Thank you to the director of “An Officer and a Gentleman”

The list of directors who have won Oscars for short films and gone on to major feature careers is shorter than you might think. Andrea Arnold, Martin McDonagh and Claude Berri achieved success as artists. David Frankel had multiple hits including “The Devil Wears Prada” and “Marley & Me.” But perhaps only Taylor Hackford, who won in 1979 with a moving little mockumentary titled “The Teenage Father,” has become a serious Hollywood brand. Its name is associated with a certain temperature of studio sophistication and eclectic genre cleverness.

In an industry that increasingly respects writers, Hackford instead recognizes the kind of outstanding craftsmen who keep the industry afloat, even if their status doesn’t earn them glittering awards or prestigious festival spots. has consistently proven its intrinsic value. Consider her Lumiere Festival tribute to Hackford a welcome exception. The four films selected by the festival to represent the director’s work include “White Nights” (1985), “Blood in Blood Out” (1993), and “The Devil’s Advocate” ( (1997) and Ray (2004) aptly point out that: The scope and reach of a consistently mainstream career has always oscillated between populism and prestige, and sometimes intertwined the two.

Critics, for example, have praised director Gregory Hines’ improbable mix of Cold War thriller and dance film, starring Mikhail Baryshnikov as a Russian-American ballet star who fights deportation to the Soviet Union with American aid. I wasn’t thrilled with White Nights, which combines a Cold War thriller with a dance movie. A tap dancer living overseas.

The script was ridiculous, but Hackford knew its selling point. The film is lensed as a vehicle for its stars’ masterful footwork, Twyla Tharp’s intricate choreography, and a slick mid-’80s pop hit soundtrack (which brought Lionel Richie an Oscar). Ta. A creamy and luxurious finish created by David Watkin. Today, it stands as, if not a masterpiece, an exemplary time capsule of its era. It also introduced Hackford to his future wife, Helen Mirren, here cast as a love interest with a thick accent.

If White Nights maintains the illusion of seriousness, The Devil’s Advocate (arguably this critic’s most frequently watched Hackford film) is blatant trash. They are happily playing around. Starring Keanu Reeves as a callous defense attorney who finds himself working for Satan, and an eerily hoofed Al Pacino, this is a hot nonsense, obsessive, , exquisitely lacquered, only touching on emotional truth by proving Charlize Theron’s sharp mettle. She plays the unhappy wife of a lawyer. Some might call it a guilty pleasure, but where’s the guilt?

“The Devil’s Advocate” certainly wasn’t aimed at lofty acclaim. That was certainly the case with Blood In Blood Out, a powerful three-hour film that explores the bonds of brotherhood in L.A.’s Chicano community. Although its initial box office flops were disappointing and demonstrated American audiences’ resistance to Latino narratives, the film nevertheless remained a touchstone for many Mexican-American viewers.

A quarter of a century after winning for his short film, Hackford finally caught the Academy’s attention again with the stunning, gilded Ray Charles biopic Ray, earning him his only Best Director nomination and a performance starring Jamie as Soul.・Fox won the award for his full-fledged performance. Legend.

Ray, which grossed $125 million worldwide, was Hackford’s last big hit. His three films since then — the blowout Mirren vehicle “Love Ranch,” the relative unknown auctioneer Jason Statham’s “Parker,” and the gentle Robert De Niro indie film “The Comedian.” — will never be listed as one of Hackford’s major works. Morgan Freeman’s twilight detective novel with Mirren and Pacino would have fared better.

Either way, Hackford’s tradition as a classy, ​​old-school Hollywood entertainment merchant is firmly entrenched. Somewhat surprisingly, Lumiere Fest’s selection does not include his biggest and perhaps most enduring box office hit, “An Officer and a Gentleman.” A million daydreams of Richard Gere in his tight uniform taking you out of the daily monotony. 41 years later, I am still impressed.

Also, the wonderful 1987 Chuck Berry-centered concert documentary Hail! hail! “Rock and Roll,” which remains his most frankly effective model of the form, or “Dolores Claiborne,” his boldest and perhaps best fictional novel. A shudder-inducing adaptation of Stephen King’s original novel, but unlike the author’s work, this perverse psychological drama about a fractured mother-daughter relationship and suburban sociopathy stars Kathy Bates and Jennifer Jason Leigh. It’s based on the two’s brutally precise performances, which leave the audience reeling for the better. Box office sales in the spring of 1995 exceeded expectations. Scratchy but gorgeous, confessional but elusive, it’s far from what is commonly referred to as a “Taylor Hackford movie.” The more you watch his restless crowd-pleasing films, the harder this word career becomes to define.