Richard Leacock
Richard Leacock began his film career as a cameraman for documentary filmmaker Robert Flaherty. Later, he joined Robert Drew's group, Drew Associates. After that, Leacock left the group to make his own films. His first film was Happy Mother’s Day (1963), co-directed with Joyce Chopra. Of the Direct Cinema filmmakers, Leacock was the least interested in conveying a clear and explicit political message in his films. His impartial stance with regard to the subjects of his films did not go without criticism. French filmmaker Jean Luc Godard was very critical and uneasy about Leacock's concept of representing the world as is without any intervention: "there's no point in having sharp images if you've got fuzzy ideas, Leacock's lack of subjectivity leads him to ultimately to a lack of objectivity.”(1)
Major Films:
- A Happy Mother’s Day (1963)
- Stranvisky: A Portrait (1966)
- A Community of Praise (1982)
- A Celebration of Saint Silas (1993)
Notes:
(1) Corrigan, Timothy. The Essay Film :From Montaigne, After Marker. New York: Oxford University Press, 2011. Print.
Official Website