Alan J. Pakula: His Films and His Life [Hardcover]

Jared Brown (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 1, 2005

"For me, Alan Pakula was one of the great American filmmakers, but if you look at his films, they look so simple. The camera is not doing back—flips and he's not afraid to hold a shot. You can argue that if you do your work really well, no one should notice."
—Todd Field, director of In the Bedroom



To Kill a Mockingbird. Klute. All the President's Men. Sophie's Choice. Presumed Innocent. Alan J. Pakula was the creative force behind these great films and dozens more. Here at last is the definitive biography of this film genius, based on interviews with more than 40 friends, including Jane Fonda, Robert Redford, and Meryl Streep, and unrestricted access to Pakula's own family and archives. Born in the Bronx, destined to take over the family printing business, Pakula instead began writing and acting in plays as a teenager and moved to Hollywood in the 1950s. Artistically driven, boundlessly inventive, hugely influential, Pakula has left an enduring film legacy.




• Three-time Academy Award-winning water/director/producer


• Interviews with Harrison Ford, Laurne Bacall, Meryl Street, Robert Redford, Jane Fonda, Kevin Kline, Candice Bergen, Donald Sutherland, and over 30 other film celebrities


• More than 25 never-before-published photos of Pakula from his family

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Jared Brown, former chair of the School of Theatre Arts at Illinois Wesleyan University, is the author of the highly acclaimed Zero Mostel: A Biography, The Fabulous Lunts, and Theatre in America During the Revolution, as well as numerous plays and essays. He lives in Bloomington, IL.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 400 pages
• Publisher: Back Stage Books (September 1, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0823087999
• ISBN-13: 978-0823087990
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.1 x 1.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.8 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #217,487 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #11 in Books > Biographies & Memoirs > Arts & Literature > Movie Directors

More About the Author

The inseparable cocktail couple, Jared Brown and Anistatia Miller, are the directors of Mixellany Limited (www.mixellany.com), publishers of books on drink. During the course of their 19-year collaboration, Miller and Brown have written more than 30 books including Shaken Not Stirred: A Celebration of the Martini, Champagne Cocktails, Cuba: Legend of Rum, and Soul of Brasil. Their latest, Spirituous Journey: A History of Drink charts in two volumes a history of spirits and mixed drinks from 7000 BC to mid-20th century. (The first volume won a coveted Gourmand World Cookbook Award for Best Drink History in the UK in 2009 and the second received the same honour in 2010.) In October 2010, the couple also received the Best Drinks Writing Award at the 2010 CLASS Magazine Awards. And in 2011, the couple were honoured with the coveted IWSC Communicators of the Award from the International Wine & Spirits Competition.

Their publishing company is responsible for the Mixologist series of cocktail journals and the republishing such classics as the Café Royal Cocktail Book. They write for World's Best Bars and are "cocktail gurus" on the new Drinkology website. They are also regular contributors to Imbibe and CLASS magazines in the UK and Mixology magazine in Germany. They have written extensively for other publications including Wine Spectator, Cigar Aficionado, Gotham and Hamptons magazines, Los Angeles Confidential, Boston Common, Capitol File, and Food Arts in the United States as well as THEME in the UK.

These two former bartenders also practice what they preach. Brown is master distiller for the multi-award winning Sipsmith Gin, the first newly-licensed London distillery to open in nearly 200 years. They have amassed a collection of international awards for their work as distillery consultants creating new spirits, including a coveted 2002 international "Best Spirit" in the white spirits category from the Beverage Testing Institute for Heavy Water Vodka. They have worked as tasters for a number of products including the new Beefeater 24 ultra-premium gin. They recently completed a three-year project in the south of France, restoring Exposition Universelle des Vins et Spiritueux, a museum of wines and spirits founded in 1958, and cataloguing the 8000+ bottles, 1200 menus, and other antiquities in the collection.

They live in the Cotswolds with their cat, Kitten.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Alan J. Pakula, September 20, 2005

By 

Cynthia S. Gray (Santa Barbara) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Alan J. Pakula: His Films and His Life (Hardcover)

"Alan J. Pakula" by Jared Brown is among the best film bios I have ever read, for the way it is written and for inviting me into the world of Pakula on a whole new level.

It's not enough to say the book was thoroughly researched, though it was. Clearly, Brown had access that allowed him to explore Paluka's life at a particularly meaningful level. But it is also a highly engaging journey. A really fun read. I realized, as I read it, how iconographic are many scenes from Pakula's best films. Just mention the titles and these scenes pop out, full blown: the face of Meryl Streep's Sophie on that bed, suffused with the overwhelming pain of her past, Jane Fonda's low, droning voice in the most chilling seduction scene I can recall, Robert Redford making phone call after phone call, plodding toward a story that refuses to reveal itself. And how many scenes from "To Kill a Mockingbird" are burned into the brain? I mentioned this to my husband as I was reading and he remarked he had similar recollections of the same films. They are part of our movie-going psyche and had become the standard by which we subconsciously measure many films we have seen since.

Reading about how these scenes came about created a whole new dimension. A new phenomenon are the behind-the-scenes extra material that comes with many DVD's; this book takes you places such films just can't go,: the mental journey of the creator.
Had anyone asked before who made these films, I couldn't have answered. They just "were". Like the technique, the director had kept himself invisible. How gutsy. So this book was a double joy, not only taking me back to some of the best films Hollywood has produced (we have begun renting each of them to see again; they are astoundingly fresh) but providing a chance to meet a director who was not only supremely talented but such a fine person. Getting into his head and heart has been delightful. And seeing his process was magical. After seeing today's film techniques, the hand-held camera with all the distracting jumping about, how refreshing to discover and appreciate the thought and consideration that went into Pakula's films, the respect for the stories, the characters, the actors and above all, the audience, that he demonstrated. Each of the scenes referred to above are remarkable in their stillness but until I read this bio, I had not appreciated how much thought and insight and sheer talent went into creating that stillness. And the love and passion he brought to the films was obviously returned by those with whom he worked. These films told a story in a way we just don't see today. Maybe this biography will give current directors some pause to reconsider how to tell a story. For myself, I already loved his films. Having read this wonderful biography, now I know why and can enjoy them even more.

Among the best sections of the book are the two extensive chapters on the making of "All the President's Men". Brown must live a charmed life; his book has come out the same time as Deep Throat. So if all you are interested in is politics, these chapters alone are worth getting the book. I had just read Vanity Fair's Bernstein article on Deep Throat. Sequeing into these two chapters could not have been more perfect. Or addictive. I didn't want them to end.

This book is a truly absorbing read on a multitude of levels. I highly recommend it.

5.0 out of 5 stars ALAN PAKULA, February 1, 2012

By 

Julio C. Martinez (MONTCLAIR, NJ) - See all my reviews
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Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Alan J. Pakula: His Films and His Life (Hardcover)

NOT DONE YET BUT SO FAR THIS IS FULL OF THE LEGENDARY'S PRIVATE & PROFESSIONAL CAREER---LOVE THIS STUFF...
GLAD I GOT THIS BOOK--GREAT INSIGHTS
DELIVERY WAS PROMPT & PRODUCT WAS PERFECT
HIGHLY RECOMMEND THIS BOOK

1.0 out of 5 stars Not an authorized paperback, July 13, 2009

By 

Jared Brown "Tango Hound" (Bloomington, IL USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Alan J. Pakula: His Films and His Life (Paperback)

This book is NOT a paperback of the hardcover version. It's a "bound galley," meaning that it's a pre-publication version before the author had the opportunity to revise it. I (the author) subsequently revised and improved it significantly and can reliably inform you that the "paperback version" being advertised does not accurately reflect the hardcover version that was ultimately published. Do not buy it in the belief that you will receive an inexpensive of the hardcover.