EVENT PROGRAM
Friday, November 15
6:30p Screening of THE ENGLISH PATIENT
Anthony Minghella wrote and directed this award-winning adaptation of Michael Ondaatje's novel about a doomed and tragic romance set against the backdrop of World War II. In a field hospital in Italy, Hana (Juliette Binoche), a nurse from Canada, is caring for a pilot who was horribly burned in a plane wreck; he has no identification and cannot remember his name, so he's known simply as "the English Patient," thanks to his accent. When the hospital is forced to evacuate, Hana determines en route that the patient shouldn't be moved far due to his fragile condition, so the two are left in a monastery to be picked up later. In time, Hana begins to piece together the patient's story from the shards of his memories. Synopsis courtesy of Miramax.
USA 1996 | 162 minutes | Rated R | Color | English
Saturday November 16
11:30a - 12:30p “In Conversation with Michael Ondaatje and Davia Nelson”
Michael Ondaatje, a masterful storyteller, has written seven novels, a memoir, a nonfiction exploration of film, and several poetry collections. His acclaimed novel The English Patient not only won the 1992 Booker Prize but was also transformed into a cinematic triumph in 1996, sweeping the Academy Awards and winning Best Picture. Ondaatje will discuss the making of the film (including Saul Zaentz's long journey to acquire the rights to make it) with Davia Nelson, one-half of The Kitchen Sisters and award-winning NPR radio documentary producer.
1:30p Screening of THE UNBEARABLE LIGHTNESS OF BEING
Philip Kaufman achieves a delicate, erotic balance with his screen version of Milan Kundera’s “unfilmable” novel. Adapted by Kaufman and Jean-Claude Carrière, the film follows a womanizing surgeon (Daniel Day-Lewis) as he struggles with his free-spirited mistress (Lena Olin) and his childlike wife (Juliette Binoche). An intimate epic, The Unbearable Lightness of Being charts the frontiers of relationships with wit, emotion, and devastating honesty.
USA 1988 | 172 minutes | Rated R | Color | English
6:00p Screening of ONE FLEW OVER THE CUCKOOS NEST
Adapted from Ken Kesey’s novel, the film centers on Randle McMurphy (Jack Nicholson), a convict who simulates mental illness in the hope that a transfer to psychiatric hospital might ensure his early release. But he hasn’t bargained for the rigid regimen of Mildred Ratched (Louise Fletcher) who dislikes his disruptive - though he’d say liberating - effect on the ward. Inspired casting (Danny DeVito, Brad Dourif and Christopher Lloyd are among the patients) and Forman’s naturalistic direction lend authenticity to the proceedings, so that the film succeeds both as anti-authoritarian parable and as an affecting reminder of the psychiatric practices of the past. Synopsis by Geoff Andrew.
Directed by Miloš Forman | USA 1975 | 133 minutes | Rated R | Color | English
Sunday, November 17
1:30p Screening of AMADEUS
Milos Forman creates a rousing adaptation of Peter Shaffer’s stage play about the rivalry between the composers Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (Tom Hulce) and Antonio Salieri (F. Murray Abraham). In telling the story through Salieri’s perspective, “Amadeus” becomes a drama about deranged jealousy and betrayal as Salieri fumes over his prodigious counterpart, who is seen as immature and unworthy of his superior talent. Yet through the heat of Salieri’s contempt, Mozart’s compositions come alive with fresh urgency: AMADEUS isn’t a stodgy costume piece for classical music fans only, it’s a gripping drama about a divine gift and its costs. – Scott Tobias, The New York Times
Directed by Miloš Forman | USA 1984 | 158 min | Rated R | Color | English
Saul Zaentz Biography
Described by The New York Times as ‘perhaps the last of the great independent producers,’ Saul Zaentz specialized in literary film adaptations that the big studios believed too complex or uncommercial to put on film.
He made intelligent, thought-provoking films that challenged their audiences and were top of the class in cinematography, costume and set design, sound and music, as well as acting and direction. In all, Saul was awarded three Best Picture Oscars, an achievement shared by only a handful of producers.
Saul funded his pictures independently, backed by the jazz music label he managed, Fantasy Records, headquartered in Berkeley, CA. When Saul managed the rock band Creedence Clearwater Revival in the mid 1960s, he set up regional music label distribution networks around the world based on relationships of trust and a willingness to share revenues. When he began producing films, Saul would call upon this experience to make independent film distribution deals outside the US.
Saul Zaentz was born in 1921 in Passaic, New Jersey to Russian-Polish immigrants. At the outbreak of World War II he enlisted in the US Army, serving on troop transports in the Atlantic, Pacific and Mediterranean, rising to the rank of sergeant major.
He moved to San Francisco in 1948 and found a job at music distributor Melody Sales. In 1954 Saul was hired by music impresario Norman Granz to manage his Jazz at the Philharmonic tours, and Saul went on the road with the Duke Ellington Orchestra, Dave Brubeck, Gerry Mulligan and Stan Getz.
In 1955, Saul returned to San Francisco where he started at Fantasy Records in sales, building strong relationships with the record distributors he worked with.
In 1962 Fantasy released pianist Vince Guaraldi’s album, “Jazz Impressions of Black Orpheus”. A single from the LP, “Cast Your Fate to the Wind”, became a crossover hit on the Pop charts; Saul’s first taste of a hit in any medium.
In 1963 Max Weiss, one of the pair of brothers who owned Fantasy, signed a rock band to a record contract, the Blue Velvets, who he renamed the Golliwogs. Saul managed the band, taking out a personal loan to buy them new equipment and a van.
In late 1967 Saul formed a partnership to acquire Fantasy Records from the Weisses. He became chairman of Fantasy and named Los Angeles distributor Ralph Kaffel president of the label. He brought on attorney-friend Al Bendich as partner and vice president-legal, and his accountant, Frank Noonan, as partner and vice president-finance.
The Golliwogs had never liked their name and in December 1967 changed it to Creedence Clearwater Revival. Fantasy released their first album in July 1968, and the album’s first single, Susie Q, rose to number 11 on the charts.
In 1970 Saul spoke to partner Al Bendich about his wish to produce films. His first film became Payday, from a script brought to him by Fantasy vice president Ralph J. Gleason. Saul co-produced his second film, One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, with Michael Douglas, and they each received a Best Picture Oscar for it in 1976.
Cuckoo’s Nest, directed by Milos Forman, was a worldwide hit, enabling Saul to produce more films. He next produced the Native American story Three Warriors (1977), and then the animated The Lord of the Rings (1978).
In 1980 Milos Forman saw the Peter Shaffer play "Amadeus" and told Saul he’d like to film it. Saul thought it needed more of Mozart’s character and music, Forman agreed, and Shaffer adapted his own play for the script. At the 1985 Academy Awards Saul won his second Best Picture Oscar for Amadeus.
In the mid 1980s Saul was Executive Producer on The Mosquito Coast and produced The Unbearable Lightness of Being and At Play in the Fields of the Lord.
In early 1992 Saul met director Anthony Minghella, who was interested in adapting the Michael Ondaatje novel The English Patient. In 1997 The English Patient swept the Academy Awards and again won Best Picture. At the Oscar ceremony the Academy also presented Saul Zaentz the Irving G. Thalberg Memorial Award for “creative producers whose bodies of work reflect a consistently high quality of motion picture production.”
In 2003 the British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) awarded Saul Zaentz the Academy Fellowship, the highest accolade presented by BAFTA to individuals for their work and achievements throughout their film career.
The historic drama Goya’s Ghosts (2006), Saul Zaentz’s last film, marked his third collaboration with director Milos Forman. Saul battled Alzheimer’s in his final years, and in 2013 died at home in San Francisco. Read his obituary here.
© 2024, The Saul Zaentz Company
