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Peter Weir is a Actor, Director, Scriptwriter, Producer and Art Direction Australien born on 21 august 1944 at Sydney (Australie)

Peter Weir

Peter Weir
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Birth name Peter Lindsay Weir
Nationality Australie
Birth 21 august 1944 (80 years) at Sydney (Australie)

Peter Lindsay Weir, AM (born 21 August 1944) is an Australian film director. After playing a leading role in the Australian New Wave cinema with his films such as Picnic at Hanging Rock, The Last Wave and Gallipoli, Weir directed a diverse group of American and international films—many of them major box office hits—including the Academy Award nominees Witness, Dead Poets Society, Green Card, The Truman Show and Master and Commander.

Biography

Après un bref passage à l'Université de Sydney et un premier voyage à Londres qui lui permet de rencontrer sa future femme, Peter Weir exerce différents petits métiers pour la télévision. À partir de 1967, il travaille pour la chaîne ATN-7 de Sydney où il réalise ses deux premiers courts-métrages Count Vim's Last Exercise et The Life and Flight of Reverend Buckshotte.

En 1971, il reçoit le Grand Prix de l'Australian Film Institute pour le moyen-métrage humoristique Homesdale. Pendant toute cette période il tourne aussi plusieurs documentaires pour le Commonwealth Film Unit.

Son premier long métrage, en 1974, Les Voitures qui ont mangé Paris, est un mélange de film d'horreur, de thriller et de fantastique. Son deuxième film Pique-nique à Hanging Rock sera un énorme succès en Australie. C'est un film quasi-onirique sur la mystérieuse disparition d'un groupe de jeunes filles en 1900 à Hanging Rock. On retrouve un peu la même atmosphère dans son film suivant La Dernière Vague qui traite des interactions entre les cultures aborigène et européenne sur fond d'enquête sur un meurtre.

Gallipoli (1981) est un film de guerre plus direct et spectaculaire sur une bataille de la Première Guerre mondiale. Mel Gibson y tient l'un des deux rôles principaux. On retrouve Mel Gibson accompagné de Sigourney Weaver dans L'Année de tous les dangers en 1982. Peter Weir y aborde le thème de la découverte initiatique d'un monde étranger, qui revient dans plusieurs de ses œuvres (ici l'Indonésie à la veille d'un coup d'État en 1965).

À la suite du succès international rencontré par ses derniers films, Peter Weir part poursuivre sa carrière aux États-Unis avec Witness en 1985 et Mosquito Coast l'année suivante, deux films avec Harrison Ford dans des rôles inhabituels pour lui. Witness - sur la communauté Amish - sera récompensé par le César du meilleur film étranger et huit citations aux Oscars américains.

Le Cercle des poètes disparus avec Robin Williams sera un important succès populaire en 1989 et Green Card (1990) avec Gérard Depardieu et Andie MacDowell lui permet d'aborder la comédie romantique. Son film suivant État second (Fearless) en 1993 où un survivant à un accident d'avion (Jeff Bridges) réévalue sa vie, sera une déception au box-office.

Le succès populaire et critique reviendra avec The Truman Show (1998) où Jim Carrey est, en vérité, prisonnier d'un programme de téléréalité.

En 2003, il a réalisé Master and Commander : De l'autre côté du monde, une épopée navale avec Russell Crowe, qui est acclamé par la critique.

Après une longue absence, il revient à la réalisation avec Les Chemins de la liberté, l'adaptation d'un roman autobiographique de Sławomir Rawicz. Le film revient sur l'emprisonnement de soldats au Goulag en Sibérie durant la Seconde Guerre mondiale.

Le 13 décembre 2010, Frédéric Mitterrand lui remet les insignes d'officier dans l'ordre des Arts et des Lettres.

En 2013, il est le président du jury du 32e Festival international du film d'Istanbul.

Il a été sélectionné six fois aux Oscars.

Best films

The Truman Show (1998)
(Director)
Dead Poets Society (1989)
(Director)
Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World (2003)
(Director)
Witness (1985)
(Director)
The Way Back (2010)
(Director)
The Year of Living Dangerously (1982)
(Director)

Usually with

Russell Boyd
Russell Boyd
(6 films)
Lee Smith
Lee Smith
(4 films)
Maurice Jarre
Maurice Jarre
(5 films)
Source : Wikidata

Filmography of Peter Weir (17 films)

Display filmography as list

Actor

Homesdale
Homesdale (1971)
, 50minutes
Directed by Peter Weir
Origin Australie
Genres Drama, Comedy, Comedy-drama
Actors Kate Fitzpatrick, Peter Weir, Phillip Noyce
Roles Robert 2
Rating55% 2.763092.763092.763092.763092.76309
Several people gather at the Homesdale Hunting Lodge including butcher/rock singer Mr Kevin, war veteran Mr Vaughan, an octogenarian Mr Levy. All are tormented by Homesdale's staff and forced to participate in a series of games about death and murder in which the true character of the guests starts to emerge.

Director

The Way Back, 2h14
Directed by Peter Weir
Origin USA
Genres Drama, War, Adventure, Historical
Themes Politique, Prison films, Transport films, Films about automobiles, Political films, Évasion, Road movies
Actors Jim Sturgess, Colin Farrell, Ed Harris, Saoirse Ronan, Mark Strong, Dragoş Bucur
Rating72% 3.648053.648053.648053.648053.64805
During World War II, after the Soviet invasion of Poland, young Polish military officer Janusz Wieszczek (Jim Sturgess) is held as a POW and interrogated by the NKVD. The Soviets, unable to get him to say he is a spy, take into custody his wife from whom they extort a statement condemning him. He is sentenced to 20 years in a Gulag labour camp deep in Siberia.
Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World, 2h18
Directed by Peter Weir
Origin USA
Genres Drama, War, Action, Adventure, Historical
Themes Films about anarchism, Seafaring films, Transport films, Political films, Children's films, Histoire de France, Napoleonic Wars films, French Revolution films
Actors Russell Crowe, Paul Bettany, Billy Boyd, James D'Arcy, Edward Woodall, Max Pirkis
Rating74% 3.7477453.7477453.7477453.7477453.747745
The film takes place in May of 1805, during the Napoleonic Wars. Captain "Lucky Jack" Aubrey of HMS Surprise is ordered to pursue the French privateer Acheron, and "Sink, Burn, or take her as a Prize." As the film opens, the British warship is ambushed by Acheron; Surprise is heavily damaged, while its own cannon fire does not penetrate the enemy ship's hull. Using smaller boats, the crew of Surprise tow the ship into a fog bank and evade pursuit. Aubrey learns from a crewman who saw Acheron being built that it is heavier and faster than Surprise, and the senior officers consider the ship out of their class. Aubrey notes that such a ship could tip the balance of power in Napoleon's favour if allowed to plunder the British whaling fleet at will. He orders pursuit of Acheron, rather than returning to port for repairs. Acheron again ambushes Surprise, but Aubrey slips away in the night by using a clever decoy buoy and ships lamps.
The Truman Show, 1h43
Directed by Peter Weir, David Cronenberg
Origin USA
Genres Drama, Science fiction, Social science fiction, Comedy, Comedy-drama, Comic science fiction
Themes Films about families, Films about television, Comedy science fiction films, La téléréalité, Dystopian films
Actors Jim Carrey, Laura Linney, Ed Harris, Noah Emmerich, Natascha McElhone, Holland Taylor
Rating81% 4.0722254.0722254.0722254.0722254.072225
Truman Burbank is the unsuspecting star of The Truman Show, a reality television program in which his entire life, since before birth, is filmed by thousands of hidden cameras, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, and is broadcast live around the world. The show's creator and executive producer Christof is able to capture Truman's real emotion and human behavior when put in certain situations. Truman's coastal hometown of Seahaven is a giant set built under a giant arcological dome in the Los Angeles area. Truman's family and friends are all played by actors, allowing Christof to control every aspect of Truman's life.
Fearless
Fearless (1993)
, 2h2
Directed by Peter Weir
Origin USA
Genres Drama, Action
Themes Transport films, Aviation films, Disaster films, Films about aviation accidents or incidents
Actors Jeff Bridges, Isabella Rossellini, Rosie Perez, Tom Hulce, John Turturro, Benicio del Toro
Rating70% 3.548433.548433.548433.548433.54843
While taking a business trip, architect Max Klein (Jeff Bridges) survives a crash of a flight headed from San Francisco to Houston. As the plane descends, Max inexplicably becomes at peace when he accepts he is going to die. The revelation inspires him to comfort many of the fearful passengers, even moving to sit next to Byron Hummel (Daniel Cerny), a young boy flying alone. The psychological trauma of the experience transforms his personality and he enters an altered state of consciousness, rethinking his life and becoming preoccupied with the eternal meanings and the existential questions of life and death itself. Max's reaction to this awakening itself questions the reality of what is real and unreal and what his mind perceives as real through his interaction with others and the chance of living again in everyday life.
Green Card
Green Card (1991)
, 1h47
Directed by Peter Weir
Origin Australie
Genres Drama, Comedy, Romantic comedy, Romance
Themes Films about immigration, Musical films
Actors Gérard Depardieu, Andie MacDowell, Bebe Neuwirth, Gregg Edelman, Robert Prosky, Ethan Philips
Rating62% 3.1481753.1481753.1481753.1481753.148175
Brontë Parrish (MacDowell), a horticulturalist and an environmentalist, enters into a sham marriage with Georges Fauré (Depardieu), an illegal alien from France, so he may obtain a green card. In turn, Brontë uses her fake marriage credentials to rent the apartment of her dreams. After moving in, to explain her spouse's absence, she tells the doorman and neighbors he is conducting musical research in Africa.
Dead Poets Society, 2h8
Directed by Peter Weir
Origin USA
Genres Drama
Themes Films about education
Actors Robin Williams, Ethan Hawke, Robert Sean Leonard, Josh Charles, Gale Hansen, Norman Lloyd
Rating81% 4.0520154.0520154.0520154.0520154.052015
In 1959, shy Todd Anderson (Ethan Hawke) begins his senior year of high school at Welton Academy, an elite prep boarding school. He is assigned one of Welton's most promising students, Neil Perry (Robert Sean Leonard), as his roommate and is quickly accepted by Neil's friends: romantic Knox Overstreet (Josh Charles), overachiever Richard Cameron (Dylan Kussman), best friends Steven Meeks (Allelon Ruggiero) and Gerard Pitts (James Waterston), and mischievous beatnik Charlie Dalton (Gale Hansen).
The Mosquito Coast, 1h57
Directed by Peter Weir
Origin USA
Genres Drama, Action, Adventure
Actors Harrison Ford, Helen Mirren, River Phoenix, Martha Plimpton, Andre Gregory, Conrad Roberts
Rating65% 3.2981453.2981453.2981453.2981453.298145
The film opens with Charlie Fox (River Phoenix) explaining that his father, Allie Fox (Harrison Ford), is a brilliant inventor with "nine patents, six pending." Allie has grown fed up with the American Dream and American consumerism, believing that Americans "buy junk, sell junk and eat junk," and that there is an impending nuclear war on the horizon as a result of American greed and crime.
Witness
Witness (1985)
, 1h52
Directed by Peter Weir
Origin USA
Genres Drama, Thriller, Crime, Romance
Themes Films about religion, Transport films, Rail transport films
Actors Harrison Ford, Kelly McGillis, Lukas Haas, Danny Glover, Jan Rubes, Alexandre Godounov
Rating73% 3.6976153.6976153.6976153.6976153.697615
Rachel Lapp (McGillis), a young Amish widow, and her 8-year-old son Samuel (Haas) are traveling by train to visit Rachel's sister. Samuel is amazed by the sights in the big city, but at 30th Street Station in Philadelphia, he witnesses two men attack and murder a third. Detective John Book (Ford) is assigned to the case and he and his partner, Sergeant Elton Carter (Jennings), question Samuel. Samuel is unable to identify the perpetrator from mug shots or a police lineup, but notices a newspaper clipping with a picture of narcotics officer James McFee (Glover) and recognizes him as one of the killers. John remembers that McFee was previously responsible for a drug raid on expensive chemicals used to make amphetamines, but the evidence had mysteriously disappeared.
The Year of Living Dangerously, 1h55
Directed by Peter Weir
Origin Australie
Genres Drama, War, Historical, Romance
Themes Films about writers, Films about journalists
Actors Mel Gibson, Sigourney Weaver, Linda Hunt, Michael Murphy, Bill Kerr, Bembol Roco
Rating70% 3.5469553.5469553.5469553.5469553.546955
Guy Hamilton, a neophyte foreign correspondent for an Australian network, arrives in Jakarta on assignment. He meets the close-knit members of the foreign correspondent community including journalists from the UK, the US and New Zealand, diplomatic personnel, and a Chinese-Australian dwarf of high intelligence and moral seriousness, Billy Kwan. Hamilton is initially unsuccessful because his predecessor, tired of life in Indonesia, had departed without introducing Hamilton to his contacts. He receives limited sympathy from the journalist community, which competes for scraps of information from Sukarno's government, the Communist Party of Indonesia (PKI), and the conservative Muslim military. However, Kwan takes a liking to Hamilton and arranges interviews for him with key political figures.
Gallipoli
Gallipoli (1981)
, 1h50
Directed by Peter Weir
Origin Australie
Genres Drama, War, Adventure, Historical
Themes Films set in Africa, Seafaring films, Sports films, Transport films, Athletics films, Political films
Actors Mel Gibson, Bill Kerr, Gerda Nicolson, Mark Lee, David Argue, Robert Grubb
Rating73% 3.698093.698093.698093.698093.69809
Western Australia, May 1915. Archie Hamilton (Mark Lee), an 18-year-old stockman and prize-winning sprinter, longs to enlist in the Australian Imperial Force. He is trained by his uncle Jack (Bill Kerr) and idolises Harry Lascelles, the world champion over 100 yards. Archie wins a race with a bullying farmhand, Les McCann (Harold Hopkins), Archie running bare-foot and Les riding his horse bareback.
The Plumber, 1h16
Directed by Peter Weir
Origin Australie
Genres Drama, Thriller, Comedy, Horror
Themes Seafaring films, Transport films
Actors Judy Morris, Ivar Kants, Robert Coleby, Candida (Candy) Raymond
Rating64% 3.246963.246963.246963.246963.24696
The film opens as Dr. Brian Cowper (Robert Coleby) takes a shower in the apartment he shares with his wife Jill (Judy Morris), who is a masters student in anthropology. As he exits the building's elevator on his way to work, an ominous character is seen entering and randomly choosing the button for the ninth floor. He knocks on the Cowper's door and announces himself as Max (Ivar Kants), the building's plumber. Jill insists that they did not call for a plumber, and Max assures her that he is simply doing a mandatory check of the building's pipes.
The Last Wave, 1h46
Directed by Peter Weir
Origin Australie
Genres Drama, Thriller, Fantastic, Fantasy, Horror
Themes Seafaring films, Transport films
Actors Richard Chamberlain, Olivia Hamnett, David Gulpilil, Vivean Gray, Wallas Eaton, Greg Rowe
Rating68% 3.4480353.4480353.4480353.4480353.448035
The film opens with a montage of scenes of daily life in Australia in the 1970s: a rural school in the desert, the main street of an outback town, a traffic jam in the city, all being affected by unusually adverse weather conditions that suddenly appear. Only the local Aboriginal people seem to recognize the cosmological significance of these weather phenomena.
Picnic at Hanging Rock, 1h55
Directed by Peter Weir
Origin Australie
Genres Drama, Thriller, Horror, Historical
Themes Seafaring films, Films about suicide, Transport films
Actors Anne-Louise Lambert, Rachel Roberts, Vivean Gray, Helen Morse, Kirsty Child, John Jarratt
Rating73% 3.697913.697913.697913.697913.69791
At Appleyard College, a girls' private school, near the town of Woodend, Victoria, Australia, the students are dressing on the morning of St. Valentine's Day, 1900. Miranda (Anne-Louise Lambert), Irma (Karen Robson), Marion (Jane Vallis), Rosamund (Ingrid Mason), waifish Sara (Margaret Nelson), and outsider Edith (Christine Schuler) read poetry and Valentine's Day cards.
The Cars That Ate Paris, 1h31
Directed by Peter Weir
Origin Australie
Genres Science fiction, Thriller, Fantastic, Comedy, Comedy-drama, Horror comedy, Action, Horror
Themes Seafaring films, Transport films, Films about automobiles, Road movies, Comedy horror films, Chase films
Actors John Meillon, Terry Camilleri, Chris Haywood, Bruce Spence, Danny Adcock, Edward "Teddy" Howell
Rating56% 2.8001452.8001452.8001452.8001452.800145
The film begins with an urban couple driving through the countryside in what looks like a cinema advertisement. The scene comes to a halt with a fatal accident. The rural Australian town of Paris arranges fatal accidents to visitors driving through. Townspeople collect items from the luggage of the deceased passengers whilst survivors are taken to the local hospital where they are given lobotomies with power tools and kept as "veggies" for medical experiments by the earnest town surgeon. The young men of the town salvage and modify the wrecked vehicles into a variety of strange-looking cars designed for destruction.