Michael Radford

Biography

Michael Radford (born 24 February 1946 in New Delhi) is a British director and screenwriter who trained at the National Film School. His career runs from documentaries for television to feature films, and he is best known for literary adaptations and for the international success of Il Postino.

The son of a British father and an Austrian Jewish mother, he spent much of his childhood in the Middle East. After studying at Oxford and teaching for a few years, he joined the National Film and Television School in its first year. Between 1976 and 1982 he worked mainly as a documentary maker, largely on BBC projects in Scotland and Ireland, including a portrait of singer Van Morrison. During that period he worked with cinematographer Roger Deakins, who later shot two of Radford's fiction films. His debut feature, Another Time, Another Place (1983), set in Scotland during the Second World War, was selected for the Directors' Fortnight at Cannes.

Radford reached international attention with Nineteen Eighty-Four (1984), his adaptation of George Orwell's novel, starring John Hurt, with Richard Burton in one of his final performances. He followed it with White Mischief (1987), a period drama set in 1940s Kenya. Il Postino (1994), which he wrote with Massimo Troisi and adapted from Antonio Skármeta's novel, brought him acclaim, including an Academy Award nomination for Best Director and a BAFTA for Best Direction. Later work includes The Merchant of Venice (2004), with Al Pacino and Jeremy Irons, and Elsa & Fred (2014), a romantic comedy starring Shirley MacLaine and Christopher Plummer. He is remembered for his literary adaptations and for the reach of Il Postino beyond English-speaking audiences.

Key films

• Nineteen Eighty-Four (1984): his adaptation of Orwell's novel, which brought him international attention.
• Another Time, Another Place (1983): his debut feature, a love story set in wartime Scotland.
• White Mischief (1987): a period drama about the British colonial set in Kenya.
• Il Postino (1994): a comedy drama co-written with Massimo Troisi, with major international awards.
• The Merchant of Venice (2004): a Shakespeare adaptation with Al Pacino as Shylock.