Iain Softley
For Choice Brits, Iain introduces The Mother.
Read Iain's introduction here.
A graduate of Queen's College, Cambridge, Iain spent time at University directing a number of highly-praised theatrical productions. He subsequently moved into film as writer and director of Backbeat in 1994 – the story of the Hamburg-era Beatles, starring Ian Hart. For his next trick he moved to Hollywood for the fast-paced cyber story Hackers in 1995 starring Angelina Jolie (which he also co-produced). Iain hit the jackpot in 1997 with the huge critical and commercial success The Wings of the Dove which saw Helena Bonham Carter at her best in this Henry James adaptation. For K-Pax in 2001, Iain went back to Hollywood to summon up a dream cast led by the inimitable Jeff Bridges and Kevin Spacey, which closed The London Film Festival in style.
A long time film fan, Iain was asked by Sight & Sound magazine in 2002, to select his Top Ten films of all time. These are his choices:
Casablanca (Curtiz)
Citizen Kane (Welles)
The Godfather (Coppola)
2001: A Space Odyssey (Kubrick)
Don't Look Now (Roeg)
Apocalypse Now (Coppola)
Chinatown (Polanski)
Lawrence of Arabia (Lean)
Psycho (Hitchcock)
Sunset Boulevard (Wilder)
