Editing Fred Zinnemann (section)

==Directing style==
{{quote box|align=right|width=25em|bgcolor = Cornsilk|quote=His films are characterized by an unshakable belief in human dignity; a realist aesthetic; a preoccupation with moral and social issues; a warm and sympathetic treatment of character; an expert handling of actors; a meticulous attention to detail; consummate technical artistry; poetic restraint; and deliberately open endings.|source= —Arthur Nolletti,<ref name=Nolletti/>{{rp|1}}<br>film historian}}

Zinnemann's training in documentary filmmaking and his personal background contributed to his style as a "[[social realist]]." With his early films between 1937 and 1942 he began using that technique, and with ''High Noon'' in 1952, possibly his finest film, he created the tense atmosphere by coordinating screen time with real time.<ref name=Hillstrom/>

Because he started his film career as a cameraman, his movies are strongly oriented toward the visual aspects. He also said that regardless of the size of an actor's part, he spends much time discussing the roles with each actor separately and in depth. "In this way we make sure long before the filming starts that we are on the same wavelength," he says.<ref name=Zinnemann/>{{rp|223}}

Zinnemann's films are mostly dramas about lone and principled individuals tested by tragic events, including ''[[High Noon]]'' (1952), ''[[From Here to Eternity]]'' (1953); ''[[The Nun's Story (film)|The Nun's Story]]'' (1959); ''[[A Man for All Seasons (1966 film)|A Man For All Seasons]]'' (1966); and ''[[Julia (1977 film)|Julia]]'' (1977). Regarded as a consummate craftsman, Zinnemann traditionally endowed his work with meticulous attention to detail to create realism, and had an intuitive gift for casting and a preoccupation with the moral dilemmas of his characters. His philosophy about directing influenced director [[Alan Parker]]:

{{blockquote|My mentor was the great director, Fred Zinnemann, whom I used to show all my films to until he died. He said something to me that I always try to keep in my head every time I decide on what film to do next. He told me that making a film was a great privilege, and you should never waste it.<ref name=Emery>Emery, Robert J. ''The Directors'', Allworth Press, N.Y. (2003) pp. 133–154</ref>}}

In ''[[From Here to Eternity]]'', for example, he effectively added actual newsreel footage of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, which enhanced and dramatized the story. Similarly, in ''A Hatful of Rain'', he used a documentary style to present real life drug addiction in New York City. Zinnemann again incorporated newsreel footage in ''Behold a Pale Horse'', about the Spanish Civil War. ''The Day of the Jackal'', a political thriller about an attempt to assassinate [[Charles de Gaulle]], was shot on location in newsreel style, while ''Julia'' placed the characters in authentic settings, as in a suspenseful train journey from Paris to Moscow during World War II.<ref name=Hillstrom/> According to one historian, Zinnemann's style "demonstrates the director's sense of psychological realism and his apparent determination to make worthwhile pictures that are nevertheless highly entertaining."<ref name=Hillstrom/>