Editing Miloš Forman (section)

==Career==
Along with cinematographer [[Miroslav Ondříček]] and long-time friend from school [[Ivan Passer]], Forman filmed the silent documentary ''Semafor'' about the [[Semafor (theater)|Semafor]] theater.<ref name="CitySpy"/> Forman's first important production was ''Audition,'' a documentary about competing singers.<ref name="CitySpy2"/> He directed several [[Czech language|Czech]] comedies in [[Czechoslovakia]]. He was in Paris negotiating the production of his first American film during the [[Prague Spring]] in 1968.<ref name="NYTimes"/> His employer, a Czech studio, fired him, so he decided to move to the United States.<ref name="Grapevine"/> He moved to New York, where he later became a professor of film at [[Columbia University]] in 1978 and co-chair (with his former teacher [[František Daniel]]) of Columbia's film department.<ref name="NYTimes"/> One of his [[protégé]]s was future director [[James Mangold]], whom he mentored at Columbia.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.criterion.com/current/posts/1684-a-visit-to-james-mangold-s-office|title=A Visit to James Mangold's Office|publisher=Criterion.com|access-date=14 April 2018}}</ref> He regularly collaborated with [[cinematographer]] [[Miroslav Ondříček]].<ref name="Grapevine"/>

=== 1964–1971 ===
''[[Black Peter (film)|Black Peter]]'' is one of the first and most representative films of the [[Czechoslovak New Wave]]. It won the [[Golden Leopard]] award at the [[Locarno International Film Festival]]. It covers the first few days in the working life of a Czech teenager. In Czechoslovakia in 1964, the aimless Petr (Ladislav Jakim) starts work as a security guard in a busy self-service supermarket; unfortunately, he is so lacking in confidence that even when he sees shoplifters, he cannot bring himself to confront them. He is similarly tongue-tied with the lovely Asa (Pavla Martínková) and during the lectures about personal responsibility and the dignity of labor that his blustering father (Jan Vostrčil) delivers at home. ''[[Loves of a Blonde]]'' is one of the best–known movies of the [[Czechoslovak New Wave]], and won awards at the [[Venice Film Festival|Venice]] and [[Locarno International Film Festival|Locarno]] film festivals. It was also nominated for the [[Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film]] in 1967.<ref name="Oscars1967">{{Cite web|url=http://www.oscars.org/oscars/ceremonies/1967 |title=The 39th Academy Awards (1967) Nominees and Winners |access-date=9 November 2011|work=oscars.org}}</ref>

In 1967, he directed ''[[The Firemen's Ball]]'' an original Czechoslovak–Italian co-production; this was Forman's first [[color film]]. It is one of the best–known movies of the Czechoslovak New Wave. On the face of it a naturalistic representation of an ill-fated social event in a provincial town, the film has been seen by both film scholars and the then-authorities in Czechoslovakia as a biting satire on East European Communism, which resulted in it being banned for many years in Forman's home country.<ref name="VarietyObit"/> The Czech term ''zhasnout'' (''to switch lights off''), associated with petty theft in the film, was used to describe the large-scale [[asset stripping]] that occurred in the country during the 1990s.<ref name="Grapevine"/> It was nominated for the [[Academy Award]] for [[List of submissions to the 41st Academy Awards for Best Foreign Language Film|Best Foreign Film]].<ref name="Oscars1969">{{Cite web|url=http://www.oscars.org/oscars/ceremonies/1969 |title=The 41st Academy Awards (1969) Nominees and Winners |access-date=15 November 2011|work=oscars.org}}</ref>

<blockquote>"When [[Warsaw Pact invasion of Czechoslovakia|Soviet tanks rumbled into Prague in August 1968]], Forman was in Paris negotiating for the production of ''[[Taking Off (film)|Taking Off]]'' (1971), his first American film. Claiming that he was out of the country illegally, his Czech studio fired him, forcing Forman to emigrate to New York"<ref name="pbs/AmMasters//597">{{cite web |last1=cofresi |first1=diana |title=Milos Forman ~ About Milos Forman |url=https://www.pbs.org/wnet/americanmasters/milos-forman-about-milos-forman/597/ |website=American Masters |publisher=PBS |access-date=23 October 2023 |date=12 December 2003}}</ref></blockquote>

The first movie Forman made in the United States, ''[[Taking Off (film)|Taking Off]]'', shared the [[Grand Prix (Cannes Film Festival)|Grand Prix]] (ex aequo)(second prize)<ref name="festival-cannes/taking-off">{{cite web |title=TAKING OFF |url=https://www.festival-cannes.com/en/f/taking-off/ |website=Festival de Cannes |access-date=22 October 2023}}</ref> with ''[[Johnny Got His Gun (film)|Johnny Got His Gun]]'' at the [[1971 Cannes Film Festival]].<ref name="festival-cannes.com">{{cite web |url=http://www.festival-cannes.com/en/archives/ficheFilm/id/2401/year/1971.html |title=Festival de Cannes: Taking Off |access-date=2009-04-13|work=festival-cannes.com}}</ref> The film starred [[Lynn Carlin]] and [[Buck Henry]], and also featured, as Jeannie, Linnea Heacock, discovered, with friends, in [[Washington Square Park]].<ref name="cinema.wisc.edu/2015/taking-forman">{{cite web |last1=Horwitz |first1=Jonah |title=TAKING OFF: Forman's First American Film (and Last Czech Film ?) |url=https://cinema.wisc.edu/blog/2015/04/01/taking-formans-first-american-film-and-last-czech-film |website=Cinematheque |publisher=cinema.wisc.edu |access-date=23 October 2023 |quote=This essay on Miloš Forman's Taking Off (1971) was written by Jonah Horwitz, Ph.D Candidate in the Communication Arts Department at UW Madison. A 35mm print of Taking Off, part of our "Universal '71" series, will screen on Sunday, April 5, at 2 p.m., in the Chazen Museum of Art.}}</ref> It was critically panned and left Forman struggling to find work.<ref name="CitySpy2">{{cite web|url=https://cz.cityspy.network/prague/features/story-famed-czech-director-milos-forman-part-ii/|title=The Story of Famed Czech Director Miloš Forman (Part II)|date=6 September 2017|publisher=CitySpy|access-date=14 April 2018}}</ref> Forman later said that it did so poorly he ended up owing the studio $500.<ref name="NYTimes"/>

=== 1975–1989 ===
[[File:Goldman bo.jpg|thumb|left|180px|[[Bo Goldman]] (left) and [[Michael Douglas]] on the set "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest" (1975)]]
His next film was ''[[One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (film)|One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest]]'' (1975). Despite the failure of ''Taking Off'', producers [[Michael Douglas]] and [[Saul Zaentz]] hired him to direct the adaptation of [[Ken Kesey]]'s cult novel ''[[One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (novel)|One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest]]''. Forman later said they hired him because he was in their price range.<ref name="NYTimes"/> Starring [[Jack Nicholson]] and [[Louise Fletcher]], the adaptation was a critical and commercial success. The film won Oscars in the five most important categories: [[Academy Award for Best Director|Best Director]], [[Academy Award for Best Actor|Best Actor]], [[Academy Award for Best Actress|Best Actress]], [[Academy Award for Best Picture|Best Picture]] and [[Academy Award for Best Writing (Adapted Screenplay)|Best Adapted Screenplay]]. One of only three films in history to do so (alongside ''[[It Happened One Night]]'' and ''[[The Silence of the Lambs (film)|The Silence of the Lambs]]''), it firmly established Forman's reputation.<ref name="CitySpy2"/>

Arthur Knight, film critic of ''[[The Hollywood Reporter]]'' declared in his review, "With ''One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest'', Forman takes his rightful place as one of our most creative young directors. His casting is inspired, his sense of milieu is assured, and he could probably wring Academy Award performances from a stone."<ref>{{cite web|url= https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/general-news/one-flew-cuckoos-nest-review-1975-movie-1162586/|title= 'One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest': THR's 1975 Review|website= [[The Hollywood Reporter]]|date= 19 November 2018|accessdate= July 19, 2023}}</ref> The success of ''One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest'' allowed Forman to direct his long-planned [[Hair (film)|film version]] of ''[[Hair (musical)|Hair]]'' in 1979, a [[rock musical]] based on the [[Broadway musical]] by [[James Rado]], [[Gerome Ragni]] and [[Galt MacDermot]]. The film starred [[Treat Williams]], [[John Savage (actor)|John Savage]] and [[Beverly D'Angelo]]. It was disowned by the writers of the original musical, and, although it received positive reviews, it did not do well financially.<ref name="Grapevine"/>

In 1981, he directed ''[[Ragtime (film)|Ragtime]]'', the American drama based on the 1975 historical novel ''[[Ragtime (novel)|Ragtime]]'' by [[E.L. Doctorow]]. Forman's next important achievement was ''[[Amadeus (film)|Amadeus]]'' (1984), an adaptation of [[Peter Shaffer]]'s [[Amadeus (play)|play of the same name]]. Retelling the story of [[Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart]] and [[Antonio Salieri]], it starred [[Tom Hulce]], [[Elizabeth Berridge (actress)|Elizabeth Berridge]] and [[F. Murray Abraham]]. The film was internationally acclaimed and won eight [[Academy Awards|Oscars]], including [[Academy Award for Best Picture|Best Picture]], [[Academy Award for Best Director|Best Director]] and [[Academy Award for Best Actor|Best Actor]] (for Abraham).<ref name="NYTimes"/> ''[[Chicago Sun-Times]]'' film critic [[Roger Ebert]] praised the film, writing: "''Amadeus'' is a magnificent film, full and tender and funny and charming -- and, at the end, sad and angry, too, because in the character of Salieri it has given us a way to understand not only greatness, but our own lack of it".<ref>{{cite web|url= https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/amadeus-1984|title= Amadeus - Movie Review|website= [[Roger Ebert|Rogerebert.com]]|accessdate= July 19, 2023}}</ref>
[[File:Milos Forman.jpg|thumb|170x170px|Forman in 2009]]
Forman's adaptation, ''[[Valmont (film)|Valmont]]'' (1989) of [[Pierre Choderlos de Laclos]]'s novel ''[[Les Liaisons dangereuses]]'' had its premiere on 17 November 1989. [[Dangerous Liaisons|Another film adaptation]] by [[Stephen Frears]] from the same source material had been released the previous year, and overshadowed Forman's adaptation.<ref name="NYTimes"/> The film starred [[Colin Firth]], [[Meg Tilly]] and [[Annette Bening]].<ref name="CitySpy2"/> The film received mixed reviews with critic of the ''[[Los Angeles Times]]'' Sheila Benson, praising its gorgeous costumes, but noting its inferior quality to ''Dangerous Liaisons''. She wrote: "''Valmont'' is gorgeous, and for a while you can coast on its costumes and production details....But to consider ''Valmont'' in the light of Baudelaire’s words on ''Les Liaisons Dangereuses''--”This book, if it burns, must burn like ice”—is to see just how far down this ice has been watered."<ref>{{cite web|url= https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1989-11-17-ca-1660-story.html|title= MOVIE REVIEW : 'Valmont': A Not So Dangerous 'Liaisons'|website= [[Los Angeles Times]]|date= 17 November 1989|accessdate= July 19, 2023}}</ref>

=== 1996–2006 ===
The 1996 biographical film, ''[[The People vs. Larry Flynt]]'' was a portrayal of pornography mogul [[Larry Flynt]] who brought Forman another directing Oscar nomination.<ref name="academy"/> The film starred [[Woody Harrelson]], [[Courtney Love]], and [[Edward Norton]]. Though critically acclaimed, it grossed only $20 million at the box office.<ref name="NYTimes"/> The biography, ''[[Man on the Moon (film)|Man on the Moon]]'' (1999) was of famous actor and avant-garde comic [[Andy Kaufman]] ([[Jim Carrey]], who won a [[Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy|Golden Globe]] for his performance) premiered on 22 December 1999. The film also starred [[Danny DeVito]], [[Courtney Love]], and [[Paul Giamatti]]. Several actors from ''One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest'' appeared in the film, including DeVito.

In 2000, Forman performed alongside actor [[Edward Norton]] in Norton's directorial debut, ''[[Keeping the Faith]]'' (2000), as the wise friend to Norton's conflicted priest.<ref name="VarietyObit"/> This biography of the Spanish painter [[Francisco Goya]] (an American-Spanish co-production), ''[[Goya's Ghosts]]'' premiered on 8 November 2006. The film starred [[Natalie Portman]], [[Javier Bardem]], [[Stellan Skarsgård]] and [[Randy Quaid]]. It struggled at the box office.<ref name="NYTimes"/> The film received mixed reviews with Phillip French of ''[[The Guardian]]'' lauding it writing "This is a most engaging, thoughtful, beautifully mounted film".<ref>{{cite news|url= https://www.theguardian.com/film/2007/may/06/worldcinema.drama1|title= Review Goya's Ghosts|website= The Guardian|date= 5 May 2007|accessdate= July 19, 2023|last1= French|first1= Philip}}</ref> However, Kirk Honeycut from ''[[The Hollywood Reporter]]'' wrote, "In general, the filmmakers failed to make several basic decisions before shooting...[the] Below-the-line credits are terrific, which only increases an overwhelming sense of disappointment with the film’s failed ambitions."<ref>{{cite web|url= https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-reviews/goyas-ghosts-159042/|title= Goya's Ghosts|website= [[The Hollywood Reporter]]|date= 19 July 2007|accessdate= July 19, 2023}}</ref>

===Unfinished projects===
In the late 1950s, Forman and [[Josef Škvorecký]] started adapting Škvorecký's short story ''Eine kleine Jazzmusik'' for the screen. The script, named ''Kapela to vyhrála'' (''The Band Won It''), tells the story of a student jazz band during the [[Nazi Occupation of Czechoslovakia]]. The script was submitted to [[Barrandov Film Studios]]. The studio required changes and both artists continued to rewrite the script. Right before the film started shooting, the whole project was completely scrapped, most probably due to intervention from people at the top of the political scene, as Škvorecký had just published his novel ''[[The Cowards]]'', which was strongly criticized by communist politicians.<ref name=proj>{{cite web|url=https://milosforman.com/en/about/projects|title=Unrealized Projects :: Miloš Forman|website=milosforman.com}}</ref> The story ''Eine kleine Jazzmusik'' was dramatized as a TV film in the 1990s.<ref>[http://www.csfd.cz/film/23448-eine-kleine-jazzmusik/prehled/ ČSFD: Eine kleine Jazzmusik (TV film)]</ref> In the spring and summer of 1968, Škvorecký and Forman cooperated again by jointly writing a script synopsis to make a film version of ''The Cowards''. After Škvorecký fled the [[Warsaw Pact invasion of Czechoslovakia|Warsaw Pact invasion]], the synopsis was translated into English, but no film was made.

In the mid-1960s, Forman, Passer and Papoušek were working on a script about a soldier secretly living in [[Lucerna Palace]] in Prague. They got stuck writing the script and went to a village firemen's ball. Inspired by the experience, they decided to cancel the script and write ''[[The Firemen's Ball]]'' instead.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://milosforman.com/cz/movies/the-firemens-ball|title=Hoří, má panenko :: Miloš Forman|website=milosforman.com|access-date=7 February 2020}}</ref>

In early 1970s, Forman worked on a script with [[Thomas Berger (novelist)|Thomas Berger]] based on his novel ''Vital Parts''.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.themorgan.org/literary-historical/87783|title=Vital parts : carbon copy of a typescript with autograph corrections, signed / screenplay by Miloš Forman and Thomas Berger.|website=The [[Morgan Library & Museum]]|date=25 July 2017 |accessdate=September 5, 2022}}</ref>

In the early 1990s, Forman co-wrote a screenplay with [[Adam Davidson (director)|Adam Davidson]]. The screenplay, titled ''Hell Camp'', was about an American-Japanese love affair in the world of [[sumo]] wrestlers. The picture was to be funded by [[TriStar Pictures]], and was cancelled just four days before shooting because of the disapproval of the [[Japan Sumo Association]], while Forman refused to make the changes requested by the association.<ref name=proj/>

Forman was hand-picked by writer/producer [[Michael Crichton]] to direct ''[[Disclosure (1994 film)|Disclosure]]'' (1994), but subsequently left the project over creative differences with Crichton.<ref name="Variety"/>

In 1995, it was announced that Forman would direct a remake of ''[[Dodsworth (film)|Dodsworth]]'' (1936) for [[Warner Bros.]] starring [[Harrison Ford]], from a script by [[Alfred Uhry]].<ref name="Variety">{{cite magazine|author=Variety Staff|url=https://variety.com/1995/more/news/milos-forman-back-in-biz-with-flynt-pic-99127124/|title=MILOS FORMAN BACK IN BIZ WITH FLYNT PIC|magazine=[[Variety (magazine)|Variety]]|date=May 29, 1995|access-date=September 20, 2023}}</ref> It was postponed however, following an injury of Forman's.<ref>{{cite magazine|author=Variety Staff|url=https://variety.com/1995/more/news/a-milos-mishap-99124801/|title=A Milos Mishap|magazine=[[Variety (magazine)|Variety]]|date=February 5, 1995|access-date=October 1, 2023}}</ref><ref>{{cite magazine|author=Archerd, Army|url=https://variety.com/1995/voices/columns/linden-returns-to-tuners-with-dodsworth-1117862796/|title=Linden returns to tuners with 'Dodsworth'|magazine=[[Variety (magazine)|Variety]]|date=October 16, 1995|access-date=September 20, 2023}}</ref>

Around 2000, Forman was in talks to direct a film about the early life of [[Howard Hughes]] with screenplay by [[Scott Alexander and Larry Karaszewski]], and [[Edward Norton]] in the role of the eccentric young billionaire.<ref>{{cite news|last=McDougal|first=Dennis|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2005/01/09/movies/a-movie-story-as-elusive-as-its-main-character.html|title=A Movie Story as Elusive as Its Main Character|newspaper=[[The New York Times]]|date=January 9, 2005|access-date=September 20, 2023}}</ref>

Around 2001, Forman was set to direct and co-write the comic crime caper ''Bad News'', adapted from the novel by [[Donald E. Westlake]]. Forman was co-writing the script with [[Doug Wright]].<ref>{{cite magazine|author=Harris, Dana|url=https://variety.com/2001/film/news/warners-makes-news-1117852856/|title=Warner makes 'News'|magazine=[[Variety (magazine)|Variety]]|date=September 18, 2001|access-date=October 1, 2023}}</ref><ref>{{cite magazine|author1=Brodesser, Claude|author2=McNary, Dave|url=https://variety.com/2002/tv/news/regency-fox-nearing-news-1117865105/|title=Regency, Fox nearing 'News'|magazine=[[Variety (magazine)|Variety]]|date=April 8, 2002|access-date=October 1, 2023}}</ref> The project never came to fruition.

In the early 2000s, Forman developed a film project to be titled ''Embers'', adapted by [[Jean-Claude Carrière]] from Hungarian novelist [[Sándor Márai]]’s novel. The film was about two men in the former [[Austria-Hungary]] Empire from different social backgrounds who become friends in military school and meet again 41 years later. Forman cast [[Sean Connery]] and [[Klaus Maria Brandauer]] as well as [[Winona Ryder]]. Several months before shooting, Sean Connery and the Italian producer had a disagreement, and Connery withdrew from the project. Forman was so convinced that Sean Connery fit the role that he didn't want to shoot the film without him and cancelled the project a few days before the shooting was due to start.<ref name=proj/>

In the late 2000s, the screenplay for ''Ghost of Munich'' was written by Forman, Jean-Claude Carriere and [[Václav Havel]] (the former Czech president and writer, who had studied at school with Forman), inspired by the novel by the French novelist [[:fr:Georges-Marc Benamou|Georges-Marc Benamou]]. The story takes a closer look at the events that surrounded the [[Munich Agreement]]. The role of the French Prime Minister [[Édouard Daladier]] was supposed to have been played by the French actor [[Mathieu Amalric]], with his older self played by [[Gérard Depardieu]]. However, the production company [[Pathé]] was not able to fund the project.<ref name=proj/>

In 2011, Forman was reportedly in negotiations to direct a screen adaptation of [[Mitchell Zuckoff]]'s acclaimed biography, ''Ponzi's Scheme: The True Story of a Financial Legend'', with [[Christopher Weekes]] penning the script.<ref>{{cite magazine|author=Cox, Gordon|url=https://variety.com/2011/film/news/ponzi-s-scheme-afoot-1118035940/|title='Ponzi's scheme afoot|magazine=[[Variety (magazine)|Variety]]|date=April 27, 2011|access-date=April 24, 2025}}</ref>