A GREAT LIGHT HAS GONE OUT

Sidney Lumet wasn’t the reason I wanted to become a filmmaker, but his “way”  is without a doubt the reason I fell in love with being a director. Now I’m not one to fawn over the famed and I’d be the first to say “Who gives a flying fudge pop about Nate Dog or Elizabeth Taylor?” But when one of the two directors that I have an absolute passion for, a personal hero, dies, I have to say I missed a step this morning. I deeply admired his approach to filmmaking and perspicacious eye as a director. His respect for actors and their craft, has inspired and prodded at me to become his coined métier as an “Actors Director.” And I could pontificate with a fastidious tongue about all of his films and even dip into his commentaries about the process, on why I think he was a brilliant cat, but let’s get right down to the grit of it. It boils down to his uncontrollable emotions for the artists with whom he had the pleasure of working with. From the script girl to his oscar winning actresses, from the nervous production assistant to the enigmatic cinematographer, the films themselves couldn’t begin to tap at who he was, let alone his brilliance. It was his passion for the art and the people. I couldn’t aspire to anything better. Now I must go and watch Rod Steiger in “The Pawnbroker” and marvel at the genius of Lumet’s directing… I wish I could have met him.