ADRIAN LYNE, deep waters

An intimate portrait of filmmaker Adrian Lyne, featuring an exclusive interview with the director, conversations with actors he has worked with—including Jeremy Irons—as well as film clips and archival footage.

Adrian Lyne’s filmography spans more than fifty years of cinema. Born into an intellectual family, Lyne grew up in London, where he developed a passion for the films of the French New Wave. Yet he began his career in advertising, an early experience that would earn him the persistent—and often dismissive—label of being an “ad man turned filmmaker.”

A constant misunderstanding has surrounded his work. Over time, his films have formed a subversive body of work and a radical, singular vision of love and desire. Often criticized and overlooked, Lyne nevertheless directed some of the defining films of the 1980s, most notably Flashdance (1983) and Fatal Attraction (1987). With 9½ Weeks (1986), he cultivated a provocative reputation, and with Lolita (1997), he challenged the foundations of American puritanism. How could this British filmmaker dare to take on Kubrick’s legacy? And since when are we meant to sympathize with Humbert Humbert? That is the genius of Lyne’s storytelling: making us empathize with characters whose morality is deeply questionable.

Film excerpts used from works directed by Adrian Lyne