Amazon.com Review
This is
the basic reference guide to the international cinema. Put it next to your TV and VCR and you'll be able to answer the questions that inevitably arise when you watch a movie: "What other films has she been in?"; "Haven't I heard that director's name before?"; and "What in tarnation is a gaffer?"
The Film Encyclopedia contains biographies and filmographies of actors, directors, producers, and cinematographers, as well as screenwriters, editors, musical directors, production designers, and critics. You can look up films by nationality and find a history of a given country's contribution to the art. Technical data is also indexed, so you can read not only about film stock and the apparatus of the camera, but also about the duties of the gaffer, the key grip, and the best boy. The book's introduction states that Ephraim Katz, who died in 1992, set out to write "the most comprehensive one-volume encyclopedia of world cinema ever published in the English language."
The Film Encyclopedia contains more information than any other single-volume film reference and is also the best written movie guide of its kind. Because most of the entries were written by Katz himself, reading this book is like talking to a witty and learned film historian who has devoted his life to understanding--and loving--the cinema.
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
For the last 15 years, the first edition of this title has served as a dependable source of brief film biographies, definitions of terms, explanations of technical film processes, and more. This second edition continues to provide the same comprehensive coverage, now increased by about 18 percent. Its claim to being an encyclopedia of
world cinema is well founded, as there are entries for Zakes Mokae (South Africa), Pedro Almod{¢}ovar (Spain), Hector Babenco (Brazil), Zhang Yimou (China), Daniel Auteuil (France), and Juzo Itami (Japan), along with Ed Harris and Julia Roberts. As in the first edition, there are no entries for individual film titles. Filmographies are included for major actors and directors, and the biographical sketches include not only those two job titles but also composers, producers, screenwriters, art directors, cinematographers, etc. Of particular interest are the overviews of the film industry in individual countries, which provide the names of notable actors and directors and the titles of their films. Coverage of the U.S. film scene is up-to-date, biographical entries are provided for the likes of Linda Hamilton, Kirstie Alley, Sean Young, Tim Robbins, Debbie Allen, and Kyle MacLachlan. Indeed, the biographical entries are the mainstay of this work, which notes even 1993 and 1994 deaths of film notables.
Katz, author of the first edition, lived only long enough to complete about three-fourths of this new one. Those who followed him have fulfilled his original aim to produce "the most comprehensive one-volume encyclopedia of world cinema ever published in the English language." This is one instance where the content is accurately depicted by the cover blurb. Recommended for any reference collection in need of a world view of film.
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
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