Who is he?
American filmmaker, producer, screenwriter, theatre director and author who directed around 20 feature films between the mid-forties and the mid-seventies. Kazan was born in Turkey and his parents moved to the U.S. when he was a child. His identity as an immigrant marks almost the entirety of his filmography. He won the Academy Award for Best Direction twice for Gentleman's Agreement (1947) and On The Waterfront (1954).
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The question of immigration, the apprehensions of parenthood, the deep-rootedness of violence in the American psyche, racial privilege and the fickleness of gender identities are some of the themes that Kazan’s films deal with. In many of these films, the process of raising children is a way of coming to terms with one’s own shortcomings. Frequently set in the conservative mid-west and southern regions of America, these narratives examine the manner in which power is structured and the violence that erupts when such a social edifice is undermined. Masculinity is emptied of its myths and familial equations are scrutinised.
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Indoor shots with large depth of field, multiple sub-frames within the frame, dramatic camera angles, deep-focus compositions, understated and at times ironic use of music, tightly-framed two shots, diagonally-oriented back lighting and naturalistic acting that sometimes drew on the actors’ own personalities are some of the stylistic features of Kazan’s films. The use of silence, both in the sound design and in the dialogue, became more and more assured as his career progressed as did the use of colour.
Why is he of interest?
During the McCarthyist witch-hunt in Hollywood during the fifties, Kazan helped the House of Un-American Activities Committee by naming a few of his peers who were communists. Though this event has tainted his reputation till date, there should be little doubt about his credentials as a sensitive, intelligent and remarkably talented filmmaker, as his influence on the cinema of Martin Scorsese triumphantly attests.
Where to discover him?
Adapted from Kazan’s own book, America America (1963) is among the most personal films ever made. Tracing the quasi-Biblical journey of Kazan’s uncle from Turkish-dominated Anatolia to the United States, the film builds a veritable myth of the foundation of America told from the point of view of its immigrants that complements the pioneer myth as lionised by the Western genre.