Early Film Criticism of Francois Truffaut (Midland Book) [Paperback]

Wheeler Winston Dixon (Author)

Book Description

Series: Midland Book | Publication Date: February 22, 1993

Before turning to filmmaking, Francois Truffaut was a film critic writing for Cahiers du Cinema during the 1950s. The Early film Criticism of Francois Truffaut makes available, for the first time in English, articles that originally appeared in French journals such as Cahiers du Cinema and Arts. Truffaut discusses films by such acknowledged masters as Hitchcock, Huston, Dymytryk, and Lang, but also examines the work of such lesser-known directors as Robert Wise, Don Weis, and Roger Vadim.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

The 60 film reviews in this volume, now published in English for the first time, mark a delightful and significant addition to the great French filmmaker's canon. The astute commentary of Dixon, director of film studies at the University of Nebraska, places the Truffaut writings in both historical and biographical contexts. The collection is built around several themes, most prominently Truffaut's concern with the American B-movie and with favorite filmmakers like Renoir, Lang, Cukor and Hitchcock (whom he praises particularly effusively). Likewise, he is warm in his praise of Cukor's collaboration with Garson Kanin: "They reward American cinema every year with a masterpiece." Although his films bespeak a warm and fuzzy liberal humanism, as a film critic Truffaut had a reputation as a devastating hatchet man. This volume includes a savage and funny pan of Giant and more guardedly negative assessments of John Huston, of whom Truffaut asks, "Will he always be no more than an amateur?" Dixon argues that what makes these early writings important is Truffaut's dual role as a great filmmaker and as one of the first critics to take American genre films seriously. But what makes the book enjoyable is Truffaut's often witty and provocative writing.
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Review

"The 60 film reviews in this volume ... mark a delightful and significant addition to the great French filmmaker's canon... But what makes the book enjoyable is Truffaut's often witty and provocative writing." - Publishers Weekly " ... an excellent read ... enjoyable and insightful ... " - Sight and Sound

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 192 pages
• Publisher: Indiana University Press (February 22, 1993)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0253207711
• ISBN-13: 978-0253207715
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.2 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.5 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,673,107 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)