Born in Saint John, New Brunswick, Donald Sutherland trained as an actor in Canada and the United Kingdom before his career took off in the United States. Over a span of 60 years, with his distinctive charisma and features, the actor has taken on numerous roles in theatre, television, and, most notably, cinema. We pay tribute to him by showcasing three films that contributed to his rise to fame in the early 1970s (M.A.S.H., Klute, and Kelly’s Heroes), one of his most emotional performances (Ordinary People), and one of his significant forays into Quebec cinema (Act of the Heart).
Winner of the Palme d'or, 1970 Cannes Film Festival
At the height of the Korean War, three young surgeons stir up trouble at an American surgical base. An anti-militarist satire that mixes romantic escapades and burlesque misadventures.
Robert Altman
Robert Altman was an American film director, screenwriter, and producer. He is considered an enduring figure from the New Hollywood era, comparable to directors such as Martin Scorsese, Sidney Lumet, David Lynch, and was nominated for five Academy Awards for Best Director for M.A.S.H. (1970), Nashville (1975), The Player (1992), Short Cuts (1993), and Gosford Park (2001). Altman's particular style of filmmaking covered many genres — referred to as Altmanesque — but usually with a subversive or anti-Hollywood twist which typically relied on satire and humor to express his personal views. Actors especially enjoyed working under his direction because he encouraged them to improvise. He preferred large ensemble casts for his films, and developed a multitrack recording technique which produced overlapping dialogue from multiple actors. This produced a more natural, more dynamic, and more complex experience for the viewer. He also used highly mobile camera work and zoom lenses to enhance the activity taking place on the screen. Critic Pauline Kael, writing about his directing style, said that Altman could "make film fireworks out of next to nothing." In 2006, Altman's body of work was recognized with an Academy Honorary Award. Three of his films have been selected for the United States National Film Registry. Altman is one of three filmmakers whose films have won the Golden Bear at Berlin, the Golden Lion at Venice, and the Palme d'Or at Cannes — the other two being Henri-Georges Clouzot and Michelangelo Antonioni.
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About Donald Sutherland
Donald Sutherland received an Academy Honorary Award in 2017 "for a lifetime of indelible characters, rendered with unwavering truthfulness".