Lucian Pintilie (; 9 November 1933 – 16 May 2018Lucian Pintilie obituary

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

(30 May 2018)) was a

Romania Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central, Eastern, and Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Moldova to the east, and ...

theatre Theatre or theater is a collaborative form of performing art that uses live performers, usually actors or actresses, to present the experience of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place, often a stage. The perform ...

, film, and

opera director Crossbreed is an American industrial metal band from Clearwater, Florida, United States, formed in 1996. They were signed with Artemis Records before being dropped from the label in 2003. The band released two EPs and three full-length albums b ...

, as well as screenwriter. His career in theatre, opera, film and television has gained him international recognition.

Early life

Pintilie was born in 1933 in Tarutina, at the time in

Cetatea Albă County Cetatea Albă County was a county (județ) of Romania between 1925 and 1938 and between 1941 and 1944, in Bessarabia, with the capital city at Cetatea Albă. It had an area of and a population of 340,459 as of the 1930 census. Geography The cou ...

Kingdom of Romania The Kingdom of Romania ( ro, Regatul României) was a constitutional monarchy that existed in Romania from 13 March ( O.S.) / 25 March 1881 with the crowning of prince Karl of Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen as King Carol I (thus beginning the Romanian ...

Theatre

Romania

From 1960 to 1972, Pintilie was resident director at the Bulandra Theatre in

Bucharest Bucharest ( , ; ro, București ) is the capital and largest city of Romania, as well as its cultural, industrial, and financial centre. It is located in the southeast of the country, on the banks of the Dâmbovița River, less than north of ...

, Romania. His productions there included

George Bernard Shaw George Bernard Shaw (26 July 1856 – 2 November 1950), known at his insistence simply as Bernard Shaw, was an Irish playwright, critic, polemicist and political activist. His influence on Western theatre, culture and politics extended from ...

's ''Cesar and Cleopatra'',

Lorraine Hansberry Lorraine Vivian Hansberry (May 19, 1930 – January 12, 1965) was a playwright and writer. She was the first African-American female author to have a play performed on Broadway. Her best-known work, the play ''A Raisin in the Sun'', highli ...

's ''A Place in the Sun'',

William Saroyan William Saroyan (; August 31, 1908 – May 18, 1981) was an Armenian-American novelist, playwright, and short story writer. He was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for Drama in 1940, and in 1943 won the Academy Award for Best Story for the film ''T ...

's ''My Heart's in the Highlands'',

Max Frisch Max Rudolf Frisch (; 15 May 1911 – 4 April 1991) was a Swiss playwright and novelist. Frisch's works focused on problems of identity, individuality, responsibility, morality, and political commitment. The use of irony is a significant featur ...

's ''Biedermann and the Firebugs'', Nikolai Gogol's '' Inspector General'' and Anton Chekhov's '' Cherry Orchard''. He also directed the Romanian classic comedy ''Carnival Scenes'' by

Ion Luca Caragiale Ion Luca Caragiale (; commonly referred to as I. L. Caragiale; According to his birth certificate, published and discussed by Constantin Popescu-Cadem in ''Manuscriptum'', Vol. VIII, Nr. 2, 1977, pp. 179-184 – 9 June 1912) was a Romanian playw ...

, which won the 1967 Prize for the best direction and best production at the National festival of theatre in Romania.

France

From 1973 to 1982, he directed mainly in

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...

at the

Théâtre national de Chaillot The Théâtre National de Chaillot (English: Chaillot National Theatre) is a theatre located in the Palais de Chaillot at 1, place du Trocadéro, in the 16th arrondissement of Paris. Close by the Eiffel Tower and the Trocadéro Gardens—the Th� ...

and the

Théâtre de la Ville (meaning the City Theatre) is one of the two theatres built in the 19th century by Baron Haussmann at Place du Châtelet, Paris, the other being the Théâtre du Châtelet. It is located at 2, place du Châtelet in the 4th arrondissement. Incl ...

where he staged, among other plays, Carlo Gozzi's ''

Turandot ''Turandot'' (; see below) is an opera in three acts by Giacomo Puccini, posthumously completed by Franco Alfano in 1926, and set to a libretto in Italian by Giuseppe Adami and Renato Simoni. ''Turandot'' best-known aria is " Nessun dorma", ...

'', Henrik Ibsen's ''

Wild Duck The wild duck is the non-domesticated ancestor of the domestic duck. Wild duck may refer to: * Mallard The mallard () or wild duck (''Anas platyrhynchos'') is a dabbling duck that breeds throughout the temperate and subtropical Americas, ...

'', and Anton Chekhov's '' Three Sisters'' and '' Seagull''.

US

In the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

, in addition to his work at the Guthrie Theater in

Minneapolis Minneapolis () is the largest city in Minnesota, United States, and the county seat of Hennepin County. The city is abundant in water, with thirteen lakes, wetlands, the Mississippi River, creeks and waterfalls. Minneapolis has its origins ...

, Pintilie staged ''

Tartuffe ''Tartuffe, or The Impostor, or The Hypocrite'' (; french: Tartuffe, ou l'Imposteur, ), first performed in 1664, is a theatrical comedy by Molière. The characters of Tartuffe, Elmire, and Orgon are considered among the greatest classical thea ...

'' and ''The Wild Duck'' at Arena Stage.

Opera

, he also directed several operas including a production of ''

Oresteia The ''Oresteia'' ( grc, Ὀρέστεια) is a trilogy of Greek tragedies written by Aeschylus in the 5th century BCE, concerning the murder of Agamemnon by Clytemnestra, the murder of Clytemnestra by Orestes, the trial of Orestes, the end o ...

'' by Aurel Stroe, based on the

Greek tragedy Greek tragedy is a form of theatre from Ancient Greece and Greek inhabited Anatolia. It reached its most significant form in Athens in the 5th century BC, the works of which are sometimes called Attic tragedy. Greek tragedy is widely believed t ...

, at the Festival in Avignon and Mozart's ''

Magic Flute ''The Magic Flute'' (German: , ), K. 620, is an opera in two acts by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart to a German libretto by Emanuel Schikaneder. The work is in the form of a '' Singspiel'', a popular form during the time it was written that inc ...

'' at the Festival in Aix-en-Provence. He also directed

Bizet Georges Bizet (; 25 October 18383 June 1875) was a French composer of the Romantic era. Best known for his operas in a career cut short by his early death, Bizet achieved few successes before his final work, '' Carmen'', which has become o ...

's '' Carmen'' for the

Welsh National Opera Welsh National Opera (WNO) ( cy, Opera Cenedlaethol Cymru) is an opera company based in Cardiff, Wales; it gave its first performances in 1946. It began as a mainly amateur body and transformed into an all-professional ensemble by 1973. In its ...

Cardiff Cardiff (; cy, Caerdydd ) is the capital and largest city of Wales. It forms a principal area, officially known as the City and County of Cardiff ( cy, Dinas a Sir Caerdydd, links=no), and the city is the eleventh-largest in the United Kingd ...

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the Bristol Channel to the south. It had a population in ...

Films (selection)

His films brought him international reputation. ''Sunday at Six o Clock'' won the Prize of the Jury at the

International film festival A film festival is an organized, extended presentation of films in one or more cinemas or screening venues, usually in a single city or region. Increasingly, film festivals show some films outdoors. Films may be of recent date and, depending upo ...

in Mar del Plata,

Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...

in 1966, and the Grand Prize of the Jury at the International Encounter of Films for Youth at

Cannes Cannes ( , , ; oc, Canas) is a city located on the French Riviera. It is a commune located in the Alpes-Maritimes department, and host city of the annual Cannes Film Festival, Midem, and Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity. T ...

, France, in 1967. In 1968, he directed '' The Reenactment'', considered by film historians to be the most important representation of Romanian cinema. In 1975, he filmed for

Yugoslavia Yugoslavia (; sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=" / ", Jugoslavija, Југославија ; sl, Jugoslavija ; mk, Југославија ;; rup, Iugoslavia; hu, Jugoszlávia; rue, label=Pannonian Rusyn, Югославия, translit=Juhoslavija ...

n television '' Ward Six'', his own adaptation of Chekhov's famous story. It won the Catholic Film Office Prize at the

Cannes film festival The Cannes Festival (; french: link=no, Festival de Cannes), until 2003 called the International Film Festival (') and known in English as the Cannes Film Festival, is an annual film festival held in Cannes, France, which previews new films o ...

Filmography

* '' Sunday at Six o Clock'' (''Duminică la ora şase''; 1965; director) * '' The Reenactment'' (''Reconstituirea''; 1968; screenwriter and director) * '' Ward Six'' (''Paviljon VI''; 1978; director) * ''

Carnival Scenes ''Carnival Scenes'' ( ro, De ce trag clopotele, Mitică?, literally, "Why the bells are ringing, Mitică?") is a 1981 Romanian drama film directed by Lucian Pintilie. It was banned in Romania and was not shown until after the 1989 revolution. ...

'' (''De ce trag clopotele, Mitică?''; 1982; screenwriter and director) - see also the "Portrayals and tributes" section at Mitică * ''

The Oak ''The Oak'' ( ro, Balanța) is a 1992 Romanian drama film co-written and directed by Lucian Pintilie. It was screened out of competition at the 1992 Cannes Film Festival. Cast * Maia Morgenstern as Nela * Răzvan Vasilescu as Mitică * Victor R ...

'' (''Balanţa''; 1992; screenwriter, producer and director) * ''

An Unforgettable Summer ''An Unforgettable Summer'' (french: Un été inoubliable; ro, O vară de neuitat) is a 1994 drama film directed and produced by Lucian Pintilie. A Romanian- French co-production based on a chapter from a novel by Petru Dumitriu, it stars Kristin ...

'' (1994; screenwriter and director) * ''

Too Late Too Late may refer to: Film and theatre *'' Too Late (1914 film)'', American film written by Winifred Dunn * ''Too Late'' (1996 film), a Romanian film * ''Too Late'' (2000 film), a Portuguese film * ''Too Late'' (2015 film), an American film * ' ...

'' (''Prea târziu''; 1996; screenwriter and director) * '' Next Stop Paradise'' (''Terminus Paradis''; 1998; screenwriter and director) * '' The Afternoon of a Torturer'' (2001; screenwriter and director) * ''

Niki and Flo Niki and Flo ( ro, Niki Ardelean, colonel în rezerva ) is a 2003 Romanian drama film directed by Lucian Pintilie. Cast * Victor Rebengiuc - Niki Ardelean * Răzvan Vasilescu - Florian (Flo) Tufaru * Coca Bloos - Poucha Ardelean * Mihaela Car ...

'' (2003; director) * ''Tertium non datur'' (2006; screenwriter and director). For title meaning see

Law of excluded middle In logic, the law of excluded middle (or the principle of excluded middle) states that for every proposition, either this proposition or its negation is true. It is one of the so-called three laws of thought, along with the law of noncontradi ...

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Pintilie, Lucian 1933 births 2018 deaths People from Odesa Oblast Romanian film directors Romanian screenwriters Romanian theatre directors Grand Officers of the Order of the Star of Romania