Besides his talent in working with actors, Nichols showed a conspicuous inclination towards satire while often relying on improvisation, as well as an affinity for ambitious adaptations of engaged prose



Mike Nichols’, who passed away in November of 2014, last film was the humorous biopic Charlie Wilson’s War from 2007, a fierce political satire based on real events described in the book by George Crile III, portrayed by Philip Seymour Hoffman who was nominated for an Oscar as Best Supporting Actor. The director’s four decades long career includes the anthological second film The Graduate, which brought him an Oscar nomination for Best Director, the cult Catch 22, adaptation of the famous anti-war novel by Joseph Heller, the Oscar and Golden Globe-winning humorous romantic drama Working Girl, and the somewhat underappreciated drama Regarding Henry, for which the screenplay was written by the now influential J. J. Abrams. Besides his talent in working with actors, Nichols showed a conspicuous inclination towards satire while often relying on improvisation, as well as an affinity for ambitious adaptations of engaged prose. Moreover, his films were always characterized by lively dialogues permeated by sophisticated humor and irony. All these characteristics are evident in the romantic drama Closer, nominated for two Oscars and winning two Golden Globes, based on the praised theatre play by Patrick Marber. It is a discreetly directed piece of film in which Nichols draws the viewer into the complex emotional world of the protagonists, thus creating an intriguing and layered story about intricate relations between a love rectangle whose “corners” are suggestively played by Julia Roberts, Jude Law and the Golden Globe winning and Oscar nominated Natalie Portman and Clive Owen. (Josip Grozdanić)