as the writer and director of the 1994 film Il Postino: The Postman, which Radford adapted from the novel Ardiente Paciencia by Antonio Skármeta. The massive international success of the film (for many years it was the largest grossing non-English language film ever made) led to international acclaim for Radford and the star of the film Massimo Troisi. Tragically, Troisi died, aged 41, the day after the filming of Il Postino was completed. The film won many international film awards including the 'Best Film Not in the English Language' BAFTA for Radford, who was also nominated for the Best Director and Adapted Screenplay Academy Awards.
In 2000, Radford's film Dancing at the Blue Iguana was released. In a departure from his more usual development technique, namely adapting novels, this film was largely improvised, although Radford shared the screenwriting credit with David Linter.
In 2004, Radford directed The Merchant of Venice (2004). He adapted the William Shakespeare play (see: Shakespearean comedies), and the film stars Al Pacino as Shylock and Jeremy Irons as Antonio. In 2007, he reunited Demi Moore and Michael Caine (who had already been together in 1984 for Blame it on Rio) in Flawless, a diamond heist story set in 1960. His most recent film is Elsa & Fred (2014), a romantic comedy starring Shirley MacLaine and Christopher Plummer.
Radford directed his first play in 2000, a West End production of The Seven Year Itch. This was an adaptation of Billy Wilder's 1955 film starring Marilyn Monroe.
Personal life Radford has a son, Felix (born 1991), from his first marriage to Iseult Teran. He also has a daughter, Amaryllis (born 2005), and a son, Linus (born 2010), with his current wife, Emma Tweed.
In addition to English (his first language), he speaks fluent Spanish, French, Italian, and some Mandarin.
In September 2013, he took part in the Clipper Round the World Sailing Race, in which he raced one of 12 identical 70-foot racing yachts from London to Rio.Clipperroundtheworld.com
Filmography Film Year TitleDirectorWriter Notes1973Concerning the SurfaceNFTS student film1974Cold Night 1983Another Time, Another PlaceTaormina Golden CharybdisNominated – David di Donatello for Best Foreign Film1984Nineteen Eighty-FourEvening Standard British Film Award for Best FilmIstanbul Golden TulipNominated – Fantasporto International Fantasy Film Award1987White Mischief 1994Il Postino: The PostmanBAFTA Award for Best Film Not in the English LanguageBAFTA Award for Best DirectionNominated – Academy Award for Best DirectorNominated – Academy Award for Best Adapted ScreenplayNominated – BAFTA Award for Best Adapted ScreenplayNominated – Directors Guild of America Award for Outstanding Directing – Feature Film1998B. MonkeyReplaced Michael Caton-Jones2000Dancing at the Blue Iguana 2002Ten Minutes Older: The Cello Segment: "Addicted to the Stars"2004The Merchant of VeniceNominated – David di Donatello for Best European Film2007Flawless2013The Mule Radford walked away and cut ties with the film in the wake of a litigation over its finances,renouncing to any credit in the cut released in 20132014Elsa & Fred 2017The Music of Silence
Documentary film {| class="wikitable" ! Year ! Title !Director !Writer ! Notes |- |1976 |Sugar
|1978 |Mountain Days
|1981 |Van Morrison in Ireland
|1982 |''The Making of 'The Pirates of Penzance|
|2011 |Michel Petrucciani
|Nominated – César Award for Best Documentary Film
Television Year TitleDirectorWriter Notes1979EverymanEpisodes: "The Last Stronghold of the Pure Gospel" & "La Belle Isobel"Scotch and Wry3 episodes1976–77OmnibusEpisodes: "Unita" & "The Madonna and the Volcano"1980The Two Ronnies3 episodes1981A Kick Up the Eighties5 episodesThree of a Kind3 episodes1981–82Crackerjack!10 episodes1982The Late, Late Breakfast Show11 episodes1996Homicide: Life on the Street Episode: "Justice: Part 1"TV movies''' Year TitleDirectorWriter1980The White Bird Passes1982La Belle Isobel
Awards and nominations +YearAssociationCategoryWorkResult1983Taormina Film FestGolden CharybdisAnother Time, Another Place1985FantasportoInternational Fantasy Film AwardNineteen Eighty-FourInternational Istanbul Film FestivalGolden TulipLondon Evening StandardBest Film1986Accademia del Cinema ItalianoBest Foreign FilmAnother Time, Another Place1995CiakBest FilmIl Postino: The PostmanRome Foreign Press AssociationBest FilmLos Angeles Film Critics AssociationBest Foreign Language FilmSão Paulo International Film FestivalBest Feature1996Academy of Motion Picture Arts and SciencesBest DirectorAcademy of Motion Picture Arts and SciencesBest Adapted ScreenplayNorwegian International Film FestivalBest Foreign Feature FilmLondon Film Critics' CircleBritish Director of the YearBritish Academy of Film and Television ArtsBest Adapted ScreenplayBest DirectionBest Film Not in the English LanguageArgentine Film Critics AssociationBest Foreign FilmDirectors Guild of AmericaOutstanding Directorial Achievements in Motion PicturesRadio Nacional de EspañaBest Foreign FilmRadio Nacional de EspañaRosa de Sant Jordi Audience Award1997Académie des LumièresBest Foreign FilmDanish Film AcademyBest Foreign FilmKinema JunpoBest Foreign Language Film2004London Film Critics' CircleBritish Director of the YearThe Merchant of Venice2005Accademia del Cinema ItalianoBest European Film2012Best Documentary FilmMichel Petrucciani2014Bari International Film FestivalPlatinum Award for Cinematic ExcellenceCinéfest Sudbury International Film FestivalInternational Audience Choice AwardElsa & Fred2017El Gouna Film FestivalGolden Star – Feature Narrative CompetitionThe Music of SilenceMontecarlo Film FestivalCareer Award
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