The recent passing of Sir Tom Stoppard has prompted an outpouring of tribute from across the arts world. Now, two celebrated film directors who knew him well, Terry Gilliam and John Boorman, have shared personal and poignant memories of the playwright's extraordinary mind, his collaborative spirit, and the unique personal elegance he carried throughout his life.
The Architectural Mind Behind 'Brazil'
For Terry Gilliam, Stoppard was the master craftsman who transformed his chaotic vision into the cinematic masterpiece, 'Brazil'. Gilliam recalls a moment of inspiration in the 1980s, where he envisioned a partnership marrying his visual flair with Stoppard's verbal dexterity. He presented Stoppard with a dense, 100-page document of ideas. "I gave that to him and out of that he carved a beautiful Michelangelo David," Gilliam said.
The first rewrite was a revelation. Stoppard ingeniously stitched disparate elements together, most famously creating the confused identities of Buttle and Tuttle, which became a central plot mechanism. "He took everything to a greater height, he had a better approach to the paranoia and madness of bureaucracy," Gilliam noted. The process involved two or three revisions, each tightening the script further, though a spectacular opening scene involving a beetle in a rainforest was ultimately cut for budgetary reasons.
A Friendship Forged in Language and Laughter
Despite the intense creative collaboration, the pair remained close friends. Gilliam fondly remembers Stoppard's legendary annual garden parties at the Chelsea Physic Garden, describing him as "an absolute magnet" who drew joyous crowds from all walks of life. He reflects on their shared status as immigrants—Gilliam from Minnesota, Stoppard from Czechoslovakia via Singapore and India—and believes this gave Stoppard a particularly profound and playful grasp of English. "He played better with the language than anybody else," Gilliam stated.
Their friendship endured for decades, with conversations often circling back to their beloved project. "Every time Tom and I met, we would often end up talking about Brazil," Gilliam said, making the news of his death feel particularly "terrible, terrible".
Boorman's Byronic Portrait
Director John Boorman's memories stretch back even further, to 1964. He was filming a documentary series, The Newcomers, featuring a young Tom Stoppard as a "Byronic presence" and aspiring writer. Boorman recounts a telling moment: while filming in a cramped attic, a pile of coats began to stir and Stoppard emerged. "He managed to do so with that innate elegance he possessed," Boorman recalled, noting that even in destitution, Stoppard carried an air of destined fame.
Boorman hesitates to summarise the man but offers a glimpse of his legendary wit. At the first night of 'The Real Thing' in 1984, Boorman remarked the play was "almost Shavian." Stoppard instantly retorted, "Very close shavian." For Boorman, Stoppard was a figure of loyalty, generosity, and lightly-worn erudition, who would greet his eventual wealth and fame with the same grace he showed as a young man in a pile of coats.
Together, these recollections paint a vivid portrait of Tom Stoppard not just as a towering literary intellect, but as a cherished collaborator and friend whose brilliance and elegance left an indelible mark on those who knew him.
