Martin Scorsese: Interviews (Conversations with Filmmakers) Review

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Martin Scorsese: Interviews (Conversations with Filmmakers) ReviewMartin Scorsese is the greatest living film director. There is little doubt of that. Much can be gained by hearing what he has to say on the topic of film. He does provide a lot of it here. Scorsese divulges more about his films here than most might ever want to know. In one particularly dizzying section, he is asked questions about "Mean Streets" and "Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore" for fifty plus pages. The most intriguing thing is that all the interviews come from different eras, and it is quite interesting to see how he has changed throughout the years. I thought this was a great quick read and enjoyed it throughly. This book is essential reading for all Scorsese and cinema fans.Martin Scorsese: Interviews (Conversations with Filmmakers) Overview From the moment he captured the film world's attention with Mean Streets (1973), a portrait of life at the fringes of the Mob, it was clear that a dazzling cinematic talent had arrived on the scene. With Robert DeNiro, one of the most talented young actors from this film, Scorsese went on to make some of the greatest American films of the postwar period, including Taxi Driver (1976), Raging Bull (1980), and Goodfellas (1990). A Scorsese film seldom fails to stir controversy, for his devotion to realism has led him to forthrightly depict violence and its frightening randomness in the modern world. His biblical film also created quite a stir. This adaptation of Kazantzakis's The Last Temptation of Christ generated outrage among conservative religious leaders. Scorsese, however, has not limited himself to contemporary, violent urban dramas or new interpretations of biblical subjects. Other widely heralded Scorsese films include Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore (1974), New York, New York (1977), The Last Waltz (1978), The King of Comedy (1983), After Hours (1985), The Color of Money (1986), Cape Fear (1991), The Age of Innocence (1993), Casino (1995), and Kundun (1998). These interviews begin with conversations about the highly autobiographical Mean Streets (1973), which first brought Scorsese serious attention, and end with conversations about Kundun, an overtly political biography of the Dalai Lama of Tibet, released in early 1998. "I look for a thematic idea running through my movies, he says, and I see that it's the outsider struggling for recognition. I realize that all my life I've been an outsider, and above all, being lonely but never realizing it." Peter Brunette , a professor of English and film studies at George Mason University, is the author of Roberto Rossellini and (forthcoming) The Films of Michelangelo Antonioni. With David Wills he co-authored Screen/Play: Derrida and Film Theory.

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A Critical Handbook of Japanese Film Directors: From the Silent Era to the Present Day Review

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A Critical Handbook of Japanese Film Directors: From the Silent Era to the Present Day ReviewThis is an excellent reference work for anyone who has even a passing interest in Japanese cinema. Jacoby structures the book well, proceeding through all of the major Japanese directors (and many minor ones) in alphabetical order. For each director's entry, he provides a broad career overview - offering his own opinions of the major films - then includes a filmography. While I don't agree with absolutely all of his statements, his opinions are always interesting to read and well-informed, and it's nice to get a fresh (to me) perspective on such classic Japanese filmmakers as Kobayashi, Kurosawa, Ozu, Mizoguchi...
Another striking thing about this book is that Jacoby isn't snobby about which directors he includes. So he has "classical" directors like Mizoguchi in here, and also genre directors like Ishiro Honda of "Godzilla" fame and Takashi Miike. His willingness to cover drama, horror, science fiction, and gangster films in a single volume makes him more open-minded than most other aficionados of Japanese cinema, who tend to limit themselves to one or two genres. (Indeed, rare is the critic who enjoys both Tokyo Story and The Mysterians, as I do.) Another highlight is that Jacoby includes some useful appendices, such as an overview of the major Japanese film studios and a list of historical eras in Japan (handy for figuring out when all these samurai movies are supposed to take place).
Of course, since the book covers a lot of ground, Jacoby doesn't delve too deeply into any one director's work. Even "big guns" like Ozu and Kurosawa have short entries; and while Jacoby has room to challenge some common theories about Ozu, he doesn't have quite enough room to properly develop his counter-theories. Also, like most handbooks, this can get a little dry if you try to read it all in one go; I prefer to sample individual entries whenever I feel like it.
Overall, this is good stuff, and I look forward to using this book to track down the more obscure classics of Japanese cinema. As a pointless aside, many of the movies covered in this book have very amusing titles (in translation), on the order of: "Ninja Mountain Attack Saga: Duel by Autumn Moonlight!" Just thought I'd mention that, because it gave me a few chuckles.A Critical Handbook of Japanese Film Directors: From the Silent Era to the Present Day Overview
This important work fills the need for a reasonably priced yet comprehensive volume on major directors in the history of Japanese film. With clear insight and without academic jargon, Jacoby examines the works of over 150 filmmakers to uncover what makes their films worth watching.

Included are artistic profiles of everyone from Yutaka Abe to Isao Yukisada, including masters like Kinji Fukasaku, Juzo Itami, Akira Kurosawa, Takashi Miike, Kenji Mizoguchi, Yasujiro Ozu, and Yoji Yamada. Each entry includes a critical summary and filmography, making this book an essential reference and guide.

UK-based Alexander Jacoby is a writer and researcher on Japanese film.


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