bookshelf

OUR FILMS, THEIR FILMS

Name: OUR FILMS, THEIR FILMS
Author: Satyajit Ray
ISBN: 0-7868-6122-3

by Satyajit Ray ‧ RELEASE DATE: Sept. 16, 1994

bookshelf

A collection of essays by one of the world's great filmmakers, dating back to his early days as a film buff. The late Satyajit Ray, who received a Lifetime Achievement Award from the American Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences in 1991, was easily the finest director ever produced by the endlessly prolific Indian film industry. Unlike the majority of his colleagues, he worked in Bengali rather than Hindi (the dominant language of his country), and he made quietly intelligent, liberal humanist films rather than raucous four-hour musicals, the popular staple. This collection of his occasional writings on Indian and foreign films, published in India in 1976, reflects his humanist concerns. In the course of such essays as ``What Is Wrong with Indian Films?'' and ``The Odds Against Us,'' he repeatedly argues for a cinema about personal problems and large issues, a cinema that is perhaps a little too content-based for the tastes of many critics. The pieces, which date from 1948 to 1974, include several lovely reminiscences and journal excerpts from his filmmaking days; in fact, the best material describes working and traveling at home and abroad. Unfortunately, the book and film reviews that make up the bulk of the volume are disappointingly ordinary; he has little new to say about Akira Kurosawa, John Ford, or the other directors he admires. On occasion, Ray will rise up in a manifesto-like tone, urging Indian filmmakers to draw on their own social reality rather than following foreign models, however admirable. At those moments, his prose catches fire again. Rather than issuing this collection of often indifferent material, Hyperion would have done a greater service to Ray's memory by publishing more of his working journals or reminiscences.

Pub Date: Sept. 16, 1994

ISBN: 0-7868-6122-3

Page Count: 224

Publisher: Hyperion

Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010

Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 1994

Categories:

GENERAL NONFICTION

bookshelf

NUTCRACKER

by E.T.A. Hoffmann ‧ RELEASE DATE: Oct. 28, 1996

bookshelf

This is not the Nutcracker sweet, as passed on by Tchaikovsky and Marius Petipa. No, this is the original Hoffmann tale of 1816, in which the froth of Christmas revelry occasionally parts to let the dark underside of childhood fantasies and fears peek through. The boundaries between dream and reality fade, just as Godfather Drosselmeier, the Nutcracker's creator, is seen as alternately sinister and jolly. And Italian artist Roberto Innocenti gives an errily realistic air to Marie's dreams, in richly detailed illustrations touched by a mysterious light. A beautiful version of this classic tale, which will captivate adults and children alike. (Nutcracker; $35.00; Oct. 28, 1996; 136 pp.; 0-15-100227-4)

Pub Date: Oct. 28, 1996

ISBN: 0-15-100227-4

Page Count: 136

Publisher: Harcourt

Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 1996

Categories:

GENERAL NONFICTION

- BOOK REVIEW
THE NUTCRACKER AND THE MOUSE KING
by E.T.A. Hoffmann ; adapted by Natalie Andrewson ; illustrated by Natalie Andrewson

- BOOK REVIEW
THE NUTCRACKER
by E.T.A. Hoffmann & illustrated by Julie Paschkis

bookshelf

TO THE ONE I LOVE THE BEST

EPISODES FROM THE LIFE OF LADY MENDL (ELSIE DE WOLFE)

by Ludwig Bemelmans ‧ RELEASE DATE: Feb. 23, 1955

bookshelf

An extravaganza in Bemelmans' inimitable vein, but written almost dead pan, with sly, amusing, sometimes biting undertones, breaking through. For Bemelmans was "the man who came to cocktails". And his hostess was Lady Mendl (Elsie de Wolfe), arbiter of American decorating taste over a generation. Lady Mendl was an incredible person,- self-made in proper American tradition on the one hand, for she had been haunted by the poverty of her childhood, and the years of struggle up from its ugliness,- until she became synonymous with the exotic, exquisite, worshipper at beauty's whrine. Bemelmans draws a portrait in extremes, through apt descriptions, through hilarious anecdote, through surprisingly sympathetic and understanding bits of appreciation. The scene shifts from Hollywood to the home she loved the best in Versailles. One meets in passing a vast roster of famous figures of the international and artistic set. And always one feels Bemelmans, slightly offstage, observing, recording, commenting, illustrated.