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1[[quoteright:310:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/sir_david_lean.jpg]]
2[[caption-width-right:310:''"I've just begun to dare to think I perhaps am a bit of an artist."'']]
3
4-> ''"Who are you?"''
5-->-- an uncredited '''David Lean''' addressing T. E. Lawrence in ''Film/LawrenceOfArabia''
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7[[UsefulNotes/KnightFever Sir]] David Lean [[UsefulNotes/KnightFever CBE]] (25 March 1908 – 16 April 1991) is widely acknowledged as one of the greatest British filmmakers of the 20th century. He is especially associated with the EpicMovie, and for good reason.
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9Lean employed location shooting, large-scale use of extras, and visual extravagance common to the Hollywood genre but raised them to a new level of sophistication thanks to the deeper storytelling (resulting from Lean's collaboration with excellent screenwriters like Creator/RobertBolt), richer characterization, and the use of landscape as part of the story and character (best shown through a WidescreenShot). A Lean epic is commonly associated with SceneryPorn, gorgeous landscape shots, incredible action set-pieces, technical brilliance, and amazing performances.
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11Lean was born to a Quaker family in Surrey and from very early in his career, he made films with a Brownie camera. He was TheMovieBuff as a young man who adored the films of Creator/KingVidor, Creator/WilliamWyler, and Creator/JohnFord. He eventually worked in British film studios and found his calling as an editor, including the famous George Bernard Shaw adaptions of ''Theatre/{{Pygmalion}}'' (1937) and ''Theatre/MajorBarbara'' (1941) as well as films with Creator/MichaelPowell and Emeric Pressburger. He edited ''Film/FortyNinthParallel'' and ''Film/OneOfOurAircraftIsMissing'' and Powell would consider Lean the best editor he worked with.
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13Lean made his directorial debut with Creator/NoelCoward's ''Film/InWhichWeServe'' and found his BreakthroughHit with his Coward adaptation ''Film/BriefEncounter'', regarded as the quintessential British WartimeRomance and an instant classic. He later found fame with adaptations of Creator/CharlesDickens' ''Literature/GreatExpectations'' and ''Literature/OliverTwist'', his first films with favorite actor Creator/AlecGuinness.
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15Lean's career stalled temporarily in the '50s. He made several largely forgotten vehicles starring his wife, actress Ann Todd, along with a well-received but unsuccessful adaptation of ''Hobson's Choice'' staring Creator/CharlesLaughton. His comeback came with ''Film/{{Summertime}}'' starring Creator/KatharineHepburn, a transitional film between his small-scale melodramas and later epics (it was filmed on location in Venice).
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17His first EpicMovie was ''Film/TheBridgeOnTheRiverKwai'', which earned him an UsefulNotes/AcademyAward for Best Director; he won a second time for ''Film/LawrenceOfArabia''. Both films were produced by Sam Spiegel and featured several of the same actors, including the ubiquitous Alec Guinness. They were box office hits and received generally positive reviews, becoming recognized as the high points of their genre.
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19His production pace slowed to a halt after that and critics generally found that his later films lacked the spirit of these films. This was also a time where the EpicMovie went out of fashion. ''Film/DoctorZhivago'' was a huge box-office success but critics generally despised it. The scathing reviews accorded to ''Film/RyansDaughter'' reportedly discouraged Lean from making films for over a decade, though in reality, he spent the '70s working on several failed projects, notably a remake of ''Film/MutinyOnTheBounty'' (which eventually mutated into ''Film/TheBounty'', a much smaller-scale project helmed by a different director).
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21In 1984, Lean's reputation was revived by ''Literature/APassageToIndia'', which received universal critical acclaim and respectable box office. The 1989 restoration and re-release of ''Lawrence of Arabia'' also enhanced his stature. In the final years of his life, he had planned a comeback with an adaptation of Creator/JosephConrad's ''Literature/{{Nostromo}}''; it took him several years to get the funding, cast, and crew in place, [[DiedDuringProduction and then he died a few weeks before production was to begin]].
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23Lean is regarded as one of the greatest film-makers of all time and counts the likes of Creator/MartinScorsese, Creator/StevenSpielberg, Creator/StanleyKubrick, Creator/SpikeLee, and others among his fans.
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25----
26!! Selected Filmography
27[[index]]
28* ''Film/InWhichWeServe'' (1942; co-directed with Creator/NoelCoward)
29* ''Film/ThisHappyBreed'' (1944) - his first solo directorial debut
30* ''Theatre/BlitheSpirit'' (1945)
31* ''Film/BriefEncounter'' (1945)
32* ''Film/{{Great Expectations|1946}}'' (1946)
33* ''Literature/OliverTwist'' (1948)
34* ''Film/ThePassionateFriends'' (1949)
35* ''Film/{{Summertime}}'' (1955)
36* ''Film/TheBridgeOnTheRiverKwai'' (1957)
37* ''Film/LawrenceOfArabia'' (1962)
38* ''Film/TheGreatestStoryEverTold'' (1963) - directed several scenes uncredited
39* ''Film/DoctorZhivago'' (1965)
40* ''Film/RyansDaughter'' (1970)
41* ''Film/APassageToIndia'' (1984)
42[[/index]]

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