Peter Lindsay Weir was born on August 21, 1944, in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. He attended The Scots College before studying law and art at the University of Sydney. Here he became interested in film through fellow students, particularly Phillip Noyce, who were of a filmmaking collective called “Ubu Films.” In the mid 1960s, he left the university and joined the Sydney television station ATN-7, where he worked as a production assistant on the satirical comedy show, “The Mavis Bramston Show.” While working there, he used the facilities to make his first two experimental films, “Count Vim’s Last Exercise” and “The Life and Flight of Reverend Buckshotte.” His first full-length feature film was the underground cult classic “The Cars That Ate Paris” (1974). “Picnic At Hanging Rock” followed in 1975, and Weir became part of the Australian film renaissance known as “The New Wave,” which catapulted many Australian filmmakers and performers to fame, notably Mel Gibson, George Miller, Gillian Armstrong and Judy Davis.
Weir’s first American film was the highly successful, “Witness” (1985), which starred Harrison Ford, and was set in Amish country. He said of the restroom murder scene, “It was the most violent scene I have ever filmed. I still wonder if it was not too violent, but I did want to create an outrage over the violence that occurred in front of those innocent eyes of the Amish boy character.” The next year brought even more success with the dark film, “The Mosquito Coast.” This also starred Harrison Ford and helped him to avoid being typecast by his previous “Indiana Jones” and Star Wars” films.
Peter Weir loves to challenge his characters by placing them where they do not fit (such as Ford as a cop in Amish country), and most of his films involve a main character fiddling with a radio. Weir has transformed well-known comedy and genre actors into credible dramatic performers. Some notables include: Harrison Ford, Robin Williams and Jim Carrey.
Weir, despite his success, has never forgotten his roots, and continues to maintain close connections with his home city where he has been involved in programs designed to teach filmmaking skills to disadvantaged youth. Hopefully, this brilliant creator of films will make many more in the years to come.
What are some of YOUR favorite Peter Weir films? Please share.
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