John Mackenzie (director)

John Mackenzie (22 May 1928 – 8 June 2011),Nick Eardley , The Scotsman, 11 June 2011 known as "Frenzy Mackenzie", was a British film director. Born in Edinburgh, he worked in British film from the late 1960s, first as an assistant director and later as an independent director himself. He has been described by critics as "a solid and reliable filmmaker with... frequent flairs of brilliance", but despite tackling such topics as the Hiberno-British struggle, or the assassination of John F. Kennedy he was generally not thought of as a political filmmaker. Rather, Mackenzie focused more frequently on narrative, character and plot.

Early life

Mackenzie was born in Edinburgh, Scotland on 22 May 1928 and educated at Holy Cross Academy. He studied History at Edinburgh University. He worked as a teacher and moved to London in 1960.

Career

Early career

Mackenzie came at a relatively young age into the formative world of British cinema in the 1960s, with a ready interest in storytelling and narrative devices. Fortuitously for his career, Mackenzie began his career proper with the English director Ken Loach, acting as the latter's assistant director on such works as Up the...... ...
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