The Best Books About Film

[Izo]

How is Chris Fujiwara's book on Preminger?

[eljacko]

This request may be more about production than history/theory, but I was wondering if anyone knew of a good book that talked about film acting vs. theater acting. I'm working with theater actors right now and I'd like to be able to talk to them a bit more on the differences, and I'd just like to know more about the two.

[Murdoch]

Is the Geoff Andrew book on Nick Ray worth picking up? I'm looking for a good analytical overview of his work.

[tojoed]

Is the Geoff Andrew book on Nick Ray worth picking up? I'm looking for a good analytical overview of his work.

I don't know about the Geoff Andrew, but for the latter you want the Bernard Eisenschitz book.

[nostalghic]

Haven't posted in a while. Recent OOP scare has got me back!

Can anyone recommend any worthwhile criticism on Luis Bunuel? Or Michael Handke? I've got our library to order in a copy of the new $200 hardcover Michael Handke Companion, which looks pretty great, can't wait till it arrives.

Japanese Cinema: Text and Context from Routledge is one I have recently bought. Essays on most of the "canon" if you will, Mizoguchi, Oshima, Ozu, Kurosawa, Hayao Miyazaki too. Not all brilliant, but the ones I've gone through are well thought out, relatively concise. I just got Kenji Mizoguchi and the Art of Japanese Cinema from the library, only read the first chapter, wealth of information, quite dense though. I went through Kieslowski on Kieslowski which was a tad disappointing, mostly production-related memories and facts, some interesting, others not. I was hoping to hear more of his ideas on film/literature/etc. but can see value in him letting his films do the talking. Without going through the thread (apologies) to check if it's been mentioned before, Ingmar Bergman: Cinematic Philosopher was very enjoyable, from Irving Singer. It is very accessible, balances theory/close reading very well, and was full of interesting facts I didn't know. If anyone has any other Ingmar Bergman recommendations I'd love to hear about them.

[Dr Amicus]

Is the Geoff Andrew book on Nick Ray worth picking up? I'm looking for a good analytical overview of his work.

I don't know about the Geoff Andrew, but for the latter you want the Bernard Eisenschitz book.

I'll reinforce the recommendation for the Eisenschitz - an excellent book.

I've never read the Geoff Andrew, but I remember the reviews were generally positive when it came out and Andrew is, IMO, a generally astute critic. I gather it's a fairly traditional auteurist read - so if that's what your after it should be worth a punt.

[Gregory]

Can anyone recommend any worthwhile criticism on Luis Bunuel?

My favorite one overall is the Raymond Durgnat book Luis Bunuel (I have the revised edition). I wish there was more of it: it's a 175-page book with lots of illustrations. For the Mexican films in particular, I recommend the book by Acevedo-Muñoz, Buñuel and Mexico.

[Murdoch]

Is the Geoff Andrew book on Nick Ray worth picking up? I'm looking for a good analytical overview of his work.

I don't know about the Geoff Andrew, but for the latter you want the Bernard Eisenschitz book.

I'll reinforce the recommendation for the Eisenschitz - an excellent book.

I've never read the Geoff Andrew, but I remember the reviews were generally positive when it came out and Andrew is, IMO, a generally astute critic. I gather it's a fairly traditional auteurist read - so if that's what your after it should be worth a punt.

Thanks, I'll be picking up the Eisenschitz. The Andrew one I was only interested in since it's still in print and a good copy of the Eisenschitz is running upwards of $50 for a used one on Amazon, but thanks to tojoed for supplying that link.

[nostalghic]

oh, and while I'm on it, can anyone recommend a good book on Haneke? Amazon has a few, but they all look a bit the same to me. I'm relatively new to his cinema (White Ribbon reminded me how much I was impressed with Cache) but the guy fascinates me.

(I missed this when I made my post a few ones up)
I've got my university's library to buy this new one A Companion to Michael Haneke http://www.amazon.co.uk/Companion-Micha ... 463&sr=8-1" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
and will let you know what it's like when it comes in. I haven't tried any other books on him because his earlier movies didn't engage me like The White Ribbon/Cache/The Piano Teacher, so I was looking for something newer that covers these newer films of him.

[nostalghic]

Can anyone recommend any worthwhile criticism on Luis Bunuel?

My favorite one overall is the Raymond Durgnat book Luis Bunuel (I have the revised edition). I wish there was more of it: it's a 175-page book with lots of illustrations. For the Mexican films in particular, I recommend the book by Acevedo-Muñoz, Buñuel and Mexico.

Thanks, looks like it might be tricky to find. Can you tell me more about it?

[ellipsis7]

I haven't read this, but there is Luis Bunuel: New Readings from the BFI pub. 2004...

Luis Bunuel: New Readings
Evans, Peter William; Santaolalla, Isabel
Luis Bunuel (1900-83) was one of the world's great film-makers. Always controversial, his first film, Un Chien Andalou (1928), which he referred to as a 'call to murder', was a savage Surrealist experiment. L'Age d'Or (1930), his second, was banned in Paris after its initial screening, which had led to violent disturbances. Thereafter, his films continued to challenge, provoke and subvert social conventions in their searching analyses of human desire.

Luis Bunuel: New Readings ranges widely over key films and moments from all stages of the director's career: the early years in Spain and France, the middle period in Mexico and the USA, and the return to Europe, where he made late masterpieces like Belle de Jour (1966) and Le Charme discret de la bourgeoisie (1972).

Twenty years after his death, the time is ripe for a re-evaluation of Bunuel's legacy. Through theoretically informed discussions of individual films and dominant tendencies, as well as through more biographically orientated perspectives (including newly discovered correspondence), this book locates and re-appraises Bunuel's films with particular emphasis on the national cinemas and varied cultures with which he was identified. These new readings show that Bunuel's significance and impact remain undiminished by the passage of time.

[Gregory]

Can anyone recommend any worthwhile criticism on Luis Bunuel?

My favorite one overall is the Raymond Durgnat book Luis Bunuel (I have the revised edition). I wish there was more of it: it's a 175-page book with lots of illustrations. For the Mexican films in particular, I recommend the book by Acevedo-Muñoz, Buñuel and Mexico.

Thanks, looks like it might be tricky to find. Can you tell me more about it?

I'm seeing copies of the later edition of the Durgnat on Amazon from $3.95 on up. It's an outstanding film-by-film analysis.
The Acevedo-Muñoz is much more expensive but you can probably get a good deal on it during the next of University of California Press's periodical sales on film books, which are usually posted to this forum when they happen.

[nostalghic]

Thanks for the info guys. I'll post back after I've given them a read.

[filmyfan]

Is anyone aware of a book I think written in the 60's about the year in the life of a Hollywood studio (Warners I think but I can't be sure)..it's a fly on the wall document type account

I remember reading somewhere that this was a classic but I can't for the life of me find the reference I read in a book !

I know its not "Picture" by Lillian Ross , as I have that one-although it sounded fairly similar.

Any ideas ?

[Galen Young]

...it's a fly on the wall document type account

Maybe The Studio by John Gregory Dunne? (late husband of Joan Didion) It's about 20th Century Fox, very entertaining read.

In other film book news, has anyone read this new book on Robert Bresson?

[ellipsis7]

I have it, but not had a chance to read Pipolo's BRESSON - it's substantial, over 400 pages, billing itself as 'the first comprehensive study to give equal attention to the films, their literary sources, and psycho-biographical aspects of the work'... Quotes on the back cover praising the book from Martin Scorsese, Roger Ebert, Dudley Andrew and Tom Gunning... But as I say, I've not had the chance to make up my own mind...

[filmyfan]

Maybe The Studio by John Gregory Dunne?

That's it !

Thanks very much !

[Matt]

In other film book news, has anyone read this new book on Robert Bresson?

No, but it's got blurbs by Dudley Andrew and Tom Gunning, so that ain't hay. But I'm wary of his exploration of the "psycho-biographical aspects of the work." I've always rather liked the fact that Bresson is a complete cipher.

[Napier]

Thanks for the heads up guys, this is a must read for me! Matt, I like the way you refer to Bresson as a "complete cipher".

[Matt]

I guess that's maybe not the correct word for what I mean. I don't mean to imply that he's "without influence" or a "non-entity." I've just always liked the fact that virtually nothing biographical of any consequence is known about him (not even his actual birth year) and so his films seem to me sui generis and hermetic (but there I go again with the 50¢ words). I'd hate to read a biography about him and discover, for example, that he had a fondness for Haggar slacks.

[ellipsis7]

I know absolutely what you mean, Matt, it's the one thing that is making me hesitate before reading the book, that Pipolo is applying psychoanalytical criteria to his approach... Bresson kept his own self in reserve and was meticulously careful in his wonderfully crafted work... Sometimes we don't have to unravel the puzzle...

[tajmahal]

In other film book news, has anyone read this new book on Robert Bresson?

Working my way through it as I watch the films. I have got a lot out of it thus far, and particularly the chapter on Mouchette. I particulary like that he quotes extensively from the source novel by Georges Bernanos. So much so, I ordered Georges Bernanos' book it is based on. The Mouchette and Balthazar chapters alone are worth the price of admission. I can't compare it to others works about Bresson, but it is offering up plenty for a Bresson newbie like me.

[Matt]

I ordered Georges Bernanos' book it is based on.

I hope it works out better for you than it did me. I read the Bernanos in preparation for this review and it was so good that it absolutely ruined the film for me (which I had never had much fondness for anyway). Same with The Leopard. The book is so good, I've had no desire to watch the film again after reading it.

[tajmahal]

I ordered Georges Bernanos' book it is based on.

I hope it works out better for you than it did me. I read the Bernanos in preparation for this review and it was so good that it absolutely ruined the film for me (which I had never had much fondness for anyway). Same with The Leopard. The book is so good, I've had no desire to watch the film again after reading it.

I really look forward to reading it. It will be interesting, as Mouchette is the Bresson that, on first viewing, effected me much more than his other films. Actually, It won't let me be, and, after nearly a month, I still find myself thinking about certain scenes. It is one of only a handful of films that have affected me this way.

(On a side note, and sort of off-topic, I get the feeling Balthazar will hit me hard on a second viewing. I watched it the night after Mouchette, and was still under that film's spell.)

[domino harvey]

Can anyone recommend any books/articles (even documentaries?) that address Sidney Poitier's popularity in the fifties and sixties with concern to the subsequent effect on or parallelism with race relations, both with whites and within the black community?