The filmmaker Ridley Scott called “one of the great unsung directors in American cinema history”
Few people, lest they have seriously dodgy consideration, would argue against Ridley Scott being one of the most significant movie directors of all time. Sure, on occasion, the South Shields-born filmmaker hasn’t hit his own personal artistic heights, but when he has, then he’s often delivered a genuine masterpiece of cinema.
After making his directorial debut in 1977 with the historical drama The Duellists, Scott delivered one of the most important science fiction films ever made in the shape of Alien. Combining the concepts of sci-fi with an unbridled air of claustrophobic horror, Scott birthed an entire franchise and created a legacy as a master movie maker.
Of course, it’s hard to ignore Scott’s other science fiction contributions, like the inimitable Blade Runner and his commendable The Martian. From there, Scott continued to establish his credentials as a leading figure in the historical action drama genre with works like Gladiator, Kingdom of Heaven, and Robin Hood.
Like any director worth their salt, though, Scott has a deep admiration for the great filmmakers who came before him, not only of the big names but also of the kind of directors who perhaps didn’t get as much credit as they deserved. Discussing Sidney Lumet in an interview with Pop Entertainment, Scott once noted, “I think he’s one of the great unsung directors in American cinema history. Remarkable, and not ever acknowledged enough in my opinion.”
“He’s incredible,” Scott added. “I always admired everything he did.” While Scott might think Lumet was underappreciated, the fact remains that he was nominated for five Academy Awards, including four times for ‘Best Director’ for his efforts on 12 Angry Men, Dog Day Afternoon, Network and The Verdict.
Lumet had begun his career in the theatre before moving to cinematic ventures, and he often made gritty and realistic films set in New York City that showed the hardships of the working class or challenged authority and social institutions. Amongst the Philadelphia-born directors other notable works are the likes of Prince of the City, Serpico, Murder on the Orient Express and Before the Devil Knows You’re Dead.
Discussing the way Lumet would go about finding the perfect places to make his movies, Scott explained, “He would plan location hunts, walk around a few months prior, say, ‘Right. The chair’s going to be there, [the] mic’s going to be there. Going to walk in there. Next!’ It’d already been in his head. Two months later, he’s got the chairs there, lights there.”
Also impressed to Scott was the “special” way that Lumet handled his actors, which is something that he personally learned from. “Be sure that you know what you’re going to do, because I have done that with actors,” Scott pointed out. I have enough actors, and they say, ‘Let’s show you what we’re going to do,’ so I go, ‘Okay, action’.”
In instances like that, though, Scott said that the scene usually ends up with two people standing at either end of the room talking to each other, which comes out as “fucking boring”. What Scott prefers to do, and what he learned from Lumet, is to “leave the performances to them”. The director signed off his thoughts on Lumet’s lessons, “Movement if it’s required. No movement if it’s not required. That only comes from experience.”
