MAVERICK: THE EPIC ADVENTURES OF DAVID LEAN Documentary

Even at the height of his fame following his greatest accomplishments — the Oscar®-winning epics THE BRIDGE ON THE RIVER KWAI in 1957, LAWRENCE OF ARABIA in 1962 and DOCTOR ZHIVAGO in 1965 — David Lean had his naysayers. For auteurist film critics and other cultural gatekeepers, Lean’s cinema was suspect for its success, its scale, its historicity, its un-hipness. But this blockbuster director’s early career in the 1940s and 1950s included some of the finest dramas ever made in Great Britain: exquisitely human-scaled; expert, at times daring, in their technique; and contra the auteurists, very personal in their subject matter and viewpoints. Veteran producer and director Barnaby Thompson sets the record straight, with this definitive documentary portrait on one of the world’s greatest filmmakers. As a young man with dyslexia, a difficult family life and an unsupportive father, Lean discovered in the movie business a way to make a name for himself outside of more conventional pursuits. Lean broke into the entertainment industry as an editor, graduating from newsreels to British classics like PYGMALION and 49TH PARALLEL. He also discovered moviedom’s proximity to beautiful women, and married actress Kay Walsh in 1940, following a torrid affair. It would not be Lean’s last. Asked by Noël Coward to edit IN WHICH WE SERVE, Lean negotiated for co-director status, directed the majority of what would be a smash hit and began his illustrious directorial career. He continued with classics like BRIEF ENCOUNTER in 1945 and the Charles Dickens adaptations GREAT EXPECTATIONS in 1946 and OLIVER TWIST in 1948. But the restless Lean kept searching for new adventures, leaving Walsh for Ann Todd, and leaving England to make films around the world. An array of talented filmmakers contribute expert assessments of Lean’s work, and how it has inspired their own including Steven Spielberg, Francis Ford Coppola, Paul Greengrass, Steven Soderbergh, Wes Anderson, Alfonso Cuarón, Denis Villeneuve, Joe Wright, Greta Gerwig, Brady Corbet, Celine Song, Nia DaCosta and Autumn Durald Arkapaw (AFI Class of 2009). The film is narrated by Cate Blanchett, with Kenneth Branagh lending his voice to read Lean’s letters and writing. –Todd Hitchcock