The Criterion Collection

Mister Johnson

Edition no. 774

Packaging Review Discuss Compare

Release Date: Tuesday, 22 September 2015
Country of Release: USA
MSRP: $39.95

Buy Physical Copy At:

Licensor Information

Janus Films

Directed by: Bruce Beresford

Featuring: Maynard Eziashi, Pierce Brosnan, Edward Woodward

A decade after he broke through with Breaker Morant, Australian director Bruce Beresford made another acclaimed film about the effects of colonialism on the individual. In a performance that earned him the Berlin Film Festival’s Silver Bear for best actor, Maynard Eziashi plays the title character, a Nigerian villager eager to work as a civil servant for the British authorities, including a sympathetic district officer (Pierce Brosnan), in the hope that it will benefit him in the future. Instead, his ambition leads to his tragic downfall. Mister Johnson, based on the 1939 novel by Joyce Cary, is a graceful, heartfelt drama about the limits of idealism, affectingly acted and handsomely shot.

Year: 1990
Time: 102 min.