My Top-Five Film Books

I am between things right now.

Another season is coming to an end. Not the summer, but the film festival season in my hometown. I volunteered to assist with the Fantasia Film Festival for a second year in a row, and now that it is over…I have time on my hands before I return to a teaching job at a college that covers the bills but no longer fills me with joy the way it once did.

I had better explain. I teach multiple courses at the college related to English, Business Communication and so forth. There have been a few changes in my semesters of teaching, and now I no longer teach Media Studies. This was a course that the students had to take due to a government mandate that every department had to have material in both of Canada’s official languages. And I do miss it. We discussed shots and angles in the frame, but also jobs, changes in the business, technology and where the industry was heading (a fool’s game, but still…). And that is why I decided to write this piece.

I have often suggested books, movies, television programs and web sites to students who asked, and colleagues who did not ask, and I can see that you do like it when I share my advice and interests. So, this is the list of film books that I have returned to again and again over the years when I want to be inspired and consider what film art is all about. A list of five was very hard to make and I had to avoid certain obvious ones (no Pauline Kael; no genre specific choices), but I think that it may still inspire those of you interested in the art to take a look…and learn.

And once again, there is no specific order to the list. I have choices here that I would probably push on a reader first, but it is up to you to decide where you want to start:

Something Like an Autobiography – Akira Kurosawa: this book became a good friend to me when I began to look at the Japanese master’s films for the first time. He believed deeply in the script and the importance or reading, almost sounding like a literary critic. And this matters when you find out that he was a great lover of literature (Shakespeare, Mann, etc.) and found a job in the industry through interviews where he impressed his employers with that love. His death came just before I flew over to work as an ESL instructor in Tokyo, and I still regret that his voice has been stilled, but we can always turn to this fantastic look at his early career and his advice on what actors and directors should give to the audience. Please read this slim volume of genius.

My Life and My Films – Jean Renoir: I will admit that it took me a long time before I found myself sitting in front of screen impressed with his work. I had seen his influence all over the French New Wave of the sixties without knowing the source of that influence. And shame on me. I did not realize that he pioneered multiple camera work, a relaxed use of the camera to tell a story, and had a great love of the art of acting to the point where he would appear in many of his charmed masterpieces. As the son of the great Pierre-Auguste Renoir, he did lead a charmed life, but he made his own way and put an indelible imprint on the art of cinema. Read about his life and learn all about film as life and life as film.

Truffaut/Hitchcock: Now this one is special. The book was released in the late 1960s, and then released years later due to demand and extra material following the death of the interviewee. Alfred Hitchcock agreed to be interviewed by Francois Truffaut with Helen Scott acting as an interpreter. I knew that the French New Wave directors – Truffaut, Godard, Resnais, Chabrol, etc. – worshipped Hitchcock, but I was still surprised to see this in print and discover how willing the master was to discuss his career with a very willing pupil. It covers all of the films in the release and provides many unique insights into how and why films are made. And yes, for those of you with an interest in such films, the movie based on the book does cover a great deal of the material here. But you can only get so much from an online account. Please take some time and find this marvel of an interview.

Easy Riders and Raging Bulls - Peter Biskind: This was a more recent book on the history of film in Hollywood, and I still think it is a lot of fun…with several warnings. This book covers the industry from 1967 to 1980, a moment in the cultural zeitgeist when it seemed that anything was possible for a young filmmaker with a vision and studios willing to take a chance. They really had no choice but to bring in certain names that are still recognized today (Spielberg, Lucas, Coppola, Altman, DePalma, etc.) After years of bloated musicals and historical dramas, many of the studios were bankrupt, selling off their lots and considering more lucrative contracts with television networks. The book covers the mavericks who were inspired by the French New Wave, Italian neorealist filmmakers, and world cinema in general (a nice tie-in with the “Truffaut/Hitchcock” tome). And as I said, it is also a warning. Money started to be made on a product that many thought was a dinosaur, saving the industry, but also setting a certain type of rigidity in place. We many never see such an exciting moment in American filmmaking again, where critics and audiences always seemed to demand more of the talent behind and on the silver screens. Read and learn about what once was and where we can hopefully return to one day. We need a revolution to take place once more.

And finally…

Roger Ebert’s Book of Film: I found my copy while I was a grad student at university, writing a paper on Shakespeare and Japanese film (hello, Kurosawa). This book helped out a great deal, and I found that I could not put it down once I became a graduate. It is a mini-encyclopedia of an industry, an art form, historical movements and their affect on that art form, and a very surprising introduction to the nooks and crannies of a business that changed the world (it is still strange for me to acknowledge that Leo Tolstoy was aware of cinema and believed that he would have to find a new way to tell stories). Such possibilities… And a nice final touch is the Sight and Sound lists of the greatest films chosen by critics and directors since its inception in 1952 (my copy was from the early 2000s, so things have definitely changed all around). But this is not simply a book for academics. The late critic loved movies and knew that they were an art form that did not need any intellectualization or deep study for its appreciation. And I will admit that this is the one book on my list that I have returned to again and again.

Please find it.

And please enjoy it.

And for those you who want a little more reading between screenings:

Jason Zinoman – Shock Value (best book on modern horror films you can find)

William Goldman – Adventures in the Screen Trade (the screenwriter for “Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid” and “All the President’s Men” has something to say)

Sidney Lumet – Making Movies (a pleasant surprise from the director of “Network”, “Serpico” and “Dog Day Afternoon”)

David Mamet – On Directing Film (his books on acting and theatre are well-matched by this tome on screen work)

Mark Harris – Pictures at a Revolution (this is specifically about 1967 and the Hollywood system; the year the amateurs taught the experts what to do)

Pauline Kael – I Lost it at the Movies (oh, I had to include at least one book by America’s best film critic; read it for the wit and rage she provokes)

Kenneth Anger – Hollywood Babylon (if you really want to see the seedy side of Tinseltown)

David Thomson – A Biographical Dictionary of Film (a little dated, but a good overview of the history of the art form and its key players)

Note: my biases are showing here, and I know it. There are plenty of film books that cover the political side of the business, as well as those groups that have historically been ignored and marginalized by the industry. All I can say is that these choices are based on a love of the form, not on some sort of soapbox preaching that I intend to lob at my readers. Make your own choice about where to start and decide on how you want to approach one of the most interesting art forms we have today.

Enjoy the ride.

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You can find more poems, stories, and articles by Kendall Defoe on my Vocal profile. I complain, argue, provoke and create...just like everybody else.

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