sydney pollack

i suspect only little blips will appear about Sydney Pollack in the popular press. his career in film and television was too erratic for contemporary tastes so eager to pin down identities and pigeonhole personae to the point of caricature. Pollack, who died yesterday at the age of 73, wasn't best known for anything: he was a sometime actor, a quite successful director at one point—remember Tootsie? it was nominated for an academy award; so was Out of Africa which did, in fact, win (as best picture, and for best direction). In recent years, he was an ambitious producer, helping such compelling and underrated material like The Talented Mr. Ripley or The Quiet American make it to the screen. most recently, he helped produce Michael Clayton, and directed a documentary about architect Frank Gehry.

so it's a shame, then: both the fact of his passing, and the likelihood that his memory will remain shared solely amongst a few friends, family, and industry associates, even though he was an important public figure, particularly in the intellectual and cultural life of the US (if not of the world). yet this shame borders on tragedy; the latter a term reserved for seemingly catastrophic deaths of larger-than-life public figures (Diana, any former president, or Trudeau here in Canada). it borders on tragedy because, despite his efforts, his public opinion never quite reached mythological status; a tragedy because it likely never will.

it's a shame, then, that we're all part of a public that reads so shallowly, experiences so narrowly, and remembers with vividness only very select concerns. Pollack's career was built on subtlety and is difficult to amplify. it's a testament to his character that this is so, and a tragedy it likely won't be regarded as such.