This summer, Cork's Triskel Arts Centre presents a season dedicated to the work of Adrian Lyne, a British film director who forged a career in Hollywood by making some of the most popular and talked about films of their time. Programmer Chris O'Neill introduces Little Pieces of Humanity: The Films of Adrian Lyne below...
The movies of Adrian Lyne reflect a style of filmmaking that is seldom seen anymore within the mainstream Hollywood system: films which are not only commercial but executed with style and thoughtfulness, that deal with adult characters and situations, and are aimed at a mature audience.
Take, for example, two of Lyne's most popular films. Fatal Attraction (1987) dealt with the repercussions of a family man having a brief 'no strings attached’ affair which became something much darker and more dangerous, while Indecent Proposal (1993) asked the question: could you live with the idea of your partner sleeping with a stranger for an enormous amount of money?
These films were not only hugely successful in a financial sense (they were two of the biggest hits at the worldwide box office of their respective years) but sparked provocative debate in the media, amongst cinemagoers and at dinner parties everywhere. These pictures were part of the social zeitgeist. Both films are the epitome of what Lyne excels at: stories about ordinary people which are passionate, sensual and thrilling, and yet grounded in a relatable reality which is what made them resonate with viewers at the time and continue to do so.
The cinema of Adrian Lyne is an intriguing melding of sensibilities. He is a British director working in America. Like the Scott brothers and Alan Parker he came from an advertising background, and was heavily influenced by European film during his formative years, especially the French New Wave. This mixture of being an outsider, creating highly polished visual storytelling, and an interest in a cinema of intellect neatly sums up Lyne’s approach to filmmaking.
"Tell me what you think of this" said producer David Puttman as he tossed Lyne a script. "You won’t do it because you’re English and they want an American". That screenplay would become Lyne’s feature length debut, Foxes (1980), which followed four teenage girls growing up in the San Fernando Valley. It was assumed Lyne wouldn’t be able to get a handle on the material because he wasn’t an American but he did his research, hung out in the area and observed the youngsters that his film would centre on.
Foxes gave Lyne his break in the feature film business. What followed, in addition to Fatal Attraction and Indecent Proposal, was the cultural phenomenon Flashdance (1983), the dark sadomasochistic love story 9 1/2 Weeks (1986), the psychological thriller Jacob's Ladder (1990), the highly contentious adaptation of Vladimir Nabokov’s novel Lolita (1997), the infidelity thriller Unfaithful (2002) and, most recently, the disquieting mystery Deep Water (2022).
During Lyne’s most productive time in Hollywood sometimes his movies were colossal money spinners, sometimes not. Critics could be harsh, often seemingly resenting his beginnings in making commercials. They attributed his highly stylised imagery to this background and regarded it as a hindrance to his storytelling rather than a benefit. But time has been kind and in recent years commentators have come to recognise Lyne’s visual sensibilities as being a way of heightening a sense of reality rather than merely beautifying it. And, based on what Lyne demonstrated with his latest picture Deep Water, the filmmaker still has the ability to handle mature themes in an engaging and captivating manner.
Lyne says that he looks for the "little pieces of humanity" when shooting a scene. Some tangible details that give his characters that extra dimension that an audience can recognise and identify with. It is those persuasive "little pieces of humanity" that gives them an edge: the sense of a lived-in world.
Six movies by Adrian Lyne will be screened over six consecutive Saturdays at the Triskel starting with Foxes on 26th July, 2025 - find out more here
