Legendary director Harold Becker reflects on his remarkable career, from his formative years in New York and his acclaimed work as a commercial photographer to becoming a Hollywood hitmaker.

Harold Becker was adept at photography from an early age, with a keen eye for elegance and beauty. He parlayed his unique skills into a successful career as a commercial photographer before becoming entranced by the moving image and independent filmmaking, pouring everything he had into his independent endeavors. After achieving acclaim for a series of thought-provoking documentaries, he was soon swept up in the New Hollywood movement and made the jump to feature films, getting his big break with the unflinching and hypnotic adaptation of Joseph Wambaugh’s true-crime story, The Onion Field.

Even while working in the Hollywood system, Becker never suppressed his independent spirit, becoming known as a fiercely determined actor’s director. In Catching the Light, he revisits each of his best-known films and takes readers inside the experience of making them, casting then-unknown names from James Wood and Ted Danson in The Onion Field, to Sean Penn and Tom Cruise in TAPS, from Matthew Modine and Madonna in Vision Quest, to his fruitful collaborations with Al Pacino in Sea of Love and City Hall. All the while, Becker shares the lessons learned and insights gained from making movies in an ever more complicated and convoluted Hollywood system, making for an indispensable read for movie lovers and aspiring filmmakers.

“Harold Becker comes right at you, with the simplicity, directness, and challenge of his name. He’s anonymous yet everywhere in his work, never calling attention to himself all the while turning a sire toward the agonizing pain and astounding beauty of life. A life lived in parallel observation and participation. Harold’s sweet yet unexpressed desire for anonymity makes his work explode, an artist not only interested in cutting out what doesn’t belong, but framing what does; the evidence revealing the subtext of a military school in TAPS, a corrupt municipality in City Hall, a romance giving birth to distorted lives in Sea of Love, and a police procedural that overcomes procedure with character in The Onion Field. Perhaps what makes Harold Becker is his shrug to anonymity, an unchallengeable pedigree of the Bronx and a tailor-father born in the nineteenth century, informing his intent to cut away everything, not only his photographs but his features, that isn’t ‘life.’” —Bo Goldman, two-time Oscar-winning screenwriter

Harold Becker studied art at Pratt Institute before launching a successful career in photography. He transitioned to filmmaking with shorts including the documentaries Sighet, Sighet and Ivanhoe Donaldson. Becker made his feature debut with The Ragman’s Daughter, which won the Giovanni Award at the Venice Film Festival. The Onion Field established him as a master of the form, followed by TAPS, which introduced Sean Penn and Tom Cruise. Another milestone in Becker’s career was Sea of Love starring Al Pacino. He continued his success with Malice, featuring Alec Baldwin and Nicole Kidman, and reunited with Pacino for the political thriller City Hall. His other credits include The Black Marble, Vision Quest, The Boost, Mercury Rising with Bruce Willis, and Domestic Disturbance with John Travolta and Vince Vaughn.