Луксозно издание с чудесни портрети на плакатиста Анди Туи и текст на филмовия критик Мат Гласби, съдържащо 52-ма бележити режисьори, оставили отпечатък в историята на киното. Творчеството на Туи е вече познато на българските читатели от книгите „Великите художници модернисти“ и „Великите съвременни писатели“. Информацията за всеки един от тях е синтезирана, но изключително изчерпателна и любопитна, а портретите на Туи отново прекрасно са представили най-характерните черти на всеки творец – от Алмодовар и Джан до Хичкок, Куросава, Трюфо и много други.
Okay, I was the idiot who bought this turkey so I should publicly confess here. It was some time ago but I’m still resenting it. The blurb says this is
A striking, design-led reference book
This means that there is a teeny page-if-that bit of breathless prose on each director with a completely useless page sized caricature of the said director (by Andy himself) and a list of five movies to see plus a couple of stills. 4 stupid pages per director.
I see the back cover blurb describes the book as “an ACCESSIBLE guide” – this means “don’t worry, it’s 90 per cent pix, you can flip through it in ten minutes, easy”.
The blurb continues:
So whether you're already a film aficionado, or looking for a helpful cheat to pass convincingly as an arthouse fan, you'll love this guide to international directors, past and present
What this means is : avoid this ridiculous inane chunk of cheese. Don’t do what that sucker Paul Bryant did. Learn from his error.
Не съм отбелязвала другите две от същата поредица, въпреки че много ми харесаха. Но определено трябва да дам звезди за адски готините кратки анализи на критика Мат Гласби. Като цяло чуден наръчник, от който може да обогатиш лесно и базисно кино културат си, а също и да избереш филм за четвъртък вечер. (така се запалих да гледам Вернер Херцог) Портретите, разбира се, са очарователни.
Graphically acceptable, but as film literature, this isn't up to snuff. The text makes a lot of "first" claims about directors, which any film historian will tell you is folly. The early years of cinema are still too shrouded in mystery, thanks to an incalculable number of lost films, to ever really make a "first" claim. The collection of selected directors also reeks of testosterone, not only in its overwhelming male-ness, but in the types of films being lauded over and over. Where was Agnes Varda, who would have easily and worthily filled the vacant 'V' spot? Where was the modern thinking man's quirk, Wes Anderson? The spiritual Tarkovsky? The iconoclastic Catherine Breillat? The emotional hitman, Spike Jonze? The master that was Robert Altman? Did we really need John Carpenter -and- David Cronenberg?
As bathroom reading for the neophyte film fan, however, I'm sure this is just fine.
The perfect book for film buffs and those who want to know more about film! I'm using this to figure out all the classics I should watch. Striking visuals make this a lovely book to gift or display on your coffee table. Highly recommend it!
Прекрасна документална книга за киното, с опис на най-великите творци в него. Допадна ми карикатурният стил на портретите, в духа на творчеството на режисьора, и каретата с любопитна информация и най-важните и значими творби.
Винаги ми е интересно да погледна нечия подборка, било то с книги, филми или режисьори, в случая претендираща и за достоверност. Реално всеки може да направи такъв топ и не споря грам за съдържанието му. Но самите режисьорски справки са леко схематични и еднообразни и липсва лично мнение, с което дори и да не съм съгласен, пак би било по-добре от просто суха статистика.
Портретите на Анди Туи са супер. Това най-много ми допадна.
Разсмя ме фактът, че „Метрополис“ на Фриц Ланг бил инспириран от творба, създадена десетилетия по-късно („1984“). Също така се говори за 6-те Оскарови статуетки на Фелини, а той няма нито една. Нямам представа дали е грешка при превода или просто неточност.
Като цяло като ориентировъчен справочник в света на големите режисьори върши работа. За нещо повече – регистрирайте се в Letterboxd, моля.
As a cinephile, I loved this book. It's a pretty good list of great film directors with some pretty interesting details that I didn't know. I really liked how the author tried to be inclusive and included numerous international directors who are not American, British or French. However, I didn't agree nor like everything about the book. I would say that I disagreed with maybe 10% of the list in that I found some of the directors to not be great but just above average. I'm also disappointed that many great directors were not included in the book. I hope they would publish another version of this with a more updated list. Overall, a great book for any movie lovers.
I often find myself being more of a film buff than I am with other forms of media. But as someone who enjoys film and cinema as a whole, this book was a solid pick for me. This book also served several purposes: one for showcasing the most iconic film directors in the history of film, but also as a guide to the films that make these directors great. Some of these films I’ve seen but most of the ones listed I’ve heard of but never seen. Overall, a good book if you adore movies and are looking to find movies that you want to watch.
As a cinephile, this book was an extreme pleasure to explore and look at. The illustrations and the design are on a whole different level. My only issue is that I don't fully agree with the 52 names that are mentioned in this book and that's why I'm giving it four stars, instead of five. Nevertheless, if you are interested in movies, THIS book is your go-to guide.
The author mentions that there are so few women directors mentioned because that's a reflection of the industry but even when this came out there were still so many impactful ones he could have included (seriously no Agnes Varda?) and it just felt like a lazy excuse. It's a quick coffee table read but you're not missing out if you skip it.
I loved this because it really helped rekindle my love of films, something that was dwindling towards the end of 2015 (I blame studying the subject). The books has a great mix of female and male directors, people of colour and international directors as well as contemporaries and founding fathers, such as Méliès, Eisenstein and Orwell. It's witty and snappy, a quick read with beautiful images. Each entry provides you with a few films you should see by that director, a lovely feature that has helped me add a plethora of films to my 'to watch' list in 2016. I did find some of the phrasing quite repetitive, but a great read nonetheless.
There are more abusers in this book than there are women, and they didn't even include Varda. Absolute Fuckery. Still, it's a good introduction to notable filmmakers, however it's a gateway drug, nothing more, nothing less.