As David Dhawan announces his retirement, here are 5 legendary directors from global and Indian cinema who said goodbye to the director’s chair with a memorable final film. Whether planned as a graceful retirement or cut short by fate, their films remain iconic. 

From Yash Chopra to Stanley Kubrick: 5 iconic directors who said goodbye with a memorable last film

Joe Turkel, a character actor best known for his multiple collaborations with legendary filmmaker Stanley Kubrick and Ridley Scott's 'Blade Runner', has died at the age of 94.&nbsp;

A representative told Variety that he died at Santa Monica, California's St. John’s Hospital on Monday.

Also Read:<a href="https://www.wionews.com/entertainment/hollywood/news-will-black-adam-feature-a-superman-cameo-dwayne-johnson-says-493800">&nbsp;Will 'Black Adam' feature a Superman cameo? Dwayne Johnson says...</a>

Turkel's best-known film performance is most likely in Kubrick's Stephen King adaptation 'The Shining'. Turkel plays the role of ghostly bartender Lloyd, who attracts Jack Nicholson's unstable main character Jack Torrance back to alcohol.&nbsp;

Born to Polish-Jewish immigrants in Brooklyn, New York, Turkel was a veteran of World War II as a US Army soldier. He made his film debut in 1949's Maxwell Shane directorial noir crime film titled 'City Across the River'.

<iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/C8hkcFZpI54" title="YouTube video player" width="560"></iframe>

He and Kubrick first worked together in 1956's The Killing. Kubrick next directed him in the 1957 anti-war film 'Paths of Glory'.

In 1982's iconic science-fiction film 'Blade Runner', Turkel played the role of Eldon Tyrell, the creator of replicants (a bioengineered humanoid serving as slaves in the futuristic world of the film) and the head of Tyrell Corporation.

Veteran actor Michael McKean, known for 'Better Call Saul' paid tribute to Turkel on Twitter. "Joe Turkel was always very good, but his performance in Paths of Glory, in a cast filled with great ones, is a subtle and brilliant standout. RIP," he wrote.

Joe Turkel, a character actor best known for his multiple collaborations with legendary filmmaker Stanley Kubrick and Ridley Scott's 'Blade Runner', has died at the age of 94.

Joe Turkel, a character actor best known for his multiple collaborations with legendary filmmaker Stanley Kubrick and Ridley Scott's 'Blade Runner', has died at the age of 94. A representative told Variety that he died at Santa Monica, California's St. John’s Hospital on Monday. Also Read: Will 'Black Adam' feature a Superman cameo? Dwayne Johnson says... Turkel's best-known film performance is most likely in Kubrick's Stephen King adaptation 'The Shining'. Turkel plays the role of ghostly bartender Lloyd, who attracts Jack Nicholson's unstable main character Jack Torrance back to alcohol. Born to Polish-Jewish immigrants in Brooklyn, New York, Turkel was a veteran of World War II as a US Army soldier. He made his film debut in 1949's Maxwell Shane directorial noir crime film titled 'City Across the River'. He and Kubrick first worked together in 1956's The Killing. Kubrick next directed him in the 1957 anti-war film 'Paths of Glory'. In 1982's iconic science-fiction film 'Blade Runner', Turkel played the role of Eldon Tyrell, the creator of replicants (a bioengineered humanoid serving as slaves in the futuristic world of the film) and the head of Tyrell Corporation. Veteran actor Michael McKean, known for 'Better Call Saul' paid tribute to Turkel on Twitter. "Joe Turkel was always very good, but his performance in Paths of Glory, in a cast filled with great ones, is a subtle and brilliant standout. RIP," he wrote.

Joe Turkel, ghostly bartender in 'The Shining', dies at 94

Years after parting ways from actor Tom Crusie, Australian actress Nicole Kidman recently opened up about their 11 years of 'happy marriage'. 
 
The former couple were considered Hollywood royalty back in the day. Kidman who has always refrained from commenting about her marriage to Crusie opened up&nbsp; recently about the couple's time while shooting for Stanley Kubrick's 'Eyes Wide Shut'. 
 
In an interview to The New York Times Magazine, the actress was asked to draw parallels to her personal married life to Cruise to that of the film's plot which revolved around a married couple dealing with infedility. 
 
"If you`re acting those scenes with the person to whom you`re married and doing it as part of this immersive process, can it open up negative feelings that later you maybe wish you hadn`t opened?," the interviewer asked Kidman. 
 
"That fits the narrative that people came up with, but I definitely didn`t see it like that," Kidman responded and added, "We were happily married through that. We would go go-kart racing after those scenes. We`d rent out a place and go racing at 3 in the morning. I don`t know what else to say. Maybe I don`t have the ability to look back and dissect it. Or I`m not willing to." 
 
'Eyes Wide Shut,' which was Kubrick`s final film, notched a Guinness record for a longest constant film shoot - 400 days - by the time it wrapped. 
 
Less than two years later, when Cruise who is now 58-year-old filed for divorce from Kidman in January 2001, fans pored over the film for insights into the couple`s relationship with each other and Kubrick. 
 
Kidman said the film took two years of their time but they "loved working with him.We shot that for two years. We had two kids and were living in a trailer on the lot primarily, making spaghetti because Stanley liked to eat with us sometimes. We were working with the greatest filmmaker and learning about our lives and enjoying our lives on set." 
We would say, `When is it going to end?` We went over there thinking it was going to be three months. It turned into a year, a year and a half," she acknowledged. 
 
Kidman went on to marry musician Keith Urban and shares two daughters with him. Cruise married Katie Holmes and has a daughter with her. Cruise and Holmes split in 2012.

&nbsp;

Years after parting ways from actor Tom Crusie, Australian actress Nicole Kidman recently opened up about their 11 years of 'happy marriage'. The former couple were considered Hollywood royalty back in the day.

Years after parting ways from actor Tom Crusie, Australian actress Nicole Kidman recently opened up about their 11 years of 'happy marriage'. The former couple were considered Hollywood royalty back in the day. Kidman who has always refrained from commenting about her marriage to Crusie opened up recently about the couple's time while shooting for Stanley Kubrick's 'Eyes Wide Shut'. In an interview to The New York Times Magazine, the actress was asked to draw parallels to her personal married life to Cruise to that of the film's plot which revolved around a married couple dealing with infedility. "If you`re acting those scenes with the person to whom you`re married and doing it as part of this immersive process, can it open up negative feelings that later you maybe wish you hadn`t opened?," the interviewer asked Kidman. "That fits the narrative that people came up with, but I definitely didn`t see it like that," Kidman responded and added, "We were happily married through that. We would go go-kart racing after those scenes. We`d rent out a place and go racing at 3 in the morning. I don`t know what else to say. Maybe I don`t have the ability to look back and dissect it. Or I`m not willing to." 'Eyes Wide Shut,' which was Kubrick`s final film, notched a Guinness record for a longest constant film shoot - 400 days - by the time it wrapped. Less than two years later, when Cruise who is now 58-year-old filed for divorce from Kidman in January 2001, fans pored over the film for insights into the couple`s relationship with each other and Kubrick. Kidman said the film took two years of their time but they "loved working with him.We shot that for two years. We had two kids and were living in a trailer on the lot primarily, making spaghetti because Stanley liked to eat with us sometimes. We were working with the greatest filmmaker and learning about our lives and enjoying our lives on set." We would say, `When is it going to end?` We went over there thinking it was going to be three months. It turned into a year, a year and a half," she acknowledged. Kidman went on to marry musician Keith Urban and shares two daughters with him. Cruise married Katie Holmes and has a daughter with her. Cruise and Holmes split in 2012.

Nicole Kidman recalls having a 'happy marriage' with Tom Cruise while filming 'Eyes Wide Shut'

Filmmaker Christopher Nolan will present the 70mm print of Stanley Kubrick's masterpiece "2001: A Space Odyssey" at the Cannes Film Festival to mark the movie's 50th anniversary.

 
The film will be introduced by Nolan on May 12 as part of the Cannes Classics programme and the screening will be attended by members of Kubrick's family, including his daughter Katharina Kubrick and his longtime producing partner and brother-in-law Jan Harlan, the festival organizers said in a statement.

 
The next day, Nolan will participate in a Cannes Masterclass during which he will discuss his award-winning filmography while shedding a light on his passion for the work of Kubrick. 
For the first time since the original release, the 70mm print was struck from new printing elements made from the original camera negative, without any digital tricks, remastered effects or revisionist edits.

 
"One of my earliest memories of cinema is seeing Stanley Kubrick's '2001: A Space Odyssey', in 70mm, at the Leicester Square Theatre in London with my father. The opportunity to be involved in recreating that experience for a new generation, and of introducing our new unrestored 70mm print of Kubrick's masterpiece in all its analog glory at the Festival de Cannes, is an honor and a privilege," Nolan said in the statement.

 
Nolan worked closely with the team at Warner Bros. Pictures throughout the mastering process. 
"Stanley Kubrick in the Official Selection! It is a great honor for the Festival de Cannes to host the 50th-anniversary celebration of one of the most extraordinary films in the history of cinema. And to welcome to the Festival for the first time Christopher Nolan, whose presence creates a precious bond between past and present, without which cinema would have no history," Cannes chief Thierry Fr?Marx said.

'A Space Odyssey' at the Cannes Film Festival to mark the movie's 50th anniversary.

Filmmaker Christopher Nolan will present the 70mm print of Stanley Kubrick's masterpiece "2001: A Space Odyssey" at the Cannes Film Festival to mark the movie's 50th anniversary. The film will be introduced by Nolan on May 12 as part of the Cannes Classics programme and the screening will be attended by members of Kubrick's family, including his daughter Katharina Kubrick and his longtime producing partner and brother-in-law Jan Harlan, the festival organizers said in a statement. The next day, Nolan will participate in a Cannes Masterclass during which he will discuss his award-winning filmography while shedding a light on his passion for the work of Kubrick. For the first time since the original release, the 70mm print was struck from new printing elements made from the original camera negative, without any digital tricks, remastered effects or revisionist edits. "One of my earliest memories of cinema is seeing Stanley Kubrick's '2001: A Space Odyssey', in 70mm, at the Leicester Square Theatre in London with my father. The opportunity to be involved in recreating that experience for a new generation, and of introducing our new unrestored 70mm print of Kubrick's masterpiece in all its analog glory at the Festival de Cannes, is an honor and a privilege," Nolan said in the statement. Nolan worked closely with the team at Warner Bros. Pictures throughout the mastering process. "Stanley Kubrick in the Official Selection! It is a great honor for the Festival de Cannes to host the 50th-anniversary celebration of one of the most extraordinary films in the history of cinema. And to welcome to the Festival for the first time Christopher Nolan, whose presence creates a precious bond between past and present, without which cinema would have no history," Cannes chief Thierry Fr?Marx said.

Cannes 2018: Christopher Nolan to present 70mm print of Stanley Kubrick's '2001: A Space Odyssey' at the film festival

When Vladimir Nabokov was approached by Stanley Kubrick in 1959 about making a movie of his masterpiece, Lolita, Nabokov at first refused the temptation to write the screenplay. But then, having &ldquo;experienced a small nocturnal illumination, of diabolical origin&rdquo;, he fell into a cinematic dream and composed his now famously impossible 400-page screenplay.

Kubrick&rsquo;s producer, James B Harris, was typically dismissive: &ldquo;You couldn&rsquo;t make it. You couldn&rsquo;t lift it.&rdquo; His words reflected the standard film industry condescension towards writers. But what neither Harris nor Kubrick realised was that Nabokov was streets ahead of them.

Almost 30 years earlier, when Kubrick was just four years old and cinema was in its infancy, Nabokov wrote a short novel in Russian called Kamera Obskura (soon translated into English as Laughter in the Dark). It told the story of a man, Albinus, slightly drunk with the idea of cinema, who falls for an aspiring actress and whose life ends in disaster. The novel is a movie &ndash; not literally &ndash; but literarily. Here are a few of the words of Albinus&rsquo; disastrous ending:

<blockquote>
Stage directions for last silent scene: door &ndash; wide open. Table &ndash; thrust away from it. Carpet &ndash; bulging up at table foot in a frozen wave. Chair &ndash; lying close by dead body of man in purplish brown suit and felt slippers. Automatic pistol not visible. It is under him. Cabinet where the miniatures had been &ndash; empty. On the other (small) table, on which ages ago a porcelain ballet-dancer stood (later transferred to another room) lies a woman&rsquo;s glove, black outside, white inside. By the striped sofa stands a smart suitcase, with a coloured label still adhering to it: &lsquo;Rouginard, Hotel Britannia&rsquo;.
</blockquote>

This is the most explicitly scripted piece of writing in the novel which provides a distillation of the state of cinema at the time, ending with that cinematic clich&eacute;: the post-murder room in disarray.

<figure class="align-center "><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/199267/original/file-20171214-27593-1gisql0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=754&amp;fit=clip" />
<figcaption>Vladimir Nabokov in 1973. <a class="source" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vladimir_Nabokov#/media/File:Vladimir_Nabokov_1973.jpg">wikipedia/gettyimages</a></figcaption>
</figure>

&nbsp;

A few of the phrases in the extract remain purely literary &ndash; in a screenplay, one doesn&rsquo;t mention anything that can&rsquo;t be seen, as Nabokov mentions the invisible gun and the porcelain ballet-dancer. Others are pure screenplay. The phrase &ldquo;stage directions for last silent scene&rdquo; is such a postmodern touch that it is amazing to find it in a work from the early 1930s.

Cinema, like butterflies (Nabokov was a respected lepidopterist), and all the things Nabokov worked over obsessively in his novels, had clearly taken hold of him at a young age. The opening paragraph of his 1966 memoir, Speak, Memory, refers to the disturbing childhood experience of seeing home movies taken weeks before he was born &ndash; before he existed &ndash; and feeling that his mother&rsquo;s wave from an upstairs window was some mysterious farewell. This seems to encapsulate Nabokov&rsquo;s ambivalent feeling for cinema and its centrality to his art. The power of the visible surface, the very many possible interpretations of any filmed action.

But Laughter in the Dark is more than just inspired by the movies. It is, in its conception, a fusion of novel and film. Like Joseph Conrad before him, Nabokov dreamt of making the reader &ldquo;see&rdquo; (see the movie in the mind&rsquo;s eye, and feel the power of the images). Proof that he was self-consciously writing a movie occurs when Albinus, having an hour to kill, goes to the cinema.

At the movie theatre, there is a publicity poster which &ldquo;portrayed a man looking up at a window framing a child in a nightshirt&rdquo;. This photographically composed image, with its double framing of the child, is evidence of Nabokov&rsquo;s acute cinematic sense. The framed child reappears later on, in the form of Albinus&rsquo; own daughter in a window, but by this time the reader has forgotten the poster. The &ldquo;viewer&rdquo; on the other hand, would not have.

Fantastic possibilities

And it may only have been on second writing that these images made their way into the story. Laughter in the Dark is Nabokov&rsquo;s own translation from the Russian original, which means the method too was like that of the screenwriter, who writes many drafts, maybe using index cards as Nabokov did. So Laughter in the Dark became a dramatised analysis of the difference between a novel and a movie.

It is also a demonstration of the lessons a novelist can learn from the art of cinema and of the fantastic possibilities of cinema&rsquo;s visual language. Not until Alfred Hitchcock&rsquo;s greatest films did cinema achieve anything like the fluidity or visual acrobatics of Laughter in the Dark. Here, in Nabokov&rsquo;s wonderful language, we find not just the cinematic staging of &ldquo;scenes&rdquo;, but framing, montage, snappy dialogue, the jump cut, the wide-angle shot, the aerial shot, the extreme close-up, even dramatic lighting effects.

Yet, from the 1950s onwards, under the influence of the Auteur Theory, the movie industry contrived to keep novelists as far away from any power in the industry as they possibly could and to cast screenwriters (and the screenplay) as mere cogs in the production process, even banning writers from the set.

<figure><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/vaO_L0n0zhc?wmode=transparent&amp;start=0" width="440"></iframe></figure>

Which brings me back to the &ldquo;impossible&rdquo; screenplay for Lolita. The only thing impossible about it is its length. Otherwise, it is a screenplay that only a cinematic master could have written. Understandably, Kubrick had to boil its 400 pages down. But with today&rsquo;s digital technology making film so much cheaper to produce and a wider variety of viewing platforms available, Nabokov&rsquo;s dream could be realised, word for word, image for image.

Of the two existing adaptations, Nabokov himself lamented the flaws in the Kubrick version. He was not alive to react to Adrien Lyne&rsquo;s interesting but overly sympathetic 1997 version.

His own screenplay could become the definitive screen Lolita. It could serve to protect the novel&rsquo;s reputation, correct the errors of the two existing adaptations and prove once and for all that the screenplay is a legitimate literary form, as potentially complete in its vision as the novel.

&nbsp;

This article was originally published on <a href="http://theconversation.com" rel="nofollow" target="blank">The Conversation</a>. Read the <a href="https://theconversation.com/its-time-vladimir-nabokovs-impossible-screenplay-for-lolita-was-finally-made-89180">original article</a>.

It could serve to protect the novel’s reputation, correct the errors of the two existing adaptations and prove once and for all that the screenplay is a legitimate literary form, as potentially complete in its vision as the novel.

When Vladimir Nabokov was approached by Stanley Kubrick in 1959 about making a movie of his masterpiece, Lolita, Nabokov at first refused the temptation to write the screenplay. But then, having “experienced a small nocturnal illumination, of diabolical origin”, he fell into a cinematic dream and composed his now famously impossible 400-page screenplay. Kubrick’s producer, James B Harris, was typically dismissive: “You couldn’t make it. You couldn’t lift it.” His words reflected the standard film industry condescension towards writers. But what neither Harris nor Kubrick realised was that Nabokov was streets ahead of them. Almost 30 years earlier, when Kubrick was just four years old and cinema was in its infancy, Nabokov wrote a short novel in Russian called Kamera Obskura (soon translated into English as Laughter in the Dark). It told the story of a man, Albinus, slightly drunk with the idea of cinema, who falls for an aspiring actress and whose life ends in disaster. The novel is a movie – not literally – but literarily. Here are a few of the words of Albinus’ disastrous ending: Stage directions for last silent scene: door – wide open. Table – thrust away from it. Carpet – bulging up at table foot in a frozen wave. Chair – lying close by dead body of man in purplish brown suit and felt slippers. Automatic pistol not visible. It is under him. Cabinet where the miniatures had been – empty. On the other (small) table, on which ages ago a porcelain ballet-dancer stood (later transferred to another room) lies a woman’s glove, black outside, white inside. By the striped sofa stands a smart suitcase, with a coloured label still adhering to it: ‘Rouginard, Hotel Britannia’. This is the most explicitly scripted piece of writing in the novel which provides a distillation of the state of cinema at the time, ending with that cinematic cliché: the post-murder room in disarray. Vladimir Nabokov in 1973. wikipedia/gettyimages A few of the phrases in the extract remain purely literary – in a screenplay, one doesn’t mention anything that can’t be seen, as Nabokov mentions the invisible gun and the porcelain ballet-dancer. Others are pure screenplay. The phrase “stage directions for last silent scene” is such a postmodern touch that it is amazing to find it in a work from the early 1930s. Cinema, like butterflies (Nabokov was a respected lepidopterist), and all the things Nabokov worked over obsessively in his novels, had clearly taken hold of him at a young age. The opening paragraph of his 1966 memoir, Speak, Memory, refers to the disturbing childhood experience of seeing home movies taken weeks before he was born – before he existed – and feeling that his mother’s wave from an upstairs window was some mysterious farewell. This seems to encapsulate Nabokov’s ambivalent feeling for cinema and its centrality to his art. The power of the visible surface, the very many possible interpretations of any filmed action. But Laughter in the Dark is more than just inspired by the movies. It is, in its conception, a fusion of novel and film. Like Joseph Conrad before him, Nabokov dreamt of making the reader “see” (see the movie in the mind’s eye, and feel the power of the images). Proof that he was self-consciously writing a movie occurs when Albinus, having an hour to kill, goes to the cinema. At the movie theatre, there is a publicity poster which “portrayed a man looking up at a window framing a child in a nightshirt”. This photographically composed image, with its double framing of the child, is evidence of Nabokov’s acute cinematic sense. The framed child reappears later on, in the form of Albinus’ own daughter in a window, but by this time the reader has forgotten the poster. The “viewer” on the other hand, would not have. Fantastic possibilities And it may only have been on second writing that these images made their way into the story. Laughter in the Dark is Nabokov’s own translation from the Russian original, which means the method too was like that of the screenwriter, who writes many drafts, maybe using index cards as Nabokov did. So Laughter in the Dark became a dramatised analysis of the difference between a novel and a movie. It is also a demonstration of the lessons a novelist can learn from the art of cinema and of the fantastic possibilities of cinema’s visual language. Not until Alfred Hitchcock’s greatest films did cinema achieve anything like the fluidity or visual acrobatics of Laughter in the Dark. Here, in Nabokov’s wonderful language, we find not just the cinematic staging of “scenes”, but framing, montage, snappy dialogue, the jump cut, the wide-angle shot, the aerial shot, the extreme close-up, even dramatic lighting effects. Yet, from the 1950s onwards, under the influence of the Auteur Theory, the movie industry contrived to keep novelists as far away from any power in the industry as they possibly could and to cast screenwriters (and the screenplay) as mere cogs in the production process, even banning writers from the set. Which brings me back to the “impossible” screenplay for Lolita. The only thing impossible about it is its length. Otherwise, it is a screenplay that only a cinematic master could have written. Understandably, Kubrick had to boil its 400 pages down. But with today’s digital technology making film so much cheaper to produce and a wider variety of viewing platforms available, Nabokov’s dream could be realised, word for word, image for image. Of the two existing adaptations, Nabokov himself lamented the flaws in the Kubrick version. He was not alive to react to Adrien Lyne’s interesting but overly sympathetic 1997 version. His own screenplay could become the definitive screen Lolita. It could serve to protect the novel’s reputation, correct the errors of the two existing adaptations and prove once and for all that the screenplay is a legitimate literary form, as potentially complete in its vision as the novel. This article was originally published on The Conversation. Read the original article.

Opinion: Vladimir Nabokov's 'impossible' screenplay for Lolita needs to be made

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From Yash Chopra to Stanley Kubrick: 5 iconic directors who said goodbye with a memorable last film

Joe Turkel, ghostly bartender in 'The Shining', dies at 94

Nicole Kidman recalls having a 'happy marriage' with Tom Cruise while filming 'Eyes Wide Shut'

Cannes 2018: Christopher Nolan to present 70mm print of Stanley Kubrick's '2001: A Space Odyssey' at the film festival

Opinion: Vladimir Nabokov's 'impossible' screenplay for Lolita needs to be made