Joseph Strick – A True Independent
‘I like to shoot something that reveals what is true and real about us’
Very sorry to learn of the death of Joseph Strick on the 2nd June. A true independent, his approach to filmmaking is an example to young filmmakers everywhere of the importance of fighting for creative control of their projects. I was fortunate enough to speak to him on a few occasions and his good humour and energy were contagious. He had been planning to make a film about the expenses scandal in the UK. From the director of THE HECKLERS (1966) and the disturbingly thought-provoking ‘INTERVIEWS WITH MY LAI VETERANS (1971), it would sure have been interesting to see that.
On Bloom’s Day, Wed 16 June, the Duke of York’s in Brighton is showing ULYSSES which he directed – the only filmed adaptation. Amazing to think that this film played for over a year continually when it first came out in London in the sixties.
And then on 10 July there is his short MUSCLE BEACH followed by the stunning THE SAVAGE EYE. The films were scheduled months ago and Joseph knew they would be on, offering to come to a Q&A if he could make it.
Kevin Maher wrote a great profile of Joseph Strick for The Times, at the time of his retrospective at the Barbican, full of great anecdotes that sum up the uncompromising integrity and fighting spirit of the director:
Oscar night, April 10, 1968. Warren Beatty and Joseph Strick are sitting next to each other. Beatty is representing Bonnie and Clyde, a monster contender with ten nominations, while Strick, a new maverick American director, has been nominated for his writing work on his controversial adaptation of James Joyce’s Ulysses.
As the night progresses Bonnie and Clyde is all but ignored, while Ulysses fails to win the Best Adapted Screenplay award. Beatty is increasingly discomfited by the snub. Full of adrenalin and keen to lash out, he turns to Strick and snarls: “My picture was better than yours!” Strick, affronted, tells Beatty that he’s “full of s***!” and adds, goading, that Ulysses was superior to Bonnie and Clyde. The insults fly, and the two men are seconds away from a fist fight when Strick has an epiphany. He thinks, “What is this? What am I doing? Don’t ever come here again!” And he never does. Even when he wins (he sends his daughter, three years later, to pick up his Oscar for the short documentary Interviews with My Lai Veterans). Read the full article
More details about his films are available on the BFI website.
Thank you Joe, for all your great work!
Jo Blair – Picturehouse Programmer
