Miloš Forman, (geboren 18 februari 1932, Čáslav, Tsjecho-Slowakije [nu in de Tsjechische Republiek] - overleden 13 april 2018, Danbury, Connecticut, VS), in Tsjechië geboren New Wave-filmmaker die vooral bekend stond om de kenmerkende Amerikaanse films die hij maakte na zijn immigratie naar de Verenigde Staten.
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Forman groeide op in een klein stadje in de buurt van Praag. Nadat zijn ouders, activistische leraar Rudolf Forman en een protestantse huisvrouw, stierven in nazi-concentratiekampen, werd hij opgevoed door twee ooms en familievrienden; in de jaren zestig leerde hij dat zijn biologische vader niet Rudolf Forman was, maar een joodse architect. Halverwege de jaren vijftig studeerde Forman aan de filmfaculteit van de kunstacademie in Praag. Na zijn afstuderen schreef hij twee scenario's, waarvan de eerste, Nechte to na mně (1955; Leave It to Me), werd gefilmd door de bekende Tsjechische regisseur Martin Frič. Forman was assistent-regisseur bij de tweede van die scenario's, een romance getiteld Štěňata (1958; Cubs).
Gedurende de late jaren 1950 en vroege jaren 60 trad Forman op als schrijver of assistent-regisseur voor andere films. De eerste grote producties die hij regisseerde, Černý Petr (1964; Black Peter) en Lásky jedné plavovlásky (1965; Loves of a Blonde), kenden zowel nationaal als internationaal groot succes - de laatste ontving een Academy Award-nominatie voor beste anderstalige film —En Forman werd geprezen als een groot talent van de Tsjechische New Wave. Zijn vroege films werden gekenmerkt door hun onderzoek naar het arbeidersleven en hun enthousiasme voor een socialistische levensstijl. Die elementen zijn ook duidelijk in Hoří, má panenko (1967; The Firemen's Ball), waarin sociale en morele kwesties met zachte satire werden onderzocht. Toen The Firemen's Ball in Tsjecho-Slowakije werd verboden na de Sovjet-invasie van 1968, emigreerde Forman naar de Verenigde Staten; hij werd een VS.burger in 1975.
Forman’s first American film was Taking Off (1971), a story about runaway teenagers and their parents. Although not a box-office success, it won the jury grand prize at the Cannes film festival. The movie was also notable for being the last of Forman’s works to incorporate his early themes. Most of his American films are also bereft of the earlier social concerns that defined his Czech films, although he clearly demonstrated his mastery of the craft of direction and showed a remarkable ability to work with actors.
One Flew over the Cuckoo’s Nest (1975) was an independent production that had been turned down by every major studio, but it catapulted Forman to the forefront of Hollywood directors. A potent adaptation of Ken Kesey’s 1962 novel, it starred Jack Nicholson as Randle P. McMurphy, an irrepressible free spirit who cons his way from a prison work farm into a mental hospital. Against his better judgment, he enters into a war of wills with the sadistic head nurse (played by Louise Fletcher). The film became the first since It Happened One Night (1934) to win all five major Academy Awards: best picture, actor (Nicholson), actress (Fletcher), director, and screenplay (Bo Goldman and Lawrence Hauben).
Hair (1979) was Forman’s much-anticipated version of the Broadway musical, but it was a disappointment at the box office, despite receiving generally positive reviews. The director then made Ragtime (1981), a handsomely mounted, expensive adaptation of E.L. Doctorow’s best-selling novel about early 20th-century America. The historical drama starred James Cagney in his first credited big-screen appearance in some 20 years; it was the actor’s last feature film. Ragtime, however, also failed to find an audience, although it received eight Oscar nominations.
Forman rebounded from those mild disappointments with the acclaimed Amadeus (1984), Peter Shaffer’s reworking of his stage success. F. Murray Abraham gave an Oscar-winning performance as the jealous Antonio Salieri, and Tom Hulce earned praise as Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. The lavish production won eight Oscars, including for best picture and Forman’s second for best director. After that triumph he took a five-year break from directing, reappearing with Valmont (1989), an adaptation of Pierre Choderlos de Laclos’s classic novel Dangerous Liaisons. However, Forman’s version—which starred Colin Firth, Annette Bening, and Meg Tilly—was generally compared unfavourably to Stephen Frears’s adaptation, which had been released the previous year.
In 1996 Forman returned to form with The People vs. Larry Flynt, a biopic of the pornographic magazine publisher whose legal battles provoked debates about freedom of speech. The dramedy featured strong performances, notably by Woody Harrelson in an Oscar-nominated turn as the controversial Flynt, Courtney Love as Flynt’s wife, and Edward Norton as his frustrated attorney. Forman earned an Academy Award nomination for his directing. He also garnered praise for Man on the Moon (1999), in which Jim Carrey channeled the genius of the late comic Andy Kaufman. The fine supporting cast included Danny DeVito, Love, and Paul Giamatti. Less successful was Goya’s Ghosts (2006), a costume drama starring Natalie Portman as a model for the artist Francisco de Goya (Stellan Skarsgård) and Javier Bardem as a church official who rapes her after she is unjustly imprisoned during the Spanish Inquisition. In 2009 Forman codirected the musical Dobre placená procházka (A Walk Worthwhile).
In addition to his directorial efforts, Forman occasionally acted in films, including Heartburn (1986), Keeping the Faith (2000), and Les Bien-Aimés (2011; Beloved). He also cowrote (with Jan Novák) the memoir Turnaround (1994).
