Peter Weir - Filmmaking in The United States

Filmmaking in The United States

Weir's first American film was the successful thriller Witness (1985), the first of two films he made with Harrison Ford, about a boy who sees the murder of an undercover police officer and has to be hidden away in his Amish community to protect him. Child star Lukas Haas received wide praise for his debut film performance; Witness also earned Weir his first Oscar nomination as Best Director, and was his first of several films to be nominated for an Academy Award for Best Picture.

It was followed by the darker, less commercial The Mosquito Coast (1986), Paul Schrader's adaptation of Paul Theroux's novel, with Ford playing a man obsessively pursuing his dream to start a new life in the Central American jungle with his family. These dramatic parts provided Harrison Ford with important opportunities to break the typecasting of his career-making roles in the Star Wars and Indiana Jones series. Both films showed off his ability to play more subtle and substantial characters and he was nominated for a Best Actor Oscar for his work in Witness, the only Academy Awards recognition in his career. The Mosquito Coast is also notable for an impressive performance by the young River Phoenix.

Weir's next film, Dead Poets Society (1989) was a major international success, with Weir again receiving credit for expanding the acting range of its Hollywood star. Robin Williams was mainly known for his anarchic standup comedy and his popular TV role as the wisecracking alien in Mork & Mindy; in this film he played an inspirational teacher in a dramatic story about conformity and rebellion at an exclusive New England prep school in the 1950s. The film was nominated for four Oscars, including Best Picture and Best Director for Weir, and launched the acting careers of young actors Ethan Hawke and Robert Sean Leonard. It became a major box-office hit and is without doubt one of Weir's best-known films for mainstream audiences.

Weir's first romantic comedy Green Card (1990) was another casting risk. Weir chose French screen icon Gérard Depardieu in the lead—Depardieu's first English-language role—and paired him with American actress Andie MacDowell. Green Card was a box-office hit but was regarded as less of a critical success, although it helped Depardieu's path to international fame, and Weir received an Oscar nomination for his original screenplay.

Fearless (1993) returned to darker themes and starred Jeff Bridges as a man who believes he has become invincible after surviving a catastrophic air crash. Though well reviewed, particularly the performances of Bridges and Rosie Perez — who received an Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actress — the film was less commercially successful than Weir's two preceding films. It was entered into the 44th Berlin International Film Festival.

After five years, Weir returned to direct his biggest success to date, The Truman Show (1998), a fantasy-satire of the media's control of life. The Truman Show was both a box office and a critical success, receiving positive reviews and numerous awards, including three Academy Award nominations: Andrew Niccol for Best Original Screenplay, Ed Harris for Best Supporting Actor, and Weir himself for Best Director.

In 2003 Weir returned to period drama with Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World, starring Russell Crowe. A screen adaptation from various episodes in Patrick O'Brian's blockbuster adventure series set during the Napoleonic Wars, it was well received by critics, but only mildly successful with mainstream audiences. Despite another nomination for Best Picture and winning two Oscars - for frequent collaborator Russell Boyd's cinematography and for sound effects editing - the film's box office success was moderate ($93 million at the North American Box Office). The film grossed slightly better overseas, gleaning an additional $114 million.