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Thinking inside the Box

Director Mike Leigh
  • Posted at 2:32pm
  • 28 September 2007
  • by AndrewCollins-RT

I recently asked Mike Leigh if he'd ever consider going back to television. (After all, until the late 1980s, he made his films exclusively for the small screen.) He seemed horrified at the thought - not because it would be a backward step, but because TV had changed so much in 20 years, he said he'd hardly recognise the place.

Although plenty of great film directors learned their craft on television - Sidney Lumet, Steven Spielberg, Ron Howard, and more recently, Atonement's Joe Wright and Knocked Up's Judd Apatow - the traffic tends to go in one direction. However, the need to put food on the table sometimes necessitates a return.

John Badham rode high in the 1970s and 80s with Saturday Night Fever and Stakeout, but was most recently seen behind the camera on BBC2's Heroes. Mimi Leder earned her spurs on ER (Quentin Tarantino also directed an early episode) and took star George Clooney to Hollywood for The Peacemaker. He stayed; she returned a few years later, to direct episodes of The West Wing and Vanished.

This is not necessarily a demotion. I say there's more glory in directing quality TV shows than average movies. Both Spielberg (Band of Brothers, Taken) and Howard (Arrested Development) work regularly as producers on television. Barry Levinson, the man behind Sleepers and Wag the Dog, has produced, written and directed the likes of The Jury and Homicide: Life on the Street for US TV.

Closer to home, Ken Loach's new film, It's a Free World..., recently premiered on Channel 4. Come on, Mike, reconsider. As The Dinner Party proved a couple of weeks ago, TV needs another Abigail's Party.

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