Sad news: Hugh Hudson died. RIP.
In terms of his cinematic legacy, it’s about how England and counterpart land/seascapes were shot.
An ability to fuse textures/colours/lighting/sound and editing styles. Thereby concocting an image of our historical heritage integrated to modern revisionism. At once remote and distant yet urgent and accessible. A kind of cinematic oxymoron, via genius juxtaposition.
No shying away from the grey and the dreary dropping of rain. Never evading the issues of division over class, race and the like. Yet somehow, from those ingredients: Crafting stories of human endeavour and triumph against the odds. Transcending rather than focusing on the things which divide or hold back.
- CHARIOTS OF FIRE is of course the greatest hit? Oscar winning stuff. Rousing. Atmospheric. Beautiful.
- REVOLUTION is a better version of THE PATRIOT (treating the war of independence for America at a personal level).
- GREYSTOKE: THE LEGEND OF TARZAN, LORD OF THE APES serves as a precursor to the Christopher Nolan school of deconstructing a myth for its reinvention. Indeed, Nolan cited Hudson’s work as a key influence and one can see that strand of cinematic DNA from BATMAN BEGINS through TENET and perhaps, in the forthcoming OPPENHEIMER?
- I DREAMED OF AFRICA = a beautiful picture of adventure, discovery and cultural education. Atmospheric sweep. Adventurous aesthetic. Oh and Kim Basinger and a young Daniel Craig giving some serious star power alongside the stunning scenery.
REST IN PEACE. THE WORK WILL LIVE, FOREVER.
