Birthday:
10-23-1936
(88 years)
Birthplace:
Chicago, Illinois, USA
Biography
Philip Kaufman (born October 23, 1936) is an American film director and screenwriter. Although not noted for directing a large number of films, the films he has worked on have been recognized for their intelligence and independence. He is noted for directing films of eclectic subjects, ranging from realism to fantasy, and often incorporating satire or subtle humor as part of his “artistic signature.” He was born in Chicago, Illinois. Kaufman has been considered a “risk taker.” He has successfully adapted novels of widely different types – from Milan Kundera’s The Unbearable Lightness of Being to Michael Crichton’s Rising Sun; from Tom Wolfe’s heroic epic The Right Stuff to the erotic writings of Anais Nin’s Henry & June. According to film historian James Welsh, his candid treatment of adult relationships in Henry & June was considered an “artistic breakthrough by an unconventional filmmaker who was willing to take a chance and put his career on the line.” His greatest success was the blockbuster film The Right Stuff, where he directed and wrote the screenplay. It earned eight Academy Award nominations, including Best Picture. And his best films have always had his personal imprint, “stressing values of individualism and integrity,” and always being "clearly American."
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Their works
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A Look Through His Lens
Act like Self
event2024
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Oscar-winning cinematographer Philippe Rousselot offers a master class in image making, with insightful examples from his work on Diva, Hope and Glory, A River Runs Through It, Dangerous Liaisons, Interview with the Vampire and many more in this cineaste's delight.
Algren
Act like Self
event2021 star_border 6
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Algren will spotlight the hard-knock life and authentic creative legacy of one of the most underrated writers of the twentieth century, Nelson Algren. Algren's brutally honest portrayal of the American underclass and his hard-nosed lifestyle became his pathway to compassion. Through interviews with Algren contemporaries, experts, and "literary soulmates," as well as through the photography of Algren's friends, Art Shay and Stephen Deutch, the film will tell his story. It will celebrate his tremendous contribution to and influence on American letters, and push Algren, champion of the marginalized, out from the margins.
Friedkin Uncut
Act like Self
event2018 star_border 7
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An introspective insight into the life and artistic journey of William Friedkin, an extraordinary and offbeat director of cult films such as The French Connection, The Exorcist, Sorcerer, Cruising, To Live and Die in L.A. and Killer Joe. For the first time Friedkin opens up, guiding the audience on a fascinating journey through the themes and the stories that have influenced his life and his artistic career.
Invasion of the Body Snatchers
Act like City Official on Phone (uncredited) (voice)
event1978 star_border 7.2
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The residents of San Francisco are becoming drone-like shadows of their former selves, and as the phenomenon spreads, two Department of Health workers uncover the horrifying truth.
Emotional History: The Making of 'The Unbearable Lightness of Being'
Act like Self
event2006
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Milan Kundera's rambling novel The Unbearable Lightness of Being, though greatly admired, was thought by Hollywood studio executives to be "unfilmable." Director Philip Kaufman and producer Saul Zaentz proved them wrong. Emotional History follows Kaufman and Zaentz as they enlist the help of screenwriter Jean-Claude Carrière and legendary film editor Walter Murch to turn the Kundera novel into an imaginative exploration of politics and eroticism, set against the backdrop of the Russian invasion of Czechoslovakia. Our documentary goes in-depth to discover how indelible moments in the film - Lena Olin kneeling on a dressing mirror; Russian tanks invading Prague; Juliette Binoche photographing her boyfriend's nude mistress; became a part of cinematic history.
Fog City Mavericks
Act like Self
event2007 star_border 8.5
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Fog City Mavericks: The Filmmakers of San Francisco is a compelling exploration of the legendary filmmakers who call the San Francisco Bay Area home including George Lucas, Francis Ford Coppola, Clint Eastwood, Chris Columbus and producer Saul Zaentz. The special weaves interviews, commentaries and unforgettable moments from some of the most visionary movies ever created such as American Graffiti, the Star Wars film series, the Indiana Jones film series, The Godfather trilogy, Apocalypse Now, One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, Amadeus, Toy Story, The Incredibles, Lost in Translation, Flags of Our Fathers and many others. It also features interviews with those who have worked with Bay Area mavericks: Steven Spielberg, Michael Douglas, Anthony Minghella, Milos Forman and Frank Darabont.
The Unbearable Lightness of Being
Act like Man walking on street outside Sabina's flat (uncredited)
event1988 star_border 6.9
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Successful surgeon Tomas leaves Prague for an operation, meets a young photographer named Tereza, and brings her back with him. Tereza is surprised to learn that Tomas is already having an affair with the bohemian Sabina, but when the Soviet invasion occurs, all three flee to Switzerland. Sabina begins an affair, Tom continues womanizing, and Tereza, disgusted, returns to Czechoslovakia. Realizing his mistake, Tomas decides to chase after her.
Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade
Characters
event1989 star_border 7.8
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In 1938, an art collector appeals to eminent archaeologist Dr. Indiana Jones to embark on a search for the Holy Grail. Indy learns that a medieval historian has vanished while searching for it, and the missing man is his own father, Dr. Henry Jones Sr.. He sets out to rescue his father by following clues in the old man's notebook, which his father had mailed to him before he went missing. Indy arrives in Venice, where he enlists the help of a beautiful academic, Dr. Elsa Schneider, along with Marcus Brody and Sallah. Together they must stop the Nazis from recovering the power of eternal life and taking over the world!
The Wanderers
Director
event1979 star_border 7
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The streets of the Bronx are owned by '60s youth gangs where the joy and pain of adolescence is lived. Philip Kaufman tells his take on the novel by Richard Price about the history of the Italian-American gang ‘The Wanderers.’
Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull
Characters
event2008 star_border 6
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Set during the Cold War, the Soviets—led by sword-wielding Irina Spalko—are in search of a crystal skull which has supernatural powers related to a mystical Lost City of Gold. Indy is coerced to head to Peru at the behest of a young man whose friend—and Indy's colleague—Professor Oxley has been captured for his knowledge of the skull's whereabouts.
The Outlaw Josey Wales
Screenplay
event1976 star_border 7.4
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After avenging his family's brutal murder, Wales is pursued by a pack of soldiers. He prefers to travel alone, but ragtag outcasts are drawn to him - and Wales can't bring himself to leave them unprotected.
Quills
Director
event2000 star_border 7.1
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A nobleman with a literary flair, the Marquis de Sade lives in a madhouse where a beautiful laundry maid smuggles his erotic stories to a printer, defying orders from the asylum's resident priest. The titillating passages whip all of France into a sexual frenzy, until a fiercely conservative doctor tries to put an end to the fun.
The White Dawn
Director
event1974 star_border 6.5
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In 1896, three survivors of a whaling ship-wreck in the Canadian Arctic are saved and adopted by an Eskimo tribe but frictions arise when the three start misbehaving.
Rising Sun
Director
event1993 star_border 6.2
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When a prostitute is found dead in a Los Angeles skyscraper occupied by a large Japanese corporation, detectives John Connor and Web Smith are called in to investigate. Although Connor has previous experience working in Japan, cultural differences make their progress difficult until a security disc showing the murder turns up. Close scrutiny proves the disc has been doctored, and the detectives realize they're dealing with a cover-up as well.
The Right Stuff
Screenplay
event1983 star_border 7.4
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As the Space Race ensues, seven pilots set off on a path to become the first American astronauts to enter space. However, the road to making history brings forth momentous challenges.
The Great Northfield Minnesota Raid
Director
event1972 star_border 5.7
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The gangs of Jesse James and Cole Younger join forces to rob the First National Bank in Northfield, Minnesota, but things do not go as planned.
Twisted
Director
event2004 star_border 5.6
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Recently promoted and transferred to the homicide division, Inspector Jessica Shepard feels pressure to prove herself -- and what better way than by solving San Francisco's latest murder? However, as Shepard and her partner, Mike Delmarco, soon discover, the victim shared a romantic connection to her. As more of Shepard's ex-lovers turn up dead, her mind starts to become unstable, and she begins to wonder if she could be the very killer she's trying to track down.
Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny
Characters
event2023 star_border 6.6
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Finding himself in a new era, and approaching retirement, Indy wrestles with fitting into a world that seems to have outgrown him. But as the tentacles of an all-too-familiar evil return in the form of an old rival, Indy must don his hat and pick up his whip once more to make sure an ancient and powerful artifact doesn't fall into the wrong hands.
Henry & June
Director
event1990 star_border 6.1
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While traveling in Paris, author Henry Miller and his wife, June, meet Anais Nin, and sexual sparks fly as Nin starts an affair with the openly bisexual June. When June is forced to return to the U.S., she gives Nin her blessing to sleep with her husband. Then, when June returns to France, an unexpected, and sometimes contentious, threesome forms.
Fearless Frank
Writer
event1969 star_border 4.8
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A country boy arrives in Chicago, gets killed by some gangsters, and returns to life with superhuman powers in this satirical look at movie genres.
Hemingway & Gellhorn
Director
event2012 star_border 6.1
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Writer Ernest Hemingway begins a romance with fellow scribe Martha Gellhorn.
Goldstein
Writer
event1965 star_border 5
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GOLDSTEIN, the feature film debut of talented director Philip Kaufman, is an early example of American independent filmmaking from the early 1960s. A fable about an old man with an odd effect on those he encounters, the film is a funny, warm-hearted postcard from an important moment in American cinema. GOLDSTEIN, starring veteran character actor Lou Gilbert, shared the Prix de la Nouvelle Critique at the 1964 Cannes Film Festival with Bertolucci’s Before the Revolution. Cinema deity Jean Renoir called the film "the best American film I have seen in 20 years."
Raiders of the Lost Ark
Story
event1981 star_border 7.9
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When Dr. Indiana Jones – the tweed-suited professor who just happens to be a celebrated archaeologist – is hired by the government to locate the legendary Ark of the Covenant, he finds himself up against the entire Nazi regime.
Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom
Characters
event1984 star_border 7.3
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After arriving in India, Indiana Jones is asked by a desperate village to find a mystical stone. He agrees – and stumbles upon a secret cult plotting a terrible plan in the catacombs of an ancient palace.
Montana Jones
Original Story (52 ep.)
event1994 star_border 8.3
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The series takes place in the 1930s and is about the adventures of Montana Jones, who goes treasure hunting with his cousin Alfred Jones and the beautiful reporter Melissa Thorn. They visit real locations and cities like the Pyramids of Giza, the Taj Mahal, Istanbul or Easter Island. Frequently they cross paths with Lord Zero - a rich, eccentric art lover and master thief.
The Right Stuff
Screenplay (8 ep.)
event2020 star_border 7.3
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At the height of the Cold War, newly formed NASA selects seven of the military’s best test pilots to become astronauts. Competing to be the first in space, these men achieve the extraordinary, inspiring the world to turn towards a new horizon of ambition and hope.
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