| Jonathan Livingston Seagull | |
|---|---|
Theatrical poster |
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| Directed by | Hall Bartlett |
| Produced by | Hall Bartlett |
| Written by | Hall Bartlett Richard Bach (uncredited) |
| Starring | James Franciscus Juliet Mills Hal Holbrook Dorothy McGuire George Takei |
| Music by | Neil Diamond |
| Cinematography | Jack Couffer |
| Editing by | Frank P. Keller James Galloway |
| Distributed by | Paramount Pictures |
| Release date(s) | 1973 |
| Running time | 120 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $1.5 million[1] |
| Box office | $1.6 million[2] |
Jonathan Livingston Seagull is a 1973 American film directed by Hall Bartlett, adapted from the novella by Richard Bach. The film, which has no human actors on screen, tells the story of a young seabird who, after being outcast by his stern flock, goes on an odyssey to discover how to break the limits of his own flying speed. Whereas the source text was a commercial success, the film version was poorly received by critics and barely broke even at the box office. It was nominated for two Academy Awards and the musical score by Neil Diamond won a Golden Globe Award and a Grammy Award.
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As the film begins, Jonathan Livingston Seagull is soaring through the sky hoping to travel at a speed more than 60 miles per hour. Eventually, with luck he is able to break that barrier, but when Jonathan returns to his own flock he is greeted with anything but applause. The Elders of the flock shame Jonathan for doing things the other seagulls never dare to do. Jonathan pleads to stay and claims that he wants to share his newfound discovery with everybody, but the Elders dismiss him as an outcast, and he is banished from the flock. Jonathan goes off on his own, believing that all hope is lost. However, he is soon greeted by mysterious seagulls from other lands who assure him that his talent is a unique one, and with them Jonathan is trained to become independent and proud of his beliefs. Eventually, Jonathan himself ends up becoming a mentor for other seagulls who are suffering the same fates in their own flocks as he once did.
Director Hall Bartlett came onto the project in the wake of a mid-life artistic crisis. Bartlett was not proud of the films he had made in the last ten years, during which he had helmed several major critical and commercial misfires—among them such titles as The Caretakers and All the Young Men. By this point Bartlett was attempting to make films independently from Hollywood, often with his own money. It was at this time that his then-wife, Rhonda Fleming, had given him a copy of Richard Bach's novella of Jonathan Livingston Seagull. So fascinated was Bartlett by the story that he immediately decided to make it his next feature film; when production began, he declared, "I was born to make this movie." [3]
The film was critically panned at the time of its release in 1973. Roger Ebert, who only awarded it one out of four stars, confessed that he walked out of the screening, writing: "This has got to be the biggest pseudocultural, would-be metaphysical ripoff of the year".[4]
The film was nominated for the 1973 Academy Awards for Best Cinematography (Jack Couffer) and Best Film Editing (Frank P. Keller and James Galloway).