Name: Norman Jewison
Class of: 1949
College: Victoria
Program: Bachelor of Arts
Hometown: Toronto, ON
A graduate from Victoria College in the University of Toronto’s class of 1949, Norman Jewison is one of the most celebrated filmmakers in North America. Today, Victoria College offers a program in the filmmaker’s name, dedicated to teaching a group of thirty select students how and why arts play an integral role in the personal and social spheres. It is clear, therefore, that Jewison’s work has had a resounding impact on the arts and culture scene. This week, I thought that it might be worth exploring just why this is.
Jewison was born and raised in Toronto, yet he drew much of his inspiration from the United States. After getting out of the Navy shortly after WWII, Jewison hitchhiked through Tennessee, Louisiana, and Mississippi at only eighteen years of age and was shocked by the explicit racial and social inequalities he witnessed in these regions. A lot of Jewison’s work, therefore, has reflected this awakening experience of his, grappling with social issues and bringing them to consciousness through the medium of film.
Before bringing these social issues to the foreground of his work, however, Jewison had to start somewhere. He began writing and directing for broadcasting series under the CBC and briefly, for the BBC upon his graduation from U of T. When he finally ventured into film, Jewison began with light, cotton-candy-esque comedies such as “Forty Pounds of Trouble” (1962) and “The Thrill of It All” (1963). It was “In the Heat of the Night” (1967) that would epitomize the director’s desire to create a discourse around social and political inequality, and this film takes place in a small, racially segregated town in Mississippi centering on a murder investigation to which a black police officer, Virgil Tibbs, has been assigned. The film made an obvious resounding impact, raking in five Academy Awards, including one for Best Picture.
After this period of exploring political and social issues in the United States, the eclectic director’s career took yet another turn when he decided to do film adaptations of musicals. Most notable is Jewison’s 1971 rendition of the 1964 Broadway musical “Fiddler on the Roof,” a comedy-drama documenting the life of the Tevyes, a Jewish family living in the town of Anatevka in the Russian Empire in 1905. Similar to Jewison’s “In the Heat of the Night,” “Fiddler” received an overwhelmingly positive response, picking up three Academy Awards in 1972 for Best Song Score Adaptation, Best Cinematography, and Best Sound.
All in all, I think that Jewison’s impressive career and repertoire conveys an important message to the generations of students that have followed him at U of T; it shows us that it is important to pursue what we are passionate about, while simultaneously embracing new opportunities that stray from what we know and what we are comfortable with. Perhaps the gentle smirk in Jewison’s eyes nudges us to not take ourselves too seriously when pursuing our passions, and to enjoy the journey in itself. As Jewison once said, “I don’t make films to make prizes; I make films to make films.”
Photo sources:
http://movi.ca/director/Norman_Jewison/
http://miceage.micechat.com/allutz/al020910nn.jpg
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/5/5e/Fiddler_on_the_roof.jpg
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/archive/d/d5/20130214000149!In_…(film).jpg