Mike Nichols made embarrassment funny without forgetting the person enduring it. We value the freedom he gave his actors, though The Birdcage shows how his affection for the characters could soften a comedy that needed to be harsher.
Fi1m perspective
Nathan Lane's Albert is having a backstage breakdown in The Birdcage (1996), and Mike Nichols allows the fuss to become uncomfortable. Robin Williams, as Armand, holds himself back and gives Lane room. We laughed, then felt protective of Albert because Lane makes his need for reassurance so plain. Nichols can let a character be exhausting without making us wish he would leave the film.
That attention to actors was there in his film debut, the stage adaptation Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (1966), before The Graduate (1967) brought his breakthrough. The 1970s were less assured, with Catch-22 (1970) among the disappointments. Silkwood (1983) restored his critical standing and began a long collaboration with Meryl Streep. His later work included the television adaptations Wit (2001) and Angels in America (2003). Across those changes, the recurring interest was in relationships and the awkward business of people dealing with one another.
His visual style tends to stay out of the actors' way, an approach sometimes dismissed as workmanlike. In The Birdcage, there is plenty to notice in how he directs the supporting cast. Gene Hackman's Senator Kevin Keeley expects to be heard out, and Nichols lets the waiting become part of the joke. Dianne Wiest's Louise keeps her reactions small, trusting us to pay attention. Both performances show how much comic detail he can get from actors who feel no need to announce that they are being funny.
Elaine May, his former comedy partner, supplies The Birdcage's screenplay, which is too cautious about upsetting anyone. Nichols occasionally lets Lane complain beyond the last useful laugh, and the farce loses pressure while he attends to everybody's feelings. The script wants acceptance without always confronting what its characters are being asked to suppress. Williams and Lane make that compromise worth tolerating because their discomfort matters even when the plot is predictable. Start with The Birdcage, and forgive it for being so anxious to send everyone home happy.
Biography
Mike Nichols (born Mikhail Igor Peschkowsky; 6 November 1931 – 19 November 2014) was a German-born American film and theatre director, producer and comedian. He emigrated to the United States as a child and began his career in the 1950s with the Compass Players improvisational troupe in Chicago. He later formed the comedy duo Nichols and May with Elaine May, whose Broadway performances led to three albums, one of which won a Grammy Award.
After the duo disbanded in 1961, Nichols directed plays on Broadway, including Neil Simon’s Barefoot in the Park (1963), Luv (1964) and The Odd Couple (1965), each earning him a Tony Award. He made his film debut directing Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (1966) and went on to direct The Graduate (1967), Catch-22 (1970), Working Girl (1988), The Birdcage (1996) — on which he also served as producer — Closer (2004) and Charlie Wilson’s War (2007). He produced The Remains of the Day (1993).
Nichols received an Academy Award for Best Director for The Graduate and won six Tony Awards in total, including for a 2012 revival of Death of a Salesman. He also directed acclaimed television productions such as Wit (2001) and Angels in America (2003).
