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Alan Rudolph

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Alan Rudolph
Rudolph in 2009
Born (1943-12-18) December 18, 1943 (age 80)
Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Occupation(s)Film director, screenwriter
Years active1972–present

Alan Steven Rudolph (born December 18, 1943) is an American film director and screenwriter.

Early life

Rudolph was born in Los Angeles, California, the son of Oscar Rudolph (1911–1991), a television director and actor, and his wife.

He became interested in film and was a protégé of director Robert Altman. Rudolph worked as an assistant director on Altman's film adaptation of Raymond Chandler's The Long Goodbye and later on Nashville.

Career

Rudolph's films focus upon isolated and eccentric characters and their relationships, and frequently are ensemble pieces featuring prominent romanticism and fantasy. He has written most of his films. In addition, he has repeatedly worked with actors Keith Carradine and Geneviève Bujold, and composer Mark Isham (see list of film director and composer collaborations).

Director Rudolph came to prominence with Choose Me (1984), the story of the sexual relationships among a handful of lonely, but charming, people – an ex-prostitute bar owner (Lesley Ann Warren), an emotionally repressed radio talk show hostess (Bujold), and a disarmingly honest madman (Carradine). Trouble in Mind (1985) featured Kris Kristofferson as well as Bujold, Carradine and Divine, in a rare, out of female drag, performance. The film was entered into the 36th Berlin International Film Festival.[1]

The Moderns (1988) is a fictional love story set in 1926 Paris among well-known American expatriates such as Ernest Hemingway and F. Scott Fitzgerald, whom the film's characters briefly encounter. Expatriate American artist (Carradine) re-ignites his love for his former wife (Linda Fiorentino), despite her marriage to a sinister, philistine art collector played by John Lone.

In 1990, Rudolph wrote and directed the private eye love story Love at Large, filmed in Portland, Oregon.

After the thriller Mortal Thoughts (1991) starring Demi Moore, he directed Equinox (1992), with Matthew Modine playing a pair of separated twins. His Mrs. Parker and the Vicious Circle (1994), was a biopic of Dorothy Parker, with Jennifer Jason Leigh in the title role.

Breakfast of Champions (1999) was an adaptation of Kurt Vonnegut's metafictional novel, with Albert Finney as the wildly prolific but terminally under-appreciated writer Kilgore Trout. The film was entered into the 49th Berlin International Film Festival.[2]

Rudolph has also turned to painting, and In April 2008, presented a solo show of his paintings at Gallery Fraga, Bainbridge Island, Washington. In 2017, he directed Ray Meets Helen, a love story between two quirky outsiders, depicted by veteran Rudolph actor Keith Carradine and Sondra Locke, in her final film.

Filmography

Year Title Director Writer Producer
1972 Premonition Yes No Yes
1974 Nightmare Circus Yes[a] No Yes
1976 Welcome to L.A. Yes Yes No
1978 Remember My Name Yes Yes No
1980 Roadie Yes Story No
1982 Endangered Species Yes No No
1983 Return Engagement Yes No No
1984 Choose Me Yes Yes No
Songwriter Yes No No
1985 Trouble in Mind Yes Yes No
1987 Made in Heaven Yes No No
1988 The Moderns Yes Yes No
1990 Love at Large Yes Yes No
1991 Mortal Thoughts Yes No No
1992 Equinox Yes Yes No
1994 Mrs. Parker and the Vicious Circle Yes Yes No
1997 Afterglow Yes Yes No
1999 Breakfast of Champions Yes Yes No
2000 Trixie Yes Yes No
2001 Investigating Sex Yes Yes Yes
2002 The Secret Lives of Dentists Yes No No
2017 Ray Meets Helen Yes Yes No

Notes

  1. ^ Credited as "Gerald Cormier"[3][4]

References

  1. ^ "Berlinale: 1986 Programme". berlinale.de. Archived from the original on December 28, 2010. Retrieved January 8, 2011.
  2. ^ "Berlinale: 1999 Programme". berlinale.de. Retrieved January 29, 2012.
  3. ^ "Maria's B-Movie Mayhem: Scream / Barn Of The Naked Dead (Review)". DVD Verdict. Archived from the original on November 27, 2013. Retrieved December 29, 2013.
  4. ^ Everman, Welch D (2000). Cult Horror Films: From Attack of the 50 Foot Woman to Zombies of Mora Tau. Citadel Press. pp. 27–28. ISBN 0806514256.