Trained in advertising, the Islington born Alan Parker's first movie
work was the script for teenage romance Melody
(1971). He directed kid's gangster parody Bugsy Malone (1976) before
his breakthrough with Midnight Express (1978), a hysterical prison drama
memorable for its bitten-off tongue. Parker has a habit of falling back
on style, sometimes obscuring the excellent performances he gets from
his leads, but notice how good Gene Hackman and Frances McDormand are
among the sweaty rednecks of Mississippi Burning (1988) and appreciate
the uncomfortable subtleties of Come See The Paradise (1990). Shoot
The Moon (1982), Pink Floyd: The Wall (1982), Angel Heart (1987) and
The Road To Wellville (1994) are all curates eggs, with some wonderful
effects and performances lost among the shrieking.
Fame, however, is an old-fashioned let's-put-on-a-show picture
perfectly remodelled for 1980, and Evita (1996) is better than anything
that throws together Andrew Lloyd Webber and Madonna has any right to
be. His one unassailably great movie is The
Commitments (1991), truthful, irrepressible soul musical with a
flavourful Dublin background.
