Pauline Kael (1919–2001)
Autore di 5001 Nights at the Movies
Sull'Autore
Serie
Opere di Pauline Kael
Black films and film-makers: A comprehensive anthology from stereotype to superhero (1975) — Collaboratore — 7 copie
State of the Art: 2 2 copie
Early Uncollected Kael 1 copia
Movieland: The Bum's Paradise 1 copia
Opere correlate
The Dylan Companion: A Collection of Essential Writing About Bob Dylan (1990) — Collaboratore, alcune edizioni — 96 copie
Awake in the Dark: An Anthology of American Film Criticism, 1915 to the Present (1977) — Collaboratore — 24 copie
Three Screen Comedies by Samson Raphaelson: Trouble in Paradise; The Shop Around the Corner; Heaven Can Wait (1983) — Introduzione — 9 copie
Etichette
Informazioni generali
- Data di nascita
- 1919-06-19
- Data di morte
- 2001-09-03
- Sesso
- female
- Nazionalità
- USA
- Luogo di nascita
- Petaluma, California, USA
- Luogo di morte
- Great Barrington, Massachusetts, USA
- Luogo di residenza
- New York, New York, USA
San Francisco, California, USA - Istruzione
- University of California, Berkeley
- Attività lavorative
- film critic
ad-copy writer - Relazioni
- Broughton, James (lover)
James, Gina (daughter) - Organizzazioni
- McCall's
The New Republic
The New Yorker - Premi e riconoscimenti
- George Polk Award (1970)
American Academy of Arts and Letters Academy Award (Literature ∙ 1970)
National Book Award (1974)
Crystal Award (1978)
Muse Award (1980)
Mel Novikoff Award (1991) (mostra tutto 9)
Los Angeles Film Critics Association Special Award (1994)
Gotham Independent Film Awards Writer Award (1995)
OFTA Film Hall of Fame (2012) - Breve biografia
- Pauline Kael was born in Petaluma, California, to a family of Jewish immigrants. In 1936, she entered the University of California at Berkeley, where she studied philosophy, literature, and art. She became one of the most influential American film critics of her era. She wrote for The New Yorker from 1967 until her retirement in 1991. As the magazine's film critic, she wrote hundreds of Current Cinema columns, as well as many shorter film reviews. She was the author of 13 books, including I Lost It at the Movies (1965), Kiss Kiss Bang Bang (1968), Deeper Into Movies (which won the 1974 National Book Award), and 5001 Nights at the Movies (1982). She received a Guggenheim fellowship in 1964 and received Front Page Awards from the Newswomen's Club of New York in 1974 and 1983. She won a George Polk Memorial Award in 1970.
Utenti
Recensioni
I find it somewhat surprising that so few people have this one in their collections, and that I am the first to review it here. Certainly there are a lot of cinephiles on LT, and they would benefit from reading Kael's writings on individual films. I am loathe to call them reviews, because she went much deeper into meaning; they are instead essays that place the film within film history and the trends of the day.
She famously did not buy into French "auteur" theory and celebrated filmmakers for not repeating themselves. It strikes me that one of the reasons a director fits into that theory is just that: repetition. Of themes, of techniques.
This collection cherrypicks her work from various books she wrote, I think about ten books in all. Some of her most famous pieces are included here, such as "Bonnie and Clyde" and "Last Tango in Paris". By championing these two films in The New Yorker, she provided convincing evidence of their worth and managed to help make them financial successes -- that's how much clout she had.
She could be exasperatingly wrong about some films, such as "2001" and "West Side Story". Although I could see her points, I felt like she was missing the forest for the trees at times. But even those bad reviews are compelling reading. I was prepared to be upset, but that didn't happen. It is one of the qualities of a film that it affects each of us differently; it is what we bring to the film from personal experience, our philosophy of life, our visceral reaction that determines our opinion. So we bound to agree here and disagree there with others. Unfortunately, the editor (Sanford Schwartz) picks almost exclusively the best known films of the various decades; I would have loved to see some obscure films that she praised included here.
I have never really bought into the so-called genius of Godard, Fellini, Antonioni, and neither does Kael. After championing early Godard, she rightly dismisses his later "political" films as polemical drudgery. For her there are no sacred cows, which should be a prerequisite for becoming a critic.
She reviewed primarily from the late 60's, when The New Yorker hired her, until the early 90's. She was pretty opinionated, for sure, about the state of American cinema in the 60's, was excited about it in the 70's, and was disappointed by it in the 80's, which she saw as driven by box office receipts and primarily by the success of Spielberg and Lucas. She finally got fed up (and she had health issues).
There is another Kael collection that is somewhat similar, although it is over 1300 pages and this one is about 800. If you're looking for a Maltin-like film guide, they put out the "5001 Nights" collection of capsule reviews; this is obviously not intended for one seeking out her detailed analysis, but it does includes her snapshot opinions of the pre-60's films.
If you are at all interested in film criticism of the period, you need to read Pauline Kael.… (altro)
She famously did not buy into French "auteur" theory and celebrated filmmakers for not repeating themselves. It strikes me that one of the reasons a director fits into that theory is just that: repetition. Of themes, of techniques.
This collection cherrypicks her work from various books she wrote, I think about ten books in all. Some of her most famous pieces are included here, such as "Bonnie and Clyde" and "Last Tango in Paris". By championing these two films in The New Yorker, she provided convincing evidence of their worth and managed to help make them financial successes -- that's how much clout she had.
She could be exasperatingly wrong about some films, such as "2001" and "West Side Story". Although I could see her points, I felt like she was missing the forest for the trees at times. But even those bad reviews are compelling reading. I was prepared to be upset, but that didn't happen. It is one of the qualities of a film that it affects each of us differently; it is what we bring to the film from personal experience, our philosophy of life, our visceral reaction that determines our opinion. So we bound to agree here and disagree there with others. Unfortunately, the editor (Sanford Schwartz) picks almost exclusively the best known films of the various decades; I would have loved to see some obscure films that she praised included here.
I have never really bought into the so-called genius of Godard, Fellini, Antonioni, and neither does Kael. After championing early Godard, she rightly dismisses his later "political" films as polemical drudgery. For her there are no sacred cows, which should be a prerequisite for becoming a critic.
She reviewed primarily from the late 60's, when The New Yorker hired her, until the early 90's. She was pretty opinionated, for sure, about the state of American cinema in the 60's, was excited about it in the 70's, and was disappointed by it in the 80's, which she saw as driven by box office receipts and primarily by the success of Spielberg and Lucas. She finally got fed up (and she had health issues).
There is another Kael collection that is somewhat similar, although it is over 1300 pages and this one is about 800. If you're looking for a Maltin-like film guide, they put out the "5001 Nights" collection of capsule reviews; this is obviously not intended for one seeking out her detailed analysis, but it does includes her snapshot opinions of the pre-60's films.
If you are at all interested in film criticism of the period, you need to read Pauline Kael.… (altro)
Pauline Kael was an esteemed film critic who was fortunate to be alive for the best times for big budget and moderately intelligent American films. Like a lot of americans she lost her "innocence" at the films, and this anthology ranges from 1654 to 1964. she used these criticisms to become the film maven at the New Yorker, which in those days meant something.
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Statistiche
- Opere
- 39
- Opere correlate
- 15
- Utenti
- 2,579
- Popolarità
- #9,966
- Voto
- 4.1
- Recensioni
- 20
- ISBN
- 84
- Lingue
- 2
- Preferito da
- 20
Her reviews sometimes have a stream-of-consciousness quality. Not only do we get her thoughts at the typewriter after the screening, but her mood as she walked in the theatre and sat down. Reviewing was not adhering to some objective standard of quality, it was personal.
Anyone that has ever engaged with “the arts” knows that objectivity is a farce, there is too much baggage in us for that. And anyone can write from that position, I suppose, but Pauline Kael had dynamite style for the ages.
I adore her, she's the One!… (altro)