Directors and Their Leading Men

         It is quite common for directors to work with a consistent set of actors over the course of their careers. Looking over a director’s filmography one will often find evidence of these collaborations, and, indeed, using the same acting talent over and over again is one of the signs of an auteur. The actors and actresses often build a relationship with a director; they draw inspiration from one another, and push the other’s limits. There are a few directors who narrow this number, and end up working with one specific actor or actress over and over again, until they begin to be permanently identified with one another in the public consciousness. Think Werner Herzog and Klaus Kinski or, if you prefer, Tim Burton and Johnny Depp. These relationships have highs and lows, just as any other relationship, but the more films you watch by these collaborators the richer the experience becomes.

            Take for example the relationship between Martin Scorsese and Robert De Niro, a pair so closely linked that they have their own joint Wikipedia page. The films that define both of their careers were made in this partnership – such as Taxi Driver, Raging Bull, GoodFellas, and Casino. Their first collaboration was the 1973 film Mean Streets, where De Niro played Johnny, the first of many oddly charming anti-heroes Scorsese developed. Together, the two would explore the dark corners of the post 1960s masculine psyche – De Niro became a thug, an ex marine, a boxer, a stalker, a gangster and more for Scorsese. Their desperation often fueled their success, and they brought their troubles into the studios with them, using personal failures as inspiration. When Scorsese overdosed on cocaine and sought to find redemption in the making of Raging Bull, De Niro put body and soul into making the film, and was given an Oscar for his acting. As a pair, they made nine films together, but have not made a film together since 1996. There was no falling out, rather, it seems they achieved everything they were aiming for and both decided to move on separately, with De Niro choosing to find easier projects and run the Tribeca film festival, and Scorsese opting for the younger DiCaprio to fill in for De Niro.

          Another example follows up on my article – the relationship between Akira Kurosawa and Toshiro Mifune. It is fair to say that both of their best work can be found in their collaborations – films like Seven Samurai, Throne of Blood, Rashomon, Yojimbo. In 1948 Kurosawa, 38, and Mifune, 28, made their first film together, Drunken Angel. The film, about an alcoholic doctor, launched both of them to the top of the Japanese cinematic world. Over the next seventeen years, the pair would make sixteen films together, both of them winning many awards both in and outside of Japan. In 1965, Kurosawa made Red Beard, with Mifune in the title role. Mifune was contractually obligated to keep his beard through the long production, and lost the opportunity to pick up other jobs. When Mifune finally could shave, he picked up some work in some more mainstream projects, and Kurosawa disowned him for appearing in inferior work. He then went on to publically belittle Mifune’s subsequent career. The two never worked together again, and only finally reconciled decades later, at a funeral in the 1990s. Kurosawa’s next film, after Red Beard, was supposed to be the Japanese half of the Pearl Harbor epic Tora! Tora! Tora!, but he was quickly fired. For the rest of his career, he was dependent on foreign funds. With the exception of a few of his later films, Kurosawa would never reach the levels of success that he had with Mifune.

          John Ford had John Wayne, Ingmar Bergman had Max von Sydow, and Sam Raimi has Bruce Campbell. It’s not just male bonding thing either – Woody Allen made a film starring Mia Farrow every year for a decade, Bergman also made nine films with Liv Ullmann, and Frank Capra put Barbara Stanwyck in several of his earliest films. I have suggested that in these relationships the teams draw inspiration from each other, but I don’t think that is the whole picture. The world of professional film making can be tough – you have to be able to make friends on sets quickly and be prepared to say goodbye even faster. People that you might really connect with will be people you will never see again. Entire relationships will take place at airport cafes between flights to sets or to do publicity. Sometimes, when you have a connection that works, you need to be able to hold onto that, and it becomes more than just a professional relationship.