Phillip Noyce
Encyclopedia
Phillip Noyce is an Australian film director
.
, New South Wales
, attended Barker College
, Sydney
, and began making short films at the age of 18, starting with Better to Reign in Hell, using his friends as the cast. He joined the Australian Film & Television School in 1973, and released his first professional film in 1977. Many of his films feature espionage
, as Noyce grew up listening from his father's stories with the Z Special Force during World War II
, and has an interest in the theme.
After his debut feature, the medium-length Backroads
(1977), Noyce achieved commercial and critical success with Newsfront
(1978), which won Australian Film Institute
(AFI) awards for Best Film, Director, and Screenplay.
Noyce worked on two miniseries
for Australian television with fellow Australian filmmaker George Miller: The Dismissal
(1983) and The Cowra Breakout (1984).
Miller also produced the film that brought Noyce his greatest acclaim in the United States — the thriller Dead Calm
(1989) which turned Nicole Kidman
into a star. His greatest commercial success to date has been the Tom Clancy
spy thriller Clear and Present Danger
(1994) starring Harrison Ford
.
After 1998's The Bone Collector
, Noyce decided to take a break from Hollywood. He made in his native Australia the "stolen generation
" picture Rabbit-Proof Fence
, which achieved great acclaim and won the Australian Film Institute Award for Best Film
in 2002. Noyce also achieved great acclaim in the United States for The Quiet American
, a 2002 film which gave Michael Caine
an Academy Award Best Actor
nomination. After doing Catch a Fire
(2006) in South Africa, Noyce decided to make another big budget studio film with 2010's Salt.
He was married to film producer Jan Chapman
from 1971–1977, then producer Jan Sharp from 1979 - 2004 with whom he has two children, and he is presently married to Vuyo Dyasi with whom he has one child.
He has described Rabbit-Proof Fence
as "easily" his proudest moment as a director: "Showing that film to various Aboriginal communities around the country and seeing their response, because it gave validity to the experiences of the stolen generations."
Noyce was also responsible for a video which formed part of the Australian bid to host the 2022 FIFA World Cup.
Noyce was an avid supporter of the Whitlam Labor Government
Film director
A film director is a person who directs the actors and film crew in filmmaking. They control a film's artistic and dramatic nathan roach, while guiding the technical crew and actors.-Responsibilities:...
.
Life and career
Noyce was born in GriffithGriffith, New South Wales
Griffith is a city in south-western New South Wales, Australia. It is also the seat of the City of Griffith local government area. Like the Australian capital, Canberra and the nearby town of Leeton, Griffith was designed by Walter Burley Griffin. Griffith was named after Sir Arthur Griffith the...
, New South Wales
New South Wales
New South Wales is a state of :Australia, located in the east of the country. It is bordered by Queensland, Victoria and South Australia to the north, south and west respectively. To the east, the state is bordered by the Tasman Sea, which forms part of the Pacific Ocean. New South Wales...
, attended Barker College
Barker College
Barker College is an independent Anglican, day and boarding school, located in Hornsby, a North Shore suburb of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. Founded in 1890 by the Reverend Henry Plume at Kurrajong Heights, Barker is an all-boys school from Kindergarten to Year 9, and co-educational from...
, Sydney
Sydney
Sydney is the most populous city in Australia and the state capital of New South Wales. Sydney is located on Australia's south-east coast of the Tasman Sea. As of June 2010, the greater metropolitan area had an approximate population of 4.6 million people...
, and began making short films at the age of 18, starting with Better to Reign in Hell, using his friends as the cast. He joined the Australian Film & Television School in 1973, and released his first professional film in 1977. Many of his films feature espionage
Espionage
Espionage or spying involves an individual obtaining information that is considered secret or confidential without the permission of the holder of the information. Espionage is inherently clandestine, lest the legitimate holder of the information change plans or take other countermeasures once it...
, as Noyce grew up listening from his father's stories with the Z Special Force during World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, and has an interest in the theme.
After his debut feature, the medium-length Backroads
Backroads (film)
Backroads is a 1977 Australian film directed by Phillip Noyce. Two strangers – one white , one black – steal a car in western New South Wales and drive around the coast. The original characters came from a story by Adelaide writer John Emery, with whom Noyce had worked on a short film...
(1977), Noyce achieved commercial and critical success with Newsfront
Newsfront
Newsfront is a 1978 Australian drama film starring Bill Hunter, Wendy Hughes, and Bryan Brown, directed by Phillip Noyce. The screenplay is written by David Elfick, Bob Ellis, Philippe Mora, and Phillip Noyce. The original music score is composed by William Motzing...
(1978), which won Australian Film Institute
Australian Film Institute
The Australian Film Institute was founded in 1958 as a non-profit organisation devoted to developing an active film culture in Australia and fostering engagement between the general public and the Australian film industry...
(AFI) awards for Best Film, Director, and Screenplay.
Noyce worked on two miniseries
Miniseries
A miniseries , in a serial storytelling medium, is a television show production which tells a story in a limited number of episodes. The exact number is open to interpretation; however, they are usually limited to fewer than a whole season. The term "miniseries" is generally a North American term...
for Australian television with fellow Australian filmmaker George Miller: The Dismissal
The Dismissal (TV miniseries)
The Dismissal is an Australian television miniseries, first screened in 1983, that dramatised the events of the 1975 Australian constitutional crisis....
(1983) and The Cowra Breakout (1984).
Miller also produced the film that brought Noyce his greatest acclaim in the United States — the thriller Dead Calm
Dead Calm (film)
Dead Calm is a 1989 thriller film starring Sam Neill, Nicole Kidman and Billy Zane. It was based on the 1963 novel of the same name by Charles Williams...
(1989) which turned Nicole Kidman
Nicole Kidman
Nicole Mary Kidman, AC is an American-born Australian actress, singer, film producer, spokesmodel, and humanitarian. After starring in a number of small Australian films and TV shows, Kidman's breakthrough was in the 1989 thriller Dead Calm...
into a star. His greatest commercial success to date has been the Tom Clancy
Tom Clancy
Thomas Leo "Tom" Clancy, Jr. is an American author, best known for his technically detailed espionage, military science, and techno thriller storylines set during and in the aftermath of the Cold War, along with video games on which he did not work, but which bear his name for licensing and...
spy thriller Clear and Present Danger
Clear and Present Danger (film)
Clear and Present Danger is a 1994 film directed by Phillip Noyce, based on the book of the same name by Tom Clancy. It is a subsequent release to the 1992 film Patriot Games, which in itself is a subsequent release to the 1990 film The Hunt for Red October.It is the last film to feature Harrison...
(1994) starring Harrison Ford
Harrison Ford
Harrison Ford is an American film actor and producer. He is famous for his performances as Han Solo in the original Star Wars trilogy and as the title character of the Indiana Jones film series. Ford is also known for his roles as Rick Deckard in Blade Runner, John Book in Witness and Jack Ryan in...
.
After 1998's The Bone Collector
The Bone Collector
The Bone Collector is a 1999 thriller film starring Denzel Washington and Angelina Jolie, directed by Phillip Noyce and produced by Martin Bregman....
, Noyce decided to take a break from Hollywood. He made in his native Australia the "stolen generation
Stolen Generation
The Stolen Generations were the children of Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander descent who were removed from their families by the Australian Federal and State government agencies and church missions, under acts of their respective parliaments...
" picture Rabbit-Proof Fence
Rabbit-Proof Fence (film)
Rabbit-Proof Fence is a 2002 Australian drama film directed by Phillip Noyce based on the book Follow the Rabbit-Proof Fence by Doris Pilkington Garimara...
, which achieved great acclaim and won the Australian Film Institute Award for Best Film
Australian Film Institute Award for Best Film
This page lists the winners and nominees for the AACTA Award for Best Film since its institution in 1958. The award is presented annually by the Australian Academy of Cinema and Television Arts , an organisation which promotes the Australian film industry. Since the 1958 Australian Film Awards the...
in 2002. Noyce also achieved great acclaim in the United States for The Quiet American
The Quiet American (2002 film)
The Quiet American is a 2002 film adaptation of Graham Greene's bestselling novel of the same name. It was directed by Phillip Noyce and starred Michael Caine, George Henry Hsu, Brendan Fraser, and Do Thi Hai Yen....
, a 2002 film which gave Michael Caine
Michael Caine
Sir Michael Caine, CBE is an English actor. He won Academy Awards for best supporting actor in both Hannah and Her Sisters and The Cider House Rules ....
an Academy Award Best Actor
Academy Award for Best Actor
Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role is one of the Academy Awards of Merit presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to recognize an actor who has delivered an outstanding performance while working within the film industry...
nomination. After doing Catch a Fire
Catch a Fire (film)
Catch a Fire is a 2006 dramatic thriller about activists against apartheid in South Africa. The film was directed by Phillip Noyce, from a screenplay written by Shawn Slovo...
(2006) in South Africa, Noyce decided to make another big budget studio film with 2010's Salt.
He was married to film producer Jan Chapman
Jan Chapman
Jan Chapman is an Australian film producer.Spouse= Jam Alex 2006-2010Films produced by Chapman include The Last Days of Chez Nous, The Piano, Love Serenade, Holy Smoke, and Lantana.Chapman met her first husband, film director Phillip Noyce, whilst studying English and Fine Arts at university in the...
from 1971–1977, then producer Jan Sharp from 1979 - 2004 with whom he has two children, and he is presently married to Vuyo Dyasi with whom he has one child.
He has described Rabbit-Proof Fence
Rabbit-Proof Fence (film)
Rabbit-Proof Fence is a 2002 Australian drama film directed by Phillip Noyce based on the book Follow the Rabbit-Proof Fence by Doris Pilkington Garimara...
as "easily" his proudest moment as a director: "Showing that film to various Aboriginal communities around the country and seeing their response, because it gave validity to the experiences of the stolen generations."
Noyce was also responsible for a video which formed part of the Australian bid to host the 2022 FIFA World Cup.
Noyce was an avid supporter of the Whitlam Labor Government
Filmography
- That's Showbiz (1973) (short)
- Castor and Pollux (1973) (short)
- God Only Knows Why, But it Works (1975) film docudrama about Dr Archie KalokerinosArchie KalokerinosArchivides "Archie" Kalokerinos is an Australian physician. In 2000 he was awarded the title Greek Australian of the Century by the Melbourne-based Greek newspaper Neos Kosmos. He holds controversial opinions on a number of medical issues...
and aboriginal healthcare - BackroadsBackroads (film)Backroads is a 1977 Australian film directed by Phillip Noyce. Two strangers – one white , one black – steal a car in western New South Wales and drive around the coast. The original characters came from a story by Adelaide writer John Emery, with whom Noyce had worked on a short film...
(1977) - NewsfrontNewsfrontNewsfront is a 1978 Australian drama film starring Bill Hunter, Wendy Hughes, and Bryan Brown, directed by Phillip Noyce. The screenplay is written by David Elfick, Bob Ellis, Philippe Mora, and Phillip Noyce. The original music score is composed by William Motzing...
(1978) - Heatwave (1982)
- The DismissalThe Dismissal (TV miniseries)The Dismissal is an Australian television miniseries, first screened in 1983, that dramatised the events of the 1975 Australian constitutional crisis....
(1983) (mini) TV Series - The Cowra Breakout (1984) (mini) TV Series
- The Hitchhiker TV Series (episodes in 1985):
- Episode "Nightshift"
- Episode "The Martyr"
- Episode "Man's Best Friend"
- Episode "Man of Her Dreams"
- Episode "The Curse"
- Echoes of Paradise (1987) (aka Shadows of the Peacock)
- Dead CalmDead Calm (film)Dead Calm is a 1989 thriller film starring Sam Neill, Nicole Kidman and Billy Zane. It was based on the 1963 novel of the same name by Charles Williams...
(1989) - Blind FuryBlind FuryBlind Fury is a 1989 samurai/action film directed by Phillip Noyce. It is a loosely based, modernized version of Zatoichi Challenged, the 17th film in the Japanese Zatoichi film series. The film stars Rutger Hauer as Nick Parker, a blind, sword-wielding Vietnam War veteran, who returns to the...
(1989) - Nightmare Cafe (1992) TV Series (pilot)
- Patriot GamesPatriot Games (film)Patriot Games is a 1992 film directed by Phillip Noyce and based on Tom Clancy's the novel of the same name. It is a sequel to the 1990 film The Hunt for Red October. In the movie, Jack Ryan is played by Harrison Ford, Jack's surgeon-wife, Dr...
(1992) - SliverSliver (film)Sliver is a 1993 film based on the Ira Levin novel of the same name about the mysterious occurrences in a privately owned New York highrise apartment building. Phillip Noyce directed the film, from a screenplay by Joe Eszterhas...
(1993) - Clear and Present DangerClear and Present Danger (film)Clear and Present Danger is a 1994 film directed by Phillip Noyce, based on the book of the same name by Tom Clancy. It is a subsequent release to the 1992 film Patriot Games, which in itself is a subsequent release to the 1990 film The Hunt for Red October.It is the last film to feature Harrison...
(1994) - The SaintThe Saint (film)The Saint is a 1997 film based on the character of Simon Templar created by Leslie Charteris in 1928 for a series of books published as "The Saint." The film stars Val Kilmer, Elisabeth Shue and Rade Šerbedžija...
(1997) - The Repair Shop (1998) (pilot - unreleased)
- The Bone CollectorThe Bone CollectorThe Bone Collector is a 1999 thriller film starring Denzel Washington and Angelina Jolie, directed by Phillip Noyce and produced by Martin Bregman....
(1999) - Patriot Games: Up Close (2002) (TV) (uncredited)
- Rabbit-Proof FenceRabbit-Proof Fence (film)Rabbit-Proof Fence is a 2002 Australian drama film directed by Phillip Noyce based on the book Follow the Rabbit-Proof Fence by Doris Pilkington Garimara...
(aka Long Walk Home [ge]) (2002) - The Quiet AmericanThe Quiet American (2002 film)The Quiet American is a 2002 film adaptation of Graham Greene's bestselling novel of the same name. It was directed by Phillip Noyce and starred Michael Caine, George Henry Hsu, Brendan Fraser, and Do Thi Hai Yen....
(2002) - Tru CallingTru CallingTru Calling is an American television supernatural drama series that premiered on Fox Network on October 30, 2003. It ran for two seasons before being canceled....
(2003) TV Series (episode 1.01 "Pilot") - Welcome to São Paulo (2004) (segment "Marca Zero")
- Brotherhood (2006) TV Series
- Catch a FireCatch a Fire (film)Catch a Fire is a 2006 dramatic thriller about activists against apartheid in South Africa. The film was directed by Phillip Noyce, from a screenplay written by Shawn Slovo...
(2006) - Salt (2010)
- Lights OutLights Out (2011 TV series)Lights Out is an American television boxing drama series from the FX network in the United States. It stars Holt McCallany as Patrick "Lights" Leary, a New Jersey native, and former heavyweight champion boxer who is considering a comeback. The series premiered on January 11, 2011 at 10 pm ET/PT. On...
(2011) TV Series (Executive Producer) - RevengeRevenge (TV series)Revenge is an American television drama inspired by the Alexandre Dumas novel The Count of Monte Cristo starring Madeleine Stowe and Emily VanCamp. It debuted on ABC on September 21, 2011, and currently airs on Wednesday nights at 10:00 pm Eastern/9:00 pm Central...
(2011) TV series (Executive Producer)
Further reading
- Maltin, Leonard. Phillip Noyce Biography from Leonard Maltin's Movie Encyclopedia, imdb.com. Retrieved 16 August 2005.
- Petzke, Ingo: Backroads To Hollywood - Phillip Noyce. Pan Macmillan (Sydney) 2004
- Petzke, Ingo. Great Directors - Phillip Noyce Senses of Cinema. Retrieved 10 February 2007.
- Contemporary North American Film Directors: A Wallflower Critical Guide By Yoram Allon, Hannah Patterson, Del Cullen. Entry on Phillip Noyce Look inside at Google Book search