His Hollywood career,which started withWitness,also includedThe Mosquito Coast,Fearless andThe Way Back.

As a director,Weir is known for his sensitivity and artistry,bringing to the screen such vivid characters as the young soldiers played by Mel Gibson and Mark Lee inGallipoli,the passionate teacher played by Robin Williams inDead Poets Society and the unsuspecting star of a reality TV show played by Jim Carrey inThe Truman Show.

He brought depths of emotion to his films – never more so than in the final scenes ofGallipoli,Witness andThe Truman Show – that were beautifully shot and never seemed to be in the same genre twice.

Weir’s brilliance at first casting then directing actors is shown by the Oscar win for Linda Hunt,who was a left-field choice in a male role inThe Year of Living Dangerously.

He also directed Oscar-nominated performances by Harrison Ford inWitness,Robin Williams inDead Poets Society,Rosie Perez inFearless and Ed Harris inThe Truman Show.

While it was never clear whether he had definitively retired from directing – Steven Spielberg and George Miller are still going strong in their seventies and Martin Scorsese and Ridley Scott in their eighties – Weir admitted with characteristic modesty that his career was over.

“For film directors,like volcanoes,there are three major stages:active,dormant and extinct,” he said. “I think I’ve reached the latter!”

Weir professed to being puzzled by Ethan Hawke,who starred inDead Poets Society,saying earlier this year that Weir no longer made films because working with Russell Crowe onMaster and Commander and Johnny Depp ona planned adaptation of the novelShantaram“broke him”.

He thought Hawke’s quote “must have been taken out of context”.

You can read the full interview with Peter Weirin Spectrum.

Email Garry Maddox atgmaddox@smh.com.au and follow him on Twitter at@gmaddox.

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