Philip Kaufman

Directing

Philip Kaufman

Born

1936-10-23 (89)

Place of birth

Chicago, Illinois, USA

Known for

Directing

Credits

33 titles

Philip Kaufman (born October 23, 1936) is an American filmmaker. Although not noted for directing a large number of films, the films he has worked on have been recognized for their intelligence and independence. He is noted for directing films of eclectic subjects, ranging from realism to fantasy, and often incorporating satire or subtle humor as part of his “artistic signature.” He was born in Chicago, Illinois. Kaufman has been considered a “risk taker.” He has successfully adapted novels of widely different types – from Milan Kundera’s The Unbearable Lightness of Being to Michael Crichton’s Rising Sun; from Tom Wolfe’s heroic epic The Right Stuff to the erotic writings of Anais Nin’s Hen…

Known for

Invasion of the Body Snatchers poster
7.2

The residents of San Francisco are becoming drone-like shadows of their former selves, and as the phenomenon spreads, two Department of Health workers uncover the horrifying truth.

Invasion of the Body Snatchers

1978

The Unbearable Lightness of Being poster
6.8

Successful surgeon Tomas leaves Prague for an operation, meets a young photographer named Tereza, and brings her back with him. Tereza is surprised to learn that Tomas is already having an affair with the bohemian Sabina, but when the Soviet invasion occurs, all three flee to Switzerland. Sabina begins an affair, Tom continues womanizing, and Tereza, disgusted, returns to Czechoslovakia. Realizing his mistake, Tomas decides to chase after her.

The Unbearable Lightness of Being

1988

The Right Stuff poster
7.4

At the dawn of the Space Race, seven test pilots set out to become the first American astronauts to enter space. However, the road to making history brings momentous challenges.

The Right Stuff

1983

The Outlaw Josey Wales poster
7.5

After avenging his family's brutal murder, Wales is pursued by a pack of soldiers. He prefers to travel alone, but ragtag outcasts are drawn to him - and Wales can't bring himself to leave them unprotected.

The Outlaw Josey Wales

1976

Henry & June poster
6.1

While traveling in Paris, author Henry Miller and his wife, June, meet Anais Nin, and sexual sparks fly as Nin starts an affair with the openly bisexual June. When June is forced to return to the U.S., she gives Nin her blessing to sleep with her husband. Then, when June returns to France, an unexpected, and sometimes contentious, threesome forms.

Henry & June

1990

Quills poster
7.2

In early 19th-century France, the Marquis de Sade is confined to an asylum where his forbidden writings continue to circulate beyond its walls. As the authorities tighten control, a clash unfolds between the Marquis’ unyielding imagination, the reformist ideals of the Abbé in charge, and the repressive measures of a doctor sent to silence him. Desire, power, and censorship collide in a battle over freedom of expression.

Quills

2000

Film credits

2020s · 2 titles

2000s · 2 titles

Fog City Mavericks poster
8.5

Fog City Mavericks: The Filmmakers of San Francisco is a compelling exploration of the legendary filmmakers who call the San Francisco Bay Area home including George Lucas, Francis Ford Coppola, Clint Eastwood, Chris Columbus and producer Saul Zaentz. The special weaves interviews, commentaries and unforgettable moments from some of the most visionary movies ever created such as American Graffiti, the Star Wars film series, the Indiana Jones film series, The Godfather trilogy, Apocalypse Now, One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, Amadeus, Toy Story, The Incredibles, Lost in Translation, Flags of Our Fathers and many others. It also features interviews with those who have worked with Bay Area mavericks: Steven Spielberg, Michael Douglas, Anthony Minghella, Milos Forman and Frank Darabont.

Fog City Mavericks

2007

Emotional History: The Making of 'The Unbearable Lightness of Being' poster
NR

Milan Kundera's rambling novel The Unbearable Lightness of Being, though greatly admired, was thought by Hollywood studio executives to be "unfilmable." Director Philip Kaufman and producer Saul Zaentz proved them wrong. Emotional History follows Kaufman and Zaentz as they enlist the help of screenwriter Jean-Claude Carrière and legendary film editor Walter Murch to turn the Kundera novel into an imaginative exploration of politics and eroticism, set against the backdrop of the Russian invasion of Czechoslovakia. Our documentary goes in-depth to discover how indelible moments in the film - Lena Olin kneeling on a dressing mirror; Russian tanks invading Prague; Juliette Binoche photographing her boyfriend's nude mistress; became a part of cinematic history.

Emotional History: The Making of 'The Unbearable Lightness of Being'

2006

Behind the camera

Invasion of the Body Snatchers poster
7.2

The residents of San Francisco are becoming drone-like shadows of their former selves, and as the phenomenon spreads, two Department of Health workers uncover the horrifying truth.

Invasion of the Body Snatchers

1978

The Unbearable Lightness of Being poster
6.8

Successful surgeon Tomas leaves Prague for an operation, meets a young photographer named Tereza, and brings her back with him. Tereza is surprised to learn that Tomas is already having an affair with the bohemian Sabina, but when the Soviet invasion occurs, all three flee to Switzerland. Sabina begins an affair, Tom continues womanizing, and Tereza, disgusted, returns to Czechoslovakia. Realizing his mistake, Tomas decides to chase after her.

The Unbearable Lightness of Being

1988

The Unbearable Lightness of Being poster
6.8

Successful surgeon Tomas leaves Prague for an operation, meets a young photographer named Tereza, and brings her back with him. Tereza is surprised to learn that Tomas is already having an affair with the bohemian Sabina, but when the Soviet invasion occurs, all three flee to Switzerland. Sabina begins an affair, Tom continues womanizing, and Tereza, disgusted, returns to Czechoslovakia. Realizing his mistake, Tomas decides to chase after her.

The Unbearable Lightness of Being

1988

The Right Stuff poster
7.4

At the dawn of the Space Race, seven test pilots set out to become the first American astronauts to enter space. However, the road to making history brings momentous challenges.

The Right Stuff

1983

The Right Stuff poster
7.4

At the dawn of the Space Race, seven test pilots set out to become the first American astronauts to enter space. However, the road to making history brings momentous challenges.

The Right Stuff

1983

The Outlaw Josey Wales poster
7.5

After avenging his family's brutal murder, Wales is pursued by a pack of soldiers. He prefers to travel alone, but ragtag outcasts are drawn to him - and Wales can't bring himself to leave them unprotected.

The Outlaw Josey Wales

1976

Henry & June poster
6.1

While traveling in Paris, author Henry Miller and his wife, June, meet Anais Nin, and sexual sparks fly as Nin starts an affair with the openly bisexual June. When June is forced to return to the U.S., she gives Nin her blessing to sleep with her husband. Then, when June returns to France, an unexpected, and sometimes contentious, threesome forms.

Henry & June

1990

Henry & June poster
6.1

While traveling in Paris, author Henry Miller and his wife, June, meet Anais Nin, and sexual sparks fly as Nin starts an affair with the openly bisexual June. When June is forced to return to the U.S., she gives Nin her blessing to sleep with her husband. Then, when June returns to France, an unexpected, and sometimes contentious, threesome forms.

Henry & June

1990

Quills poster
7.2

In early 19th-century France, the Marquis de Sade is confined to an asylum where his forbidden writings continue to circulate beyond its walls. As the authorities tighten control, a clash unfolds between the Marquis’ unyielding imagination, the reformist ideals of the Abbé in charge, and the repressive measures of a doctor sent to silence him. Desire, power, and censorship collide in a battle over freedom of expression.

Quills

2000

Twisted poster
5.6

Recently promoted and transferred to the homicide division, Inspector Jessica Shepard feels pressure to prove herself -- and what better way than by solving San Francisco's latest murder? However, as Shepard and her partner, Mike Delmarco, soon discover, the victim shared a romantic connection to her. As more of Shepard's ex-lovers turn up dead, her mind starts to become unstable, and she begins to wonder if she could be the very killer she's trying to track down.

Twisted

2004

Hemingway & Gellhorn poster
6.1

Writer Ernest Hemingway begins a romance with fellow scribe Martha Gellhorn.

Hemingway & Gellhorn

2012

The Wanderers poster
7.0

The streets of the Bronx are owned by '60s youth gangs where the joy and pain of adolescence is lived. Philip Kaufman tells his take on the novel by Richard Price about the history of the Italian-American gang ‘The Wanderers.’

The Wanderers

1979

The Wanderers poster
7.0

The streets of the Bronx are owned by '60s youth gangs where the joy and pain of adolescence is lived. Philip Kaufman tells his take on the novel by Richard Price about the history of the Italian-American gang ‘The Wanderers.’

The Wanderers

1979

Rising Sun poster
6.1

When a prostitute is found dead in a Los Angeles skyscraper occupied by a large Japanese corporation, detectives John Connor and Web Smith are called in to investigate. Although Connor has previous experience working in Japan, cultural differences make their progress difficult until a security disc showing the murder turns up. Close scrutiny proves the disc has been doctored, and the detectives realize they're dealing with a cover-up as well.

Rising Sun

1993

Rising Sun poster
6.1

When a prostitute is found dead in a Los Angeles skyscraper occupied by a large Japanese corporation, detectives John Connor and Web Smith are called in to investigate. Although Connor has previous experience working in Japan, cultural differences make their progress difficult until a security disc showing the murder turns up. Close scrutiny proves the disc has been doctored, and the detectives realize they're dealing with a cover-up as well.

Rising Sun

1993

The Great Northfield Minnesota Raid poster
5.7

The gangs of Jesse James and Cole Younger join forces to rob the First National Bank in Northfield, Minnesota, but things do not go as planned.

The Great Northfield Minnesota Raid

1972

The Great Northfield Minnesota Raid poster
5.7

The gangs of Jesse James and Cole Younger join forces to rob the First National Bank in Northfield, Minnesota, but things do not go as planned.

The Great Northfield Minnesota Raid

1972

Fearless Frank poster
5.6

A country boy arrives in Chicago, gets killed by some gangsters, and returns to life with superhuman powers in this satirical look at movie genres.

Fearless Frank

1969

Fearless Frank poster
5.6

A country boy arrives in Chicago, gets killed by some gangsters, and returns to life with superhuman powers in this satirical look at movie genres.

Fearless Frank

1969

Fearless Frank poster
5.6

A country boy arrives in Chicago, gets killed by some gangsters, and returns to life with superhuman powers in this satirical look at movie genres.

Fearless Frank

1969

The White Dawn poster
6.6

In 1896, three survivors of a whaling ship-wreck in the Canadian Arctic are saved and adopted by an Eskimo tribe but frictions arise when the three start misbehaving.

The White Dawn

1974

Realizing The Right Stuff poster
9.0

The making of the motion picture "The Right Stuff", from the purchase of the filming rights to the end of principal photography.

Realizing The Right Stuff

2003

Goldstein poster
5.8

A fable about an old man with an odd effect on those he encounters.

Goldstein

1965

Goldstein poster
5.8

A fable about an old man with an odd effect on those he encounters.

Goldstein

1965

Goldstein poster
5.8

A fable about an old man with an odd effect on those he encounters.

Goldstein

1965