Every January, as if spurred by thoughts of resolutions, I find myself reading up a storm.
I’m not sure what it is that gets me full of vim and verve in a literary sense. I’d wager the stack of books I’m given by friends and family every Christmas serves to fuel the fire. Or perhaps something in the back of my head thinks I should get a jump on things if I’m going to make this the year where I read more than forty books (never happens). Whatever the reason, most Januarys you’ll find me with a book at the ready at any given moment. (PS – feel free to follow me on Goodreads)
Right now, one of those books is Cameron Crowe’s Conversations with Wilder, and that got me thinking: Books about film…why don’t I read more of them?
A quick skim of my Goodreads profile tells me that I’m not imagining this. Even though I read a reasonable amount, and many of my choices are inspired by the films I see, that books about film and filmmaking are sorely lacking on my shelves.
I still have Truffault’s book on Hitchcock to read, but after that my nonfiction shelf empties. In the past, I’ve read books like Down and Dirty Pictures, Easy Riders Raging Bulls, In The Blink of an Eye, and Roger Ebert’s Life Itself. Beyond that though, I feel tragically ill-read.
I feel like I’m missing out – like I’m missing a chance to expand my cinematic understanding on the morning commute.
The thing is of course, there so many books out there that I wouldn’t even know where to start.
Anyone got any suggestions – a book that they read recently, or even not-so-recently, that really furthered their passion for film.
Update: A few great suggestions have been coming via Twitter. In addition to the titles noted in the comments below, here are some of the ideas I’ve been getting 140 characters at a time:
13 comments
Anna says:
Jan 22, 2013
Hmm…Scorsese by Ebert, Making Movies by Sidney Lumet and I Am Spartacus! by Kirk Douglas.
Jake Cole says:
Jan 22, 2013
Damn it all, forgot to mention “Making Movies.” I got a used copy of that recently I intend to read. Also “Cassavetes on Cassavetes.” I’m already dreading the potential intrusions of Ray Carney’s insipid self-martyrdom (they infect so much of his other writing), but I’ve heard this book praised to high heaven and I need to read up more on JC anyway.
Jake Cole says:
Jan 22, 2013
I’ve only just started reading Farber on Film a complete (I believe) collection of Manny Farber’s writing released by the Library of America (who also does fantastic bindings of the work of US authors, including a collection of James Agee’s film criticism). Barring a sweeping, long-overdue release of translated Cahiers articles (the sporadic here-and-there availability of them is criminal), this may be the single best collection of criticism you can find. Farber is a dynamic writer, capable of expounding an entire philosophy on film appreciation at length or cutting the legs from underneath what is now a sacred cow in a few sentences. I’ve read stuff by him here and there before getting this, and I would say he has already had an effect on how I approach films, and how I am slowly beginning to gravitate toward smaller, more subversive genre fare than his so-called “white elephants.”
Barring that, Robin Wood’s Hitchcock’s Films, Revisted is an essential book. The original essays are preserved even though Wood has grown so much and disagrees so vehemently with his younger, more sheltered self. Of course, even his old writing is leagues better than I could ever hope to achieve, but his ability to merge multiple heady theoretical viewpoints into a cohesive, readable whole is the standout feature of his revised pieces. I read him during a theory class and ended up being able to better write about the originators of those theories after reading this book. Pretty sure it’s what got me my A.
A few others I’ve not read but intend to read this year bc of great praise: Joseph McBride’s book on Spielberg, Tag Gallagher’s “John Ford: A Man and His Films,” Rosenbaum’s “Goodbye Cinema, Hello Cinephilia,” Marilyn Ann Moss’ “Raoul Walsh: The True Adventures of Hollywood’s Legendary Director,” and Bordwell’s Ozu book, which he has available for free as a PDF download here: https://www.cjspubs.lsa.umich.edu/electronic/facultyseries/list/series/ozu.php
tederick says:
Jan 22, 2013
Literally anything and everything by David Bordwell. Start with Film Art if you’ve never read it; it’s a university textbook but it’s fucking brilliant.
Richie’s book on Kurosawa to get up to speed. When you’re done that, read Cowie’s book on Kurosawa, too.
Ondaatje’s book about Murch – The Conversations, I think it’s called.
James Blake Ewing says:
Jan 22, 2013
What is Cinema? Vol. 1 and 2 by Andrei Bazin
Adventures in the Screen Trade by William Goldman
(On Kieslowski’s films) Double Lives, Second Chances by Annette Insdorf
(On early German Cinema) From Caligari to Hitler by Siegfried Kracauer
Pretty much anything by David Bordwell/Kristen Thompson
Something Like An Autobiography by Akira Kurosawa
Funnily enough, I really don’t read all the way through a lot of film books. I spend so much time reading articles and snippets of books I need for school I either don’t have the time/desire to finish every film book I open or just read the relevant sections and ignore other parts that don’t appeal to me.
tederick says:
Jan 22, 2013
Oh – and if you can find it, Of Walking In Ice by Werner Herzog. Not a film book. Just perhaps the most incredible thing you’ll ever read in your life.
Titania Plant says:
Jan 22, 2013
My absolute favourite film book in existence is Rick Altman’s The American Film Musical. It’s a great read, a good mix of theory and history, great stills from films, and he even created a chart of every musical made from 1927 to 1980-ish (whenever the book was published) breaking down the musical genre into three subgenres – the show musical, the folk musical, and the fairytale musical.
I feel like I don’t know that many non-academic film books that aren’t either lists of movies you need to see before you die (I’m sure we all know that franchise) or are someone’s biography or autobiography. I’ve always preferred film history to film theory, so if you want a more academic-y list of suggestions, let me get back to you
Joel Bocko says:
Jan 22, 2013
Hmm, I may be able to help here lol. Four years ago I kicked off a meme about books on movies which got a lot of responses. I compiled the results in this list here:
http://thedancingimage.blogspot.com/2009/07/movie-bookshelf.html
Perfect for your purposes! Best part is you can explore the original posts for details (I included links) as well as perusing the general list.
Will says:
Jan 22, 2013
I don’t really read film books that much (I’d rather etch films!), but Sam Fuller’s A Third Face is fantastic. It helps if you enjoy his movies or you’re somewhat familiar with him, but even if that’s not you it’s a great chronicle of his journey through the independent film scene of the 1940s, into his dealings with Zanuck during the ’50s and then back to independent work later on. It’s great, and one I often find myself reading an re-reading bits from.
I also love, love, love Tom Savini’s FX books Grande Illusions, but as you’re not really a horror fan I doubt those would be good for you.
Peter says:
Jan 22, 2013
Good timing here, as I am looking to clean up my stuff and start selling some of my books. So hoping you can do me a favor and take a couple of these from me.
There are lots of good book recommendation by many people here, but I will just chime in with a few (categorized):
1. Behind the scene
- The Devil’s Candy by Julie Salamon. This is a ook about the making of The Bonfire Of The Vanities. To say this is a bomb is an understatement. Fascinating to read.
- Final Cut by Steven Bach. Making of Heaven’s Gate. No further explanation needed.
2. Directors
I have many interview series of books. Tarantino, Scorsese, Gilliam. They are quite old. But the best ones:
Conversation With Scorsese by Richard Schickel. As good as any I have read.
Who The Devil Made It: Conversations with Legendary Film Directors by Peter Bogdanovich. This one is quite old, but it’s interviews with some of the greatest directors Cukor, Hitchock, Lumet, Chuck Jones, Fritz Lang
3. Industry books
I have a bunch these as well. Sharon Waxman’s Rebels On The Backlot, a book about Tarantino, Fincher, O’Russell, Soderbergh. Decent quick read.
Any book by Christine Vachon. I have Shooting To Kill, and A Killer Life. I have met her once at TIFF, she is a straight shooter, no BS. Good look at the indie film industry.
Also can’t go wrong with books by David Thompson. Always fascinating to read.
Peter says:
Jan 22, 2013
Forgot one more. If you like top 10 lists, and I mean the wackiest top ten list, this is one for you. 10 Bad Dates With De Niro, contributed by many people including the Coen Brothers, Mark Cousins, DBC Pierre, Mike Figgis, Steven Sopderbergh and etc. Some of the top ten includes: 10 films to avoid on Medication, 10 Movie Nightclubs I Wish Were Real. 10 Dodgiest Decisions of the Cannes Film Festival.
One of the quickest and fun read I have. Highly recommended.
Dan Heaton says:
Jan 22, 2013
Ryan, there are so many good options. I really enjoy the BFI Classics books about specific movies; those can vary depending on the writer but have a lot of interesting takes on big films.
I also like reading collections of reviews, particularly from Pauline Kael, Roger Ebert, or in a strong collection like “American Movie Critics: An Anthology from the Silents Until Now”. An interesting take is “The Film That Changed My Life” where Robert K. Elder talked to a bunch of different directors about their favorite films.I’ll second the comment above about David Thomson. “Have You Seen…?” is a really great book. I also read his book about Psycho, which was interesting too.
Another good route are filmmaking diaries from directors. Spike Lee has a few great ones on Do the Right Thing and Malcolm X, and “Thinking in Pictures” from John Sayles on Matewan is excellent too. The Interviews series with specific directors are also worth reading.
I could go on for a while, but it sounds like you have a lot of great recommendations already. A warning: once you get going, it will be hard to stop.
Ryan McNeil says:
Jan 25, 2013
Thanks for the suggestions everyone. This is quite the syllabus you’ve built for me – definitely looking forward to working through it!