Book

  • Andrei Tarkovsky – Archives Cinéma Andrei Tarkovsky (1989)

    1981-1990Andrei TarkovskyBooksRussia

    Quote:
    “Positif” a publié le premier entretien avec Tarkovski en France. Cette anthologie de textes parus dan la revue rassemble études, critiques, entretiens avec le cinéaste et témoignages de ses collaborateurs. Elle est illustrée de 70 photographies.Read More »

  • Allister Mactaggart – The Film Paintings of David Lynch Challenging Film Theory (2010)

    2001-2010Allister MactaggartBooksDavid LynchUSA

    One of the most distinguished filmmakers working today, David Lynch is a director whose vision of cinema is firmly rooted in fine art. He was motivated to make his first film as a student because he wanted a painting that ‘would really be able to move’. Most existing studies of Lynch, however, fail to engage fully with the complexities of his films’ relationship to other art forms. “The Film Paintings of David Lynch” fills this void, arguing that Lynch’s cinematic output needs to be considered within a broad range of cultural references. Aimed at both Lynch fans and film studies specialists, Allister Mactaggart addresses Lynch’s films from the perspective of the relationship between commercial film, avant-garde art, and cultural theory. Individual Lynch works – “The Elephant Man”, “Blue Velvet”, “Twin Peaks”, “Lost Highway”, “The Straight Story”, “Mulholland Drive”, and “Inland Empire” – are discussed in relation to other films and directors, illustrating that the solitary, or seemingly isolated, experience of film is itself socially, culturally, and politically important. “The Film Paintings of David Lynch” offers a unique perspective on an influential director, weaving together a range of theoretical approaches to Lynch’s films to make exciting new connections among film theory, art history, psychoanalysis, and cinema.Read More »

  • Steve Lannin & Matthew Caley – Pop Fiction: The Song in Cinema (2005)

    2001-2010BooksSteve Lannin and Matthew Caley


    Synopsis: (Amazon.com)

    The aim of this book is to examine the multifarious placements of the pop song in contemporary cinema through a series of short essays from a variety of perspectives-each looking at the use of ONE pop song in a particular movie. These writings offer the opportunity for in-depth discussion of a cinematic moment(s), rationalising function, condition, method, theory, and practice -by academics, authors & professionals from relevant disciplines. All approaches to deconstructing the relationship of pop song to film- psychological, political, semiotic, theological, post-modern and post-mortem etc., are invited, with an extraordinary collection of interpretations expected. Given that the pop song is no longer the exception but the norm within much mainstream cinema there are surprisingly few books analysing this relationship. There are major works by both Anahid Kassabian, who in ‘Hearing Film’ posits a new, genderised theory, comparing & contrasting song placement with bespoke composition, and Jeff Smith, ‘The Sounds Of Commerce’ dissecting some early song placements from detailed economic and stylistic positions. The earlier “Celluloid Jukebox” is a thematic account, written from a music journalist perspective compiling many films and songs simultaneously but without substantial focus on ‘audio-visual moments’ or theoretical-‘listening’.Read More »

  • Wim Wenders – The Logic of Images (1992)

    1991-2000BooksWim Wenders

    A collection of Wenders essays discussing all his film work up to Until the End of the World. Imaginative, very accessible, never dry, Wenders reveals a lot of interesting background to his films. Definitely a treat if you’re a Wenders fan.Read More »

  • Akira Kurosawa – Something Like An Autobiography (1983)

    1981-1990Akira KurosawaBooksJapan

    Something Like an Autobiography
    by Akira Kurosawa

    Published by Vintage | 1983 | 205 pages

    Description:

    Quote:
    Among Japanese film makers, no one is perhaps as universally known as Akira Kurosawa.

    “Something like an Autobiography” is an account of the legendary director’s early life. It is only a partial account, encompassing his childhood, adolescenct years, the early years of his film career, up to the point of Rashomon. Nonetheless, the book benefits anyone keen for understanding the man behind such remarkable films as Seven Samurai, Ikiru, Rashomon, and Dersu Uzala among others. Kurosawa’s films were – Stuart Galbraith IV writes in the introduction to his book “The Emperor and the Wolf” – first and foremost, deeply humanist pictures, films which effortlessly transcend cultures and centuries. Something like an Autobiography helps one understand the evolution of the artist Kurosawa, the influences that shaped his vision.Read More »

  • Jean-Luc Godard – A Conversation with Jean-Luc Godard (1968)

    1961-1970BooksFranceJean-Luc Godard

    Here`s a long Godard interview from 1968 where he not only gives interesting insides into his La Chinoise but also talks about Foucault, Roland Barthes, Bergman`s Persona,
    Pasolini and much more.

    Here are some quotes:

    Quote:

    That’s precisely why we’re
    trying to make movies so that future Foucaults
    won’t be able to make such assertions with quite
    such assurance. Sartre can’t escape this reproach,
    either.Read More »

  • Jean-Luc Godard and Youssef Ishaghpour – Cinema: The Archaeology of Film and the Memory of a Century (2005)

    2001-2010BooksFranceJean-Luc GodardJean-Luc Godard and Youssef Ishaghpour

    Reviews
    ‘ . . .the greatest living cinematic artist, the wisest, most transformative, most original agent provocateur at work in the fields of cinema? The short answer: sans doute. Godard is to his medium what Joyce, Stravinsky, Eliot, and Picasso were to theirs: rule-rewriting colossi after whom human expression would never be quite the same.’
    The Village Voice

    ‘It’s possible to hate half or two-thirds of what Godard does – or find it incomprehensible – and still be shattered by his brilliance.’ Pauline Kael
    Read More »

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