John Mackenzie (film director)
| John Mackenzie | |
|---|---|
| Born |
John Leonard Duncan MacKenzie 22 May 1928 Edinburgh, Scotland, UK |
| Died | 8 June 2011 (aged 83) Scotland, UK |
| Nationality | Scottish |
| Alma mater | University of Edinburgh |
| Occupation | Film director |
| Years active | 1966–2009 |
John Mackenzie (22 May 1928 – 8 June 2011), was a Scottish film director who worked in British film from the late 1960s, first as an assistant director and later as an independent director himself.
Mackenzie was born in Edinburgh, where he attended Holy Cross Academy, Edinburgh. He studied History at Edinburgh University. He studied drama and joined Edinburgh's Gateway Theatre Company. He worked as a teacher and moved to London in 1960.
Mackenzie came at a relatively young age into the formative world of British cinema in the 1960s, with a ready interest in storytelling and narrative devices. He began his career with Ken Loach, acting as the latter's assistant director on such works as Up the Junction (1965) and Cathy Come Home (1966). This training allowed Mackenzie to begin a move into directing himself, as well as teaching him the skills of working on location with non-professional, local actors to a tight budget and schedule.
Initially, Mackenzie worked on television plays, following his apprenticeship with Loach. During this period he directed episodes of The Jazz Age and ITV Saturday Night Theatre. His first film was the television drama There Is Also Tomorrow (1969), followed by two feature films One Brief Summer (1970) and Unman, Wittering and Zigo, an adaptation of Giles Cooper's radio play (1971). Mackenzie still largely worked for television, aside from the independent production Made (1972), until in 1979 he directed the highly acclaimed A Sense of Freedom, a BAFTA-nominated film (released on television in the US in 1985). Freedom was surpassed, however, by Mackenzie's next film, the gangster piece The Long Good Friday, generally accepted as his masterpiece.
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