Book review - "Adventures of a Suburban Boy" by John Boorman

John Boorman has always been an interesting director since he burst on to the scene in the 1960s – he had a distinguished background in television, along with many top British directors of the time, made a name with a Dave Clark film, then enjoyed a splash with Point Blank. His career has varied wildly – from the highs of Deliverance and Excalibur to the erratic bombs of Zardoz and Exorcist II. Hope and Glory was his last film to really make a whack, I think, though he is still turning them out – I wish his films did better.

I had read Boorman’s writings in the Projections series and also his diary on the making of The Emerald Forest and his screenplays for The General and Hope and Glory. Many of the same stories turn up again in this memoir but there are enough fresh ones to make this incredibly worthwhile – the stuff on Hell in Pacific is hilarious (Boorman’s relations with Mifune broke down – he directed through an interpreter whom Mifune ended up hitting), although he has an ego like all directors he is frank about the faults of films like Zardoz and Where the Heart Is – the book essentially cuts out after this, which is a shame because I would have liked to know more about his post 1990 films.

He is hazy, too, on his marriage – he mentions infidelity and divorce but this is sketchy (presumably because his former wife is still alive). He is a lot more open on his relationship with Lee Marvin and Jon Voight. I always thought Burt Reynolds should have starred in The Emerald Forest (though Powers Boothe is very fine he wasn’t the same sort of star) – it could have revitalized both careers.