Farewell to John Irvin - More Than Just the Director of Hamburger Hill

John Irvin passed away on August 11 at the age of 86 in the United Kingdom, as confirmed by his producers. An eclectic director, he spanned over five decades in film and television, with a long apprenticeship in television, moving from documentaries to British fiction before arriving in Hollywood. After studying at the London Film School, in the 1960s he made numerous works including the short film Mafia No!, dedicated to the Italian activist Danilo Dolci and nominated for a BAFTA.

Cinema between Popcorn and More Authorial Works

Success came on TV with the series Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, an adaptation of John le Carré's novel starring Alec Guinness, a book later revisited for a more lavish cinematic version with Gary Oldman and Colin Firth. Alec Guinness himself, after the working experience, had highlighted Irvin's decisive character behind the camera.

In the 1980s, the director increasingly moved towards American cinema, directing stars such as Arnold Schwarzenegger in the modest Raw Deal (1986) during the period of maximum "clash" on the big screen with Sylvester Stallone. More successful were the action thriller Next of Kin (1989) with Patrick Swayze, the drama Champions with John Hurt (1984), as well as the touching comedy tinged with environmentalism Turtle Diary (1985) and the entertaining comedy A Month by the Lake (1995) with a magnificent ensemble cast set on Lake Como.

Hamburger Hill, released in 1987, remains one of his most remembered works, for its touching and dramatic portrayal of the Vietnam War, more intimate and far from Oliver Stone's masterpiece Platoon of the previous year. The dramatic Robin Hood of 1991 with Patrick Bergin and Uma Thurman, was a television production that, however, deserved a different budget and the big screen.

The Dogs of War - A War Film to Revisit

Above any other work, I personally believe this great director should be remembered for the war film The Dogs of War. Co-written by the legendary novelist Frederick Forsyth and based on his own best-seller, this underrated film from 1980 tells the story of mercenaries hired to plan a military coup in an African country. A stellar cast led by Christopher Walken, Tom Berenger, and Paul Freeman, available on Home Video in the 118-minute British theatrical version and the more concise 102-minute US version, which limited the in-depth exploration of the protagonist's harsh civilian life. Among the most iconic lines of the film, the one recited by the French mercenary played by Jean-François Stévenin remains unforgettable: «Vive la mort! Vive la guerre! Vive le sacré mercenaire!»

In recent years, Irvin had returned to independent cinema and was working on Water from an Ancient Well, a musical documentary dedicated to the South African pianist and composer Abdullah Ibrahim, a project that remained unfinished.