Roger Lindsey Donaldson ONZM (born 1945) is an acclaimed Australian and New Zealand film director, screenwriter, and producer known for landmark films in New Zealand cinema. His debut, Sleeping Dogs (1977), gained critical and commercial success. Donaldson’s notable works include The Bounty, No Way Out, Cocktail, the Cuban Missile Crisis docudrama Thirteen Days, and The World's Fastest Indian. He has worked with stars like Kevin Costner and Pierce Brosnan, won multiple New Zealand Film and Television Awards, and was honored as an Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit in 2018.
Life and career
Donaldson was born in Ballarat, Victoria, where he attended Ballarat High School.4 In 1965 he emigrated to New Zealand, where he established a small still photography business and began making advertisements. Donaldson was also directing documentaries, including an adventure series featuring Everest-conquering New Zealander, Sir Edmund Hillary, as well as his first ventures into drama. Donaldson and actor/director Ian Mune collaborated on a number of projects for television, including anthology series Winners and Losers, based on short stories by New Zealand authors.
In 1976, Donaldson directed and produced his first feature, Sleeping Dogs. The film starred Mune and Sam Neill as two men fighting for their lives in a totalitarian New Zealand. He followed it with Smash Palace, starring Bruno Lawrence as a man who kidnaps his daughter after his marriage disintegrates.
Donaldson's international break came when producer Dino de Laurentiis invited him to direct an adaptation of Mutiny on the Bounty, after Lawrence of Arabia director David Lean left the project. The film, released as The Bounty, starred Anthony Hopkins as William Bligh and Mel Gibson as mutineer Fletcher Christian. Donaldson was nominated for a Golden Palm at the 1984 Cannes Film Festival for the film.
Donaldson went on to direct many popular and successful movies. His breakthrough American hit was the thriller No Way Out, starring Kevin Costner and Gene Hackman. Cocktail, starring Bryan Brown and Tom Cruise, was panned by critics but did very well at the box office, based largely on Cruise's starpower. The volcano disaster movie Dante's Peak, starring Pierce Brosnan and Linda Hamilton, helped restore Donaldson's status after a string of less successful films. Thirteen Days, a political thriller starring Kevin Costner, adapted The Kennedy Tapes, a book by Ernest R. May and Philip Zelikow, which was a detailed account of the Cuban Missile Crisis. He also directed science fiction tale Species, and in 2003, the Al Pacino and Colin Farrell film The Recruit. Donaldson wrote and directed The World's Fastest Indian, which released in 2005. The film starred Anthony Hopkins and depicted Burt Munro's successful attempts at motorcycle speed records at Bonneville Salt Flats in the 1950s.
His son Chris is a sprinter who has represented New Zealand at the Olympic level in 100m and 200m events.5 His daughter India6 is also a filmmaker. Her debut feature Good One made its premiere at the Sundance Film Festival,7 and also screened at the Cannes Film Festival.8
In the 2018 Queen's Birthday Honours, Donaldson was appointed an Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit, for services to film.9
Filmography
Film
| Year | Title | Director | Producer | Writer |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1977 | Sleeping Dogs | Yes | Yes | No |
| 1980 | Nutcase | Yes | No | No |
| 1981 | Smash Palace | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| 1984 | The Bounty | Yes | No | No |
| 1985 | Marie | Yes | No | No |
| 1987 | No Way Out | Yes | No | No |
| 1988 | Cocktail | Yes | No | No |
| 1990 | Cadillac Man | Yes | Yes | No |
| 1992 | White Sands | Yes | No | No |
| 1994 | The Getaway | Yes | No | No |
| 1995 | Species | Yes | No | No |
| 1997 | Dante's Peak | Yes | No | No |
| 2000 | Thirteen Days | Yes | No | No |
| 2003 | The Recruit | Yes | No | No |
| 2005 | The World's Fastest Indian | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| 2008 | The Bank Job | Yes | No | No |
| 2011 | Seeking Justice | Yes | No | No |
| 2014 | The November Man | Yes | No | No |
Documentary film
| Year | Title | Director | ExecutiveProducer |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2004 | The Making of "Sleeping Dogs" | No | Yes |
| 2017 | McLaren | Yes | No |
Short film
- Lawyers (2010)
Television
| Year | Title | Director | Producer | Writer | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1971 | Burt Munro: Offerings to the God of Speed | Yes | Yes | No | TV Short |
| 1974 | Derek | Yes | No | Yes | |
| 1975–1976 | Winners & Losers | Yes | Yes | Yes | |
| 1999 | Fearless | No | Executive | No |
TV movies
- Survey (1972)
- Jocko (1981)
Further reading
- Schneider, Steven Jay, ed. (2007). 501 Movie Directors. London: Cassell Illustrated. p. 488. ISBN 9781844035731. OCLC 1347156402.
External links
References
Screen, NZ On. "Roger Donaldson | NZ On Screen". www.nzonscreen.com. Retrieved 4 February 2024. https://www.nzonscreen.com/profile/roger-donaldson/biography ↩
"Roger Donaldson - Biography". Turner Classic Movies. Retrieved 18 August 2023. https://www.tcm.com/tcmdb/person/51681%7C0/Roger-Donaldson/#biography ↩
"Queen's Birthday honours list 2018". Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet. 4 June 2018. Retrieved 4 June 2018. https://www.dpmc.govt.nz/publications/queens-birthday-honours-list-2018 ↩
Gliddon, Greg (5 June 2018). "This Ballarat-born director is credited with inventing New Zealand's film industry". The Courier. Retrieved 7 October 2021. https://www.thecourier.com.au/story/5448537/this-ballarat-born-director-is-credited-with-inventing-new-zealands-film-industry/ ↩
The-Sports.org entry for Chris Donaldson http://www.the-sports.org/athletics-donaldson-chris-results-identity-s5-c2-b4-o39-w14168.html ↩
Clement, Nick (28 August 2021). "The Roger Donaldson Interview » We Are Cult". We Are Cult. Retrieved 8 August 2024. https://wearecult.rocks/the-roger-donaldson-interview ↩
Laffly, Tomris (21 January 2024). ""…The Relationship Between This Father and Daughter is Forever Changed": India Donaldson on Her Sundance-Premiering Wilderness Drama, Good One - Filmmaker Magazine". Filmmaker Magazine | Publication with a focus on independent film, offering articles, links, and resources. Retrieved 8 August 2024. https://filmmakermagazine.com/124799-interview-india-donaldson-good-one/ ↩
Ross, Rafa Sales (8 August 2024). "Out of Step: Good One's India Donaldson on intergenerational creative forces • Journal • A Letterboxd Magazine". letterboxd.com. Retrieved 8 August 2024. https://letterboxd.com/journal/good-one-india-donaldson-interview/ ↩
"Queen's Birthday honours list 2018". Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet. 4 June 2018. Retrieved 4 June 2018. https://www.dpmc.govt.nz/publications/queens-birthday-honours-list-2018 ↩