The Week - UK (2021-07-17)

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THEWEEK 17 July 2021

Obituaries

RichardDonner,whohas

diedaged91,wasoneof

Hollywood’smostsuccessful

filmdirectors.Versatileand

extremelyprolific,hedirectedsomeofthe

biggestfilmsofthe 1980 sand 1990 s–and

alsolaidthegroundworkforthemodern

superheromovie,saidTheNewYorkTimes.

Inthelate 197 0s,Donnerwasaskedtodirecta

movieadaptationoftheSupermancomics.The

ManofSteelhadn’tbeenseenonfilmsincea

TVseriesinthe 19 50s,andbringinghimtothe

bigscreenprovedchallenging.Theproducers

wantedanestablishedstarfortherole,and

consideredeveryonefromPaulNewmanand

RobertRedfordtoSylvesterStallone.But

Donnerwasconvincedithadtobetakenbyan

unknown.“Youcouldn’tseeSly,orRedford,

orallthepeopletheywerepitching,inthat

costume,”hesaid.“Youwouldn’tbelievethat

theycouldfly.”Eventuallyacastingagent

suggestedhetakealookatChristopherReeve.

Reevewastooskinnyfortherole(his friendscalledhimthe

HumanStringBean);buthe promised hecouldbulkup, and in

just overamonth,hetransformedhis physique. Therewere plenty

moreheadaches,though, saidTheTimes.MarlonBrandowasso

lazy,hehad originallyproposedplayinghis character,Superman’s

father,asagreen suitcase, orabagel,sothat hewouldn’thave to

comeon set. Donnerhatedthe original script,findingitcamp and

parodic,and hadtobringinnewwriters.Later, thecomplexityof

theproject –whichinvolved filmingSupermanandSupermanII

at thesametime–created tensionswithits producers.Hewas

eventuallyfired:RichardLester finishedthe secondfilm. Yet

againstthe odds,Supermanwas atriumph, andbrokebox office

records.The key toits successlay intheword thatDonner had

printedonasignat thestartoffilming:Verisimilitude. Hewas

determined that Supermanshouldseemreal.And thatextended

tothespecialeffects.“Iftheaudiencedidn’t

believehewasflying,Ididn’thaveamovie.”

ThesonofRussianimmigrantparents,Richard

SchwartzbergwasbornintheBronxin 193 0.

Atcollege,hegotajobintheatre,andenjoyed

itsomuchhedecidedtotryhishandatacting.

Hisfirstrole,aged 2 0,wasinaTVadaptation

ofOfHumanBondage,butonsetthedirector,

MartinRitt,wasirritatedbyhisconstant

interventions.“HesaidI’dnevermakeitas

anactorbecauseIcouldn’ttakedirection,”

Donnerrecalled.Rittreckonedtheyoungactor

couldgivedirection,however,andtookhimon

asanassistant.In 1959 ,Donnermovedto

Hollywood,whereheworkedforyearsinTV,

onshowsincludingTheTwilightZone,before

gettinghisbig-screenbreakwhenhewasasked

todirectTheOmen(1976).Ahorrorfilm

aboutachildwhoistheAntichrist,itwasa

massivehit,andspawnedseveralsequels.Its

successwonhimtheSupermanjob.Hehad

lovedthecomicsasachildduringtheWar,andwasdetermined

toreflectinthe filmwhatthecharacter had meantto him.

In the1980s,Donnerscoredmorehitswiththechildren’sromp

TheGoonies(1985),theBillMurraycomedyScrooged(1988),

and theLethal Weaponmovies,starringDannyGloverandMel

Gibson.Theywerefast-pacedactio nfilms,buthe was proudof

the fact thatheslippedintothemreferencesto liberal causes such

as theanti-apartheidmovement. In1 98 6, hemarried thefilm

producer Lauren Shuler.Theyrarely workedtogether:“I’ma

200-poundgorilla,” heexplained.“She’sa300-pound gorilla.”

However, theyco-foundedaproduction company,whichwas

behindtheFreeWillyandX-Menfilmsamongotherhigh

grossers.Askedoncehowhe’dliketo beremembered, hesaid:

“As agood guywho livedalong lifeand had agood timeand

always had thatlady behindhimpushing him.”

Richard

Donner

1930-2021

Esther Bejarano, who hasdied

inHamburgaged 96, wasone

of the last survivors ofthe

Women’sOrchestrarecruited

toplayatAuschwitz.Withsome40 otheryoung

women,shewasforcedtoperformwheninmates

weremarched outtowork,orastrainsfrom

across Europe delivered more Jews to the death

camp, saidDeutscheWelle(Bonn). “Weplayed

with tears in our eyes,” sherecalled ina2010

interview.“The new arrivals came in wavingand

applaudingusbut we knew they wouldbe taken

directly tothegas chambers.” In laterlife,she

would becomeaprominentpoliticalactivist,

fightinganti-Semitismand discriminationin

Germany. Wellintoher 90s, shesang alongside

hersoninahip-hopband,Microphone Mafia,

to spreadhermessagetoanew generationof Germans.

BorninSaarlouisin 1924, Esther Bejaranowas the daughterof

ateacher, saidThe Daily Telegraph. Herfather alsoservedasa

cantorfor thelocal Jewish community,andencouragedhertalent

formusic. Shehad,she said,“ahorrible youth”blightedby the

Nazis. In1941,she was senttoaforcedlabour camp near Berlin.

Twoyearslater shewasdeported toAuschwitz,ajourney of five

daysinacattletruck. In hermemoirs, sherememberedbeing

greetedbyanSSofficersaying:“Now,youfilthyJews,wewill

show you what it means towork.” Shewas madetocollect and

carryheavyrocks.Learningthatanorchestra

wasbeingformed, shevolunteeredasan

accordionist even thoughshe hadneverplayed

theinstrument,gamblingthat shecoulduse her

skillsasapianist. Inwhat shecalleda“miracle”,

shewasgiven aGerman tunethatsheknewwell

to performatheraudition,and earnedaplace:

music,shewould saylater,kept heralive. In

autumn 1943, shewastransferredtothe

Ravensbrückwomen’s concentration camp north

of Berlin, andin April 1945managedto flee

froma“deathmarch” of prisoners drivenwest

by their guards toavoidadvancing Sovietforces.

Tocelebrate the endofthe War,she playedthe

accordion to Allied troopsasapictureofHitler

wasburntonabonfire. Bothher parents andher

sister were killedin theHolocaust.

After the War,Bejarano emigratedtoIsraelwhere shemade a

career asasinger, butin 1960shereturned to Germanywithher

husband tolive in Hamburg,said theDaily Mail.Onencounter-

ing openanti-Semitism, shebecameanactivist, visiting schoolsto

talk about the Holocaust. Whenshe addressed young people, she

liked tosay: “You are notguiltyofwhat happenedbackthen.But

youbecomeguiltyif you refuseto listen.”Atinyfigure(less than

five feet tall),she exuded great energy and charisma.Germany’s

foreign ministerHeik oMaaspaidtributetoher, callingher “an

importantvoice in the fightagainst racism and anti-Semitism”.

Esther

Bejarano

1924-2021

Hugely successful film director who made Superman

Donner:“I’ma200-poundgorilla”

Bejarano:atireless activist

Survivor of the Auschwitz women’s orchestra