by Jonathan Romney (1997)
The nineties have been a turbulent and changing period for cinema. The film critic author created this collection of writings on film, from art house to multiplex, and featuring his take on prominent directors.--Adapted from book jacket.
John Gibbs
Gibbs presents a detailed exploration of classics such as Rebel Without a Cause and Lone Star. The book is an invaluable tool in understanding the expression of visual style, and an unrivalled text for the understanding of interpretative methodologies.
Renata Salecl
A consideration of the legitimacy of the calls for tolerance and respect by multiculturalists and exploring practices such as body-mutilation as symptoms of the radical change that has affected subjectivity in contemporary society.
Stefan Sharff
One of the most popular thrillers of Alfred Hitchcock's middle years, Rear Window is now also recognized as one of the most brilliant demonstrations of the director's cinematic wizardry. Starring James Stewart and Grace Kelly, with Thelma Ritter and Raymond Burr in memorable supporting roles, the film centers on a photographer confined to a wheelchair in his apartment who, using binoculars, spies on his courtyard neighbors and witnesses a possible murder. This was not the first time Hitchcock challenged himself to build suspense when plot limited action to a small area, but it was the only time when the director's art in creating through a lens is so dramatically reflected in the very story he tells. The voyeur-hero is there to see for us, and the images he chooses to observe become the language of the movie, which is almost thirty-five percent silent. Stefan Sharff, professor emeritus of Columbia University's film department, shows us how Hitchcock achieved the mounting excitement and fear that mark this film. The author first provides a detailed overview of the director's skill in developing the story from intriguing start to shattering climax. In the second part of the book, he goes on to a shot-by-shot analysis; using the film's continuity as his text, he describes how hitchcock's technique accomplished its magic. Illustrated throughout with stills from the film, The Art of Looking is a unique appreciation of the art of Alfred Hitchcock, made even more valuable by the first publication in any form of the full dialogue of a screen masterpiece.
William Pencak
"Derek Jarman's films explore the possibilities and limitations of same-sex love and self-expression during various historical eras, from ancient Egypt to present times. His work covers a millennium of sexual repression and efforts to escape it. Jarman presents a cinematic history of people whose homoerotic passions had a major impact on western civilization in religion, art, politics, philosophy, and war.". "This book provides background information on each of Jarman's fifteen scripts and films. The chapters are "program notes" to his films from a historical perspective. An interpretation of Jarman's intentions, gleaned from the director's writings and writings about him, is also provided. This work reveals Jarman's importance as a keen student of the limits of historical knowledge, and delineates the role of history in inspiring change or preserving inertia in the present struggle against homophobia."--BOOK JACKET.