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Neil Jordan

{{short description|Irish filmmaker and writer (born 1950)}}

{{Use Hiberno-English|date=August 2024}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=June 2021}}

{{Infobox person

| image = Neil Jordan by David Shankbone.jpg

| name = Neil Jordan

| imagesize =

| caption = Jordan at the 2010 Tribeca Film Festival

| birth_date = {{Birth date and age|df=yes|1950|02|25}}

| birth_place = Sligo, Ireland

| birth_name = Neil Patrick Jordan

| other_names =

| years_active = 1979–present

| education = University College Dublin (B.A., 1972)

| occupation = {{hlist|Filmmaker|writer}}

| spouse = Vivienne Shields (divorced)
{{marriage|Brenda Rawn|2004}}

| children = 5

}}

Neil Patrick Jordan (born 25 February 1950) is an Irish filmmaker and writer. He first achieved recognition for his short story collection, Night in Tunisia, which won the Guardian Fiction Prize in 1979.Duncan J. Petrie, [http://www.encyclopedia.com/people/literature-and-arts/film-and-television-biographies/neil-jordan "Jordan, Neil"], Encyclopedia.com.Marianne Brace, [https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/books/neil-jordan-the-writing-game-1567996.html "Neil Jordan: the writing game"], The Independent, 14 January 1995. After a stint working at RTÉ, he made his directorial debut with the 1982 film Angel.

Jordan's best-known films include the crime thrillers Mona Lisa (1986) and The Crying Game (1992), the horror dramas Interview with the Vampire (1994) and Byzantium (2012), the biopic Michael Collins (1996), the black comedy The Butcher Boy (1997), the Graham Greene adaptation The End of the Affair (1999), the transgender-themed dramedy Breakfast on Pluto (2005), and the psychological thriller Greta (2018). Jordan also created the Showtime Network television series The Borgias (2011–2013) and Sky Atlantic's Riviera (2017–2020).

He is the recipient of numerous accolades for his film work, including an Academy Award, two BAFTA Awards, three IFTA Film & Drama Awards, a Golden Lion and a Silver Bear. In 1996, he was honoured with receiving the French Ordre des Arts et des Lettres.Ordre des Arts et des Lettres

Early life and education

Jordan was born in Sligo, the son of Angela (née O'Brien), a painter, and Michael Jordan, a professor.{{cite web|url=http://www.filmreference.com/film/73/Neil-Jordan.html |title=Neil Jordan Biography (1950–) |publisher=Filmreference.com |access-date=26 February 2013}} He was educated at St. Paul's College, Raheny. Later, Jordan attended University College Dublin, where he studied Irish history and English literature. He graduated in 1972 with a BA in History. He became involved in student theatre there, where he met Jim Sheridan, who was also later to become an important Irish film director. After graduation, in 1976 Jordan produced his first collection of short stories: Night in Tunisia and other Stories.{{cite book |last=De Breffny |first=Brian |author-link= |date=1983 |title=Ireland: A Cultural Encyclopedia |url= |location=London |publisher=Thames and Hudson |page=123 |isbn=}}

Of his religious background, Jordan said in a 1999 Salon interview: "I was brought up a Catholic and was quite religious at one stage in my life, when I was young. But it left me with no scars whatever; it just sort of vanished." He said about his current beliefs that "God is the greatest imaginary being of all time. Along with Einstein's General Theory of Relativity, the invention of God is probably the greatest creation of human thought."{{cite news|url=http://www.salon.com/ent/col/srag/1999/12/09/jordan/index.html|work=Salon|first=Michael|last=Sragow|date=9 December 1999|title=Beautiful Dreamer|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070211022309/http://www.salon.com/ent/col/srag/1999/12/09/jordan/index.html|archive-date=11 February 2007}}

Career

Jordan's career began in the late 1970s working for the Irish television channel RTÉ. His work included writing storylines for the children's fantasy series Wanderly Wagon.{{Cite web|date=13 January 2008|title=Fustar – Recycling Cultural Waste Since 2005 // Eugene Lambert Interview Pt. 2 – A Wanderly Beginning|url=http://www.fustar.info/2006/02/09/a_wanderly_beginning/|access-date=6 August 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080113021636/http://www.fustar.info/2006/02/09/a_wanderly_beginning/|archive-date=13 January 2008}} His first collection of short stories, Night in Tunisia, was published by Dublin's Irish Writers Co-operative in 1976. It won the Guardian Fiction Prize in 1979.{{Cite news |last=Bromwich |first=Kathryn |date=2019-04-21 |title=On my radar: Neil Jordan's cultural highlights |url=https://www.theguardian.com/film/2019/apr/21/neil-jordan-on-my-radar-cultural-highlights |access-date=2024-08-31 |work=The Guardian |language=en-GB |issn=0261-3077}}

In 1981, when John Boorman was filming Excalibur in Ireland, he recruited Jordan as a "creative associate". A year later, Boorman was executive producer on Jordan's first feature Angel, a tale of a musician caught up in the Troubles played by Stephen Rea who has subsequently appeared in almost all of Jordan's films to date. During the 1980s, he directed films that won him acclaim, including The Company of Wolves and Mona Lisa, both made in England. The Company of Wolves, a dark and sexually-themed reimagining of the Little Red Riding Hood fairy tale based on short stories by Angela Carter, became a cult favourite.

As a writer/director, Jordan has a highly idiosyncratic body of work, ranging from mainstream hits like Interview with the Vampire to commercial failures like We're No Angels to a variety of more personal, low-budget arthouse pictures. He was also the driving force behind the cable TV series The Borgias.

File:Neil Jordan.4756.jpg, 2007]]

Unconventional sexual relationships are a recurring theme in Jordan's work, and he often finds a sympathetic side to characters that audiences would traditionally consider deviant or downright horrifying. His film The Miracle, for instance, follows two characters who struggle to resist a strong, incestuous attraction. Interview with the Vampire, like the Anne Rice book it was based on, focused on the intense, intimate interpersonal relationship of two undead men who murder humans nightly (although the pair never have sex, they are clearly lovers of a sort), accompanied by an equally complex vampire woman who is eternally trapped in the body of a little girl. While Lestat (Tom Cruise) is depicted in an attractive but villainous manner, his partner Louis (Brad Pitt) and the child vampire Claudia (Kirsten Dunst) are meant to capture the audience's sympathy despite their predatory nature. In the remake of The End of the Affair, two people (Ralph Fiennes and Julianne Moore) engage in a love affair that will end as suddenly as it started, with both not wanting its end.

In addition to the unusual sexuality of Jordan's films, he frequently returns to the Troubles of Northern Ireland. The Crying Game and Breakfast on Pluto both concern a transgender character (played by Jaye Davidson and Cillian Murphy, respectively), both concern The Troubles and both feature frequent Jordan leading man Stephen Rea. The two films, however, are very different, with The Crying Game being a realistic thriller/romance, and Breakfast on Pluto is a much more episodic, stylised, darkly comic biography. Jordan also frequently tells stories about children or young people, such as The Miracle and The Butcher Boy. While his pictures are most often grounded in reality, he occasionally directs more fantastic or dreamlike films, such as The Company of Wolves, High Spirits, Interview with the Vampire and In Dreams.

File:Alicja Bachleda, Colin Farrell & Neil Jordan by David Shankbone.jpg and Colin Farrell at the Ondine premiere, 2010 Tribeca Film Festival in New York]]

The critical success of Jordan's early pictures led him to Hollywood, where he directed High Spirits and We're No Angels; both were critical and financial disasters. He later returned home to make the more personal The Crying Game, which was nominated for six Academy Awards. Jordan won the Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay for the film.{{Cite news|url=https://www.oscars.org/oscars/ceremonies/1993/?|title=The 65th Academy Awards {{!}} 1993|work=Oscars.org {{!}} Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences|access-date=4 December 2018|language=en}} Its unexpected success led him back to American studio filmmaking, where he directed Interview with the Vampire. He also directed the crime drama The Brave One starring Jodie Foster.

Neil Gaiman announced during his Today show appearance on 27 January 2009, that Neil Jordan would be directing the film of his Newbery Medal-winning book The Graveyard Book.Laurie Hertzel. [https://www.startribune.com/gaiman-s-graveyard-will-be-a-movie-too/38458739/ "Gaiman's 'Graveyard' will be a movie, too."] Star Tribune. 27 January 2009. Retrieved 1 August 2021. Jordan also wrote and directed the 2009 Irish-made film Ondine, starring Colin Farrell and Alicja Bachleda-Curuś. He also directed Byzantium, an adaptation of the vampire play of the same name starring Saoirse Ronan, Gemma Arterton and Jonny Lee Miller.{{cite web|title=Saoirse Ronan and Gemma Arterton to Star in Vampire Pic 'Byzantium' (Cannes) |url= http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/saoirse-ronan-gemma-arterton-star-188454 |work=The Hollywood Reporter |first = Stuart |last=Kemp |date=14 May 2011 |access-date=15 May 2011}}

In 2011, Jordan's next feature was announced as the later aborted sci-fi romance Broken Dream, which was to have featured Ben Kingsley and John Hurt.{{cite web|author=Buzz Brady|url=https://www.irishcentral.com/culture/entertainment/ben-kinglsey-john-hurt-and-neil-jordan-work-on-john-boormans-broken-dream-119911209-237382361|title=Ben Kinglsey, John Hurt and Neil Jordan work on John Boorman's 'Broken Dream'|date=April 15, 2011|publisher=Irish Central|access-date=July 22, 2024}}

He directed the thriller Greta (2018), starring Isabelle Huppert and Chloë Grace Moretz.

After working on the scripts for Riviera, Jordan has disowned the show, due to his scripts being reworked by others. He said he had no idea who rewrote these episodes. "They were changed, to my huge surprise and considerable upset. There were various sexual scenes introduced into the story and a lot of very expository dialogue. I objected in the strongest terms possible."{{cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2017/jun/24/neil-jordan-disowns-part-in-riviera-tv-crime-drama|title=The Neil Jordan series that isn't: film-maker disowns Riviera|first=Vanessa|last=Thorpe|date=24 June 2017|website=The Guardian|access-date=18 October 2018}}

Personal life

Jordan has five children: Anna and Sarah from his marriage to solicitor Vivienne Shields; Dashiel and Daniel from his current marriage to Brenda Rawn, and Ben, from a relationship with architect Mary Donohoe. Jordan lives in Dalkey, Dublin.{{Cite web|url=https://www.irishtourist.com/location/ireland/co-dublin/dalkey/|title=Location|website=Irishtourist.com|access-date=2 November 2021}}

In 1996, Neil Jordan was honoured with receiving the French Ordre des Arts et des Lettres.Ordre des Arts et des Lettres He has received many honorary doctorates, including from Trinity College Dublin, University College Dublin, and Queen's University Belfast.{{Cite web|url=https://www.ucd.ie/news/june05/jordancitation.htm|title=University College Dublin – News|website=Ucd.ie|access-date=2 November 2021}}{{cite web|url=https://www.tcd.ie/news_events/articles/film-director-neil-jordan-among-recipients-of-honorary-degrees-at-tcd-2/|title=Film Director Neil Jordan among recipients of Honorary Degrees at TCD|website=Tcd.ie|access-date=2 November 2021}}{{cite web|url=https://www.qub.ac.uk/about/Leadership-and-structure/Registrars-Office/FileStore/Filetoupload,837203,en.pdf|title=Queen's University Belfast (formerly Queen's College Belfast) Honorary Degrees 1871–2018|website=Qub.ac.uk|access-date=2 November 2021}}

In 2009, he signed a petition in support of director Roman Polanski, calling for his release after he was arrested in Switzerland in relation to his 1977 charge for drugging and raping a 13-year-old girl.{{cite web|url=https://laregledujeu.org/2009/11/10/479/signez-la-petition-pour-roman-polanski/|title=Signez la pétition pour Roman Polanski !|publisher=La Règle du jeu|language=fr|date=10 November 2009}}{{cite news|url=https://www.independent.ie/regionals/braypeople/news/sinead-demands-jordan-remove-name-from-polanski-petition-27632281.html|title=Sinead demands Jordan remove name from Polanski petition|website=The Irish Independent|date=13 January 2010}}

In 2018, he donated his archives to the National Library of Ireland. Jordan's donation included TV and film scripts, production files, notebooks, storyboards and personal correspondence with artists and political figures.{{Cite news|url=https://www.irishtimes.com/news/ireland/irish-news/neil-jordan-donates-vast-archive-to-national-library-of-ireland-1.3590879|title=Neil Jordan donates 'vast' archive to National Library of Ireland|newspaper=The Irish Times|access-date=4 December 2018|language=en-US}}

Works

=Film=

class="wikitable"
Year

! Title

! width="65"| Director

! width="65"| Writer

! width="65"| Producer

! width="65"| Other

!Notes

rowspan="2" |1981

|Excalibur

| {{no}}

| {{no}}

| {{no}}

| {{yes}}

|Creative associate

Traveller

| {{no}}

| {{yes}}

| {{no}}

| {{no}}

|

1982

| Angel

| {{yes}}

| {{yes}}

| {{no}}

| {{no}}

|Directorial Debut

1984

| The Company of Wolves

| {{yes}}

| {{yes}}

| {{no}}

| {{no}}

|

1986

| Mona Lisa

| {{yes}}

| {{yes}}

| {{no}}

| {{no}}

|

1988

| High Spirits

| {{yes}}

| {{yes}}

| {{no}}

| {{no}}

|

1989

| We're No Angels

| {{yes}}

| {{no}}

| {{no}}

| {{no}}

|

1991

| The Miracle

| {{yes}}

| {{yes}}

| {{no}}

| {{no}}

|

1992

| The Crying Game

| {{yes}}

| {{yes}}

| {{no}}

| {{no}}

|

1994

| Interview with the Vampire

| {{yes}}

| {{no}}

| {{no}}

| {{no}}

|

1996

| Michael Collins

| {{yes}}

| {{yes}}

| {{no}}

| {{no}}

|

1997

| The Butcher Boy

| {{yes}}

| {{yes}}

| {{partial|executive}}

| {{no}}

|

rowspan="2" | 1999

| In Dreams

| {{yes}}

| {{yes}}

| {{no}}

| {{no}}

|

The End of the Affair

| {{yes}}

| {{yes}}

| {{yes}}

| {{no}}

|

2000

| Not I

| {{yes}}

| {{no}}

| {{no}}

| {{no}}

|Short film

2002

| The Good Thief

| {{yes}}

| {{yes}}

| {{partial|executive}}

| {{no}}

|

2003

|The Actors

| {{no}}

| {{partial|story}}

| {{partial|executive}}

| {{no}}

|

2005

| Breakfast on Pluto

| {{yes}}

| {{yes}}

| {{yes}}

| {{no}}

|

2007

| The Brave One

| {{yes}}

| {{no}}

| {{no}}

| {{no}}

|

2009

| Ondine

| {{yes}}

| {{yes}}

| {{yes}}

| {{no}}

|

2012

| Byzantium

| {{yes}}

| {{no}}

| {{no}}

| {{no}}

|

2018

| Greta

| {{yes}}

| {{yes}}

| {{partial|executive}}

| {{no}}

|

2022

| Marlowe

| {{yes}}

| {{yes}}

| {{no}}

| {{no}}

|

Producer only

class="wikitable"
Year

! Title

! Director

!Notes

1988

|The Courier

|Frank Deasy
Joe Lee

| rowspan="2" |Executive producer

1999

|The Last September

|Deborah Warner

2003

|Intermission

|John Crowley

|

=Television=

class="wikitable"
Year

! Title

! width="65"| Director

! width="65"| Writer

! width="65"| Executive
Producer

! width="65"| Creator

! Notes

1979

| Miracles & Miss Langan

| {{no}}

| {{yes}}

| {{no}}

| {{no}}

| TV movie

2011–13

| The Borgias

| {{yes}}

| {{yes}}

| {{yes}}

| {{yes}}

| Directed 6 episodes
Wrote 20 episodes

2017–20

| Riviera

| {{no}}

| {{yes}}

| {{yes}}

| {{yes}}

| Wrote 2 episodes

= Bibliography =

  • Night in Tunisia (1976, short stories)
  • The Past (1980, novel)
  • The Dream of a Beast (1983, novella)
  • Mona Lisa (1986, screenplay) co-written by David Leland
  • Angel (1989, screenplay)
  • A Neil Jordan Reader (1993) collects A Night in Tunisia, The Dream of a Beast, and The Crying Game (screenplay)
  • Sunrise with Sea Monster (1994, novel) published in the US as ‘’Nightlines’’
  • Michael Collins: Screenplay and Film Diary (1996, screenplay)
  • Shade (2004, novel)
  • Mistaken (2011, novel)
  • The Drowned Detective (2016, novel)
  • Carnivalesque (2017, novel)[http://www.irishtimes.com/culture/books/carnivalesque-review-neil-jordan-s-cirque-du-supernatural-1.2965586 "Carnivalesque review: Neil Jordan’s cirque du supernatural"]. The Irish Times.
  • The Ballad of Lord Edward and Citizen Small (2021, novel)
  • The Well of Saint Nobody (2023, novel)

Awards and nominations

class="wikitable"
rowspan="2" | Year

! rowspan="2" | Title

! colspan="2" style="text-align:center;"| Academy Awards

! colspan="2" style="text-align:center;"| BAFTA Awards

! colspan="2" style="text-align:center;"| Golden Globe Awards

Nominations

! Wins

! Nominations

! Wins

! Nominations

! Wins

1984

|The Company of Wolves

|

|

|align=center|4

|

|

|

1986

|Mona Lisa

|align=center|1

|

|align=center|6

|align=center|1

|align=center|4

|align=center|1

1992

|The Crying Game

|align=center|6

|align=center|1

|align=center|7

|align=center|1

|align=center|1

|

1994

|Interview with the Vampire

|align=center|2

|

|align=center|4

|align=center|2

|align=center|2

|

1996

|Michael Collins

|align=center|2

|

|align=center|2

|

|align=center|2

|

1999

|The End of the Affair

|align=center|2

|

|align=center|10

|align=center|1

|align=center|4

|

2005

|Breakfast on Pluto

|

|

|

|

|align=center|1

|

2007

|The Brave One

|

|

|

|

|align=center|1

|

colspan="2"|Total

!align=center|13

!align=center|1

!align=center|33

!align=center|5

!align=center|15

!align=center|1

class="wikitable"
Year

! Title

! Awards/Nominations

1986

| Mona Lisa

| Nominated- BAFTA Award for Best Direction
Nominated- BAFTA Award for Best Original Screenplay
Nominated- Golden Globe Award for Best Screenplay

1992

| The Crying Game

| Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay
Nominated- Academy Award for Best Director
Nominated- BAFTA Award for Best Direction
Nominated- BAFTA Award for Best Original Screenplay

1996

| Michael Collins

| Golden Lion

1997

| The Butcher Boy

| Silver Bear for Best Director

1999

| The End of the Affair

| BAFTA Award for Best Adapted Screenplay
Nominated- BAFTA Award for Best Direction
Nominated- Golden Globe Award for Best Director

2011

| The Borgias

| Nominated- Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Directing for a Drama Series
(for episodes "The Poisoned Chalice" and "The Assassin" )

= Literature =

  • Guardian Fiction Prize for Night in Tunisia (1979)
  • Rooney Prize for Irish Literature in 1981"Neil Jordan Gets Rooney Prize", The Irish Times, 7 October 1981
  • 2004 Irish PEN Award
  • Kerry Group Irish Fiction Award for 'Shade' (2005) and Mistaken (2011)"Kerry Group Irish Fiction Award – Literary Competitions – 39th Listowel Writers' Week 2009". Listowel Writers' Week. Archived from the original on 23 March 2012. Retrieved 23 September 2011.Cían Nihill (2 June 2011). "Neil Jordan wins major literary award for second time". The Irish Times. Retrieved 23 September 2011.
  • 2011 Irish Book Awards Novel of the Year for 'Mistaken'Ronan McGreevy (18 November 2011). "Heaney honoured at book awards". The Irish Times. Retrieved 25 October 2012.
  • UCD Alumni Award in Arts & Humanities 2021

= Directed Academy Award Performances =

Under Jordan's direction, these actors have received Academy Award nominations for their performances in these respective roles.

class="wikitable"
Year

! Performer

! Film

! Result

colspan="4"| Academy Award for Best Actor
1987

|Bob Hoskins

|Mona Lisa

|{{nom}}

1993

|Stephen Rea

|The Crying Game

|{{nom}}

colspan="4"| Academy Award for Best Actress
2000

|Julianne Moore

|''The End of the Affair

|{{nom}}

colspan="4"|Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor
1993

|Jaye Davidson

|The Crying Game

|{{nom}}

See also

References

{{Reflist}}

Further reading

  • Nolan, Val, Neil Jordan: Works for the Page (Cork: Cork University Press, 2022).
  • Pramaggiore, Maria, Neil Jordan (Urbana and Chicago: University of Illinois Press, 2008).
  • Rockett, Emer and Rockett, Kevin, Neil Jordan: Exploring Boundaries (Dublin: Liffey Press, 2003).
  • Zucker, Carole, The Cinema of Neil Jordan: Dark Carnival (London: Wallflower Press, 2008)
  • Zucker, Carole (ed.), Neil Jordan Interviews (Jackson, MS: University Press of Mississippi, 2013)

External links

{{Commons}}

  • [https://web.archive.org/web/20051028075930/http://www.neiljordan.com/ Neil Jordan's web site]
  • {{IMDb name|0001403}}
  • {{Screenonline name|481951}}
  • [http://www.futuremovies.co.uk/filmmaking/neil-jordan/johan-de-silva Neil Jordan "Breakfast On Pluto"] Interview

{{Neil Jordan}}

{{Navboxes

|title = Awards for Neil Jordan

|list =

{{Academy Award Best Original Screenplay}}

{{BAFTA Award for Best Adapted Screenplay}}

{{Boston Society of Film Critics Award for Best Screenplay}}

{{Evening Standard British Film Award for Most Promising Newcomer}}

{{London Film Critics Circle Award for Director of the Year}}

{{New York Film Critics Circle Award for Best Screenplay}}

{{Rooney Prize for Irish Literature}}

{{Silver Bear for Best Director}}

{{Writers Guild of America Award for Best Original Screenplay}}

}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Jordan, Neil}}

Category:1950 births

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Category:People from Dalkey

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