Sir Samuel Alexander Mendes CBE (born 1 August 1965) is an English film and stage director, producer and screenwriter. In theatre, he is known for his dark re-inventions of the stage musicals Cabaret (1994), Oliver! (1994), Company (1995), and Gypsy (2003). He directed an original West End stage musical for the first time with Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (2013).
For directing the play The Ferryman, Mendes was awarded the Tony Award for Best Direction of a Play in 2019.
'Blizzard of Souls' ('Dveselu Putenis'): Film Review
hollywoodreporter.comA different point of view on the First World War told with the chilling truth of someone who has lived through combat and its shocking aftermath, Blizzard of Souls(Dveselu Putenis) derives its power from its strong, simple depiction of war seen through the eyes of an innocent 17-year-old soldier.
In this it may be compared to Sam Mendes’ 1917, which was also based on eyewitness accounts of the war. The difference is that here the drama is underscored by evident, old-fashioned patriotism as the small Baltic country of Latvia tangles first with Russia and later the Soviet Union.
Adapted from the book by Latvian writer Aleksandrs Grins, which was banned in the U.S.S.R., the screenplay by director Dzintars Dreibergs and celebrated screenwriter.
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