TRINI ROOTS OF
MUCH-LOVED
'AMERICAN BEAUTY'
Judy Raymond
Sunday Guardian
February 20, 2000
Page 29
When you sit down to watch the Academy Awards on March 26, be sure to
cheer for American Beauty. Not just
because it's the favourite - it's been nominated for eight Oscars - but also
because it was directed by a Trinidadian.
The
director, Sam Mendes, was born in England, but he's a Trini by descent. His father, Peter, is the son of the writer
Alfred Mendes, author of the novels Black Fauns and Pitch Lake,
and part of the group around CLR James and Albert Gomes which produced the Beacon
literary magazine in the early 1930s.
"It's
strange that no one makes the connection," said Sam's uncle, the architect
Stephen Mendes, speaking from his office at West Mall, "although a couple
of years ago Derek Walcott told someone that Alfie Mendes' grandson was doing
great things in London."
Stephen
Mendes believes that Sam inherited his grandfather's artistic talent through
his father, a former university lecturer.
Sam
Mendes had already had a brilliant 10-year career as the boy wonder of British
theatre before being invited by Steven Spielberg to direct American Beauty. So while it's Mendes' first movie, it's far
from his first success.
"He
got a first-class degree from Cambridge, and he was just coasting,"
recalled his uncle.
It
was at university, while studying English, that Mendes started to direct
theatre productions and launched his stellar career.
In
a 3,000-word profile published last month, the London Guardian described
Mendes, 34, as "the man who reinvented the musical Cabaret, making
it a massive hit in London - at the Donmar Warehouse, where he is artistic
director - and on Broadway…the man who has already, in little more than a
decade, created two landmark Shakespeare productions, with his Tempest
and Othello; who, before he was 24, had already achieved two popular
classic hits in the West End (London Assurance, with Paul Eddington, and
The Cherry Orchard, with Judi Dench); and who also notched up…a pension-earning
musical, Oliver!"
Mendes
worked with the Chichester Festival Theatre and the Royal Shakespeare Company,
and then took over the Donmar Warehouse Theatre in London in 1992, his reputation
enhanced by Dame Judi Dench, whom he had directed at 23 and who spread the
word about this "brilliant boy".
His
1998 production of David Hare's The Blue Room starred Hollywood actress
Nicole Kidman and raised his profile on the other side of the Atlantic. But is was after seeing Mendes' revival of
the musical Cabaret on Broadway that producer/director Steven Spielberg
asked to meet him, handed him the script of American Beauty and invited
Mendes to direct it for his DreamWorks company.
Mendes
is a financial as well as a critical success.
Last May he was ranked No. 2 among the most eligible men in Britain by
the London Sunday Express, which quoted him as saying that he makes
"absurd amounts" of money from his long-running West End production
of Oliver! He lives alone near
Oxford, among "thousands of books", but has been romantically linked
with actresses Rachel Weisz (star of The Mummy) and Calista Flockhart of
television's Ally McBeal. The
paper made a rare reference to his roots, describing him as having inherited
"dark brooding looks from (his) Portuguese-Trinidad parentage."
Although
Mendes grew up in England, he and his uncle are close. Stephen Mendes looked after his nephew for
several months after Sam's parents separated when he was five, and Sam has
stayed with him on several visits to this country.
Stephen
Mendes has also seen some of Sam's productions, and was especially impressed by
his "knockout" version of Cabaret in London.
"The
theatre was set up like a beer hall in Berlin in those days (the story is
set in the 1930s), not with rows of seats but with tables. It was participatory: they would drag people
on-stage to take part. I got caught
up - they didn't know I was the director's uncle."
Cabaret's female lead, Sally Bowles,
was played by Jane Horrocks, who starred in the stage version (directed by
Mendes) and the film of Little Voice.
She was Mendes' companion at the time and came with him on a visit to
Trinidad. "She's a tremendous
mimic," recalled Stephen Mendes.
"I was sorry they broke up, because she was so entertaining."
Although
he's one of his nephew's biggest fans, Mendes, who went to the English premiere
of American Beauty last November with his brother, is doubtful about its
Oscar prospects.
"I
like it, it's very interesting," he said, "but it's about
disillusionment with the American way of life, and I'm surprised the Americans
have acclaimed it: they don't like to be criticized."
A
black comedy about a dysfunctional suburban family, American Beauty has
been nominated for best picture and Mendes for best director. Kevin Spacey, who some critics say gave the
performance of a lifetime in the film, was nominated for best actor and Annette
Bening for best actress. The film is
also a contender for best original screenplay, cinematography, film editing and
original score.
Last
month it won Golden Globe awards for best director, best drama and best screen
play, and its financial backer, Steven Spielberg, is said to have told people
that American Beauty is one of the best films he's seen in years.
Mendes'
next project is a new Stephen Sondheim musical, Wise Guys, which opens
on Broadway in April. He's reported to
be pleased that the timing will allow him to be back in London for the start of
the cricket season - he's a keen member of playwright Harold Pinter's team, the
Gaieties.
But
he also has an invitation to visit Trinidad in April for his cousin's
wedding. So if American Beauty
triumphs at the Oscars next month, Trinidadians can not only bask in the vicarious
glory, but also may get the chance to congratulate Sam Mendes in person.
LONDON (Reuters) - The grandson of the Trinidadian writer Alfred Mendes has been awarded in the Queen's birthday honours list.
Director Sam Mendes, the 34-year-old theatre prodigy who won an Oscar this year for his debut Hollywood film American Beauty, won a lesser award, Commander of the Order of the British Empire, or CBE.
Mendes was born in Britain in 1965. His father is Peter Mendes.
Double Oscar-winning actor Michael Caine won a knighthood in Queen Elizabeth's birthday honours yesterday, only weeks after complaining of being frozen out in his own country.
Caine, 67, the son of a London fish porter who stubbornly clung to his cockney accent from the city's working-class East End as he rose to international stardom, headed a list of celebrities in the honours list that included film director Sam Mendes and Harry Potter author JK Rowling.
Thriller writer Dick Francis and singer Lulu also joined hundreds of politicians, civil servants, businessmen, doctors, teachers and sportsmen recognised in Britain's traditional award for good deeds and outstanding achievements.