Going Steady: Film Writings 1968-1969 [Paperback]

Pauline Kael (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: July 1, 2000

In Going Steady Kael has deliberately kept her film reviews in chronological order so that the reader can follow ‘what was evolving in film during a crucial period of social and aesthetic change’ at the end of the sixties. From Godard’s Weekend to Kubrick’s 2001, via Barbarella, Bullitt and Yellow Submarine.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

1968 to 1970 was an exciting time for the international cinema. Godard, Truffaut, and Bergman were all at the peak of their powers; in the U.S., Kubrick, De Palma and others were breaking the rules of conventional movie making. The period was also an age of spectacles like Planet of the Apes, The Lion in Winter, and Yellow Submarine. This book reprints all of Pauline Kael's late '60s columns from the New Yorker magazine. In her distinctive and inimitable style, Kael reviews both the movies of this era and the cultural trends of the era itself.

About the Author

Winner of the American National Book Award for her film criticism in 1974, Pauline Kael was, until her retirement in 1974, a reviewer and critic of films and filming for over thirty years. Other titles by Pauline Kael available from Marion Boyars are: I Lost It At the Movies, Going Steady, Kiss Kiss Bang Bang, Reeling, When The Lights Go Down, Taking It All In, State of the Art, Hooked, Movie Love, Raising Kane and Other Essays and 5001 Nights at the Movies.

Product Details

• Paperback: 304 pages
• Publisher: Marion Boyars Publishers Ltd (July 1, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0714529761
• ISBN-13: 978-0714529769
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.4 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15.5 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,345,881 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

17 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars It's not that I always agree with her, I don't., November 9, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Going Steady: Film Writings 1968-1969 (Paperback)

I don't even often agree with her. We love different Bergman films and she likes to rip on Truffaut, who I adore, but never mind. If I wanted to read what I agreed with, I'd read my diary-- and even then I'd probably disagree with myself.

What impresses me about Kael is how much her love of cinema comes through. Everyone uses the word 'passion' when they write about Kael, and really, that word comes unescapably through every page of her books. She is more than passionate, however, and combines that emotion with a real and powerful intelligence and an often hilarious sense of humor. She's a critic in the tradition of Dorothy Parker, with a little bit less nastiness. Whenever Kael is vicious about a film or an actor, you don't have a sense of cynicism, but of real anger at someone defiling her art.

Going Steady can be a bit difficult for youngsters like me, because I'd only seen a fraction of the films she discussed in it. It was originally released the year I was born, and the 60s are not an era whose films I've particularly studied. However, this book contains her famous essay "Trash, Art and the Movies" and for that piece alone it's worth a read.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Going Steady, February 23, 2004

By A Customer

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Going Steady: Film Writings 1968-1969 (Paperback)

This book is for cinema enthusiasts. The reviews are old, many of them for movies that passed long ago from public memory. The remaining value is Kael's absolute love affair with cinema, evidence as she waxes on about the movies, what cinema is (or was at the time of the writing) and what it should be. This isn't journalism. Kael's opinion is the star of the book, but her passion for this most modern of artforms is infectious.

It's also fun reading Kael's take on certain well-remembered films. Sometimes her reviews are right on, while other times she denounces moves that would later prove beloved classics. Always, though, Kael is sharp, full of vigor, and entertaining.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars One of the best collections of film criticism available., August 28, 1998

By 

Herman Sutter ([e-mail]) (Houston, TX) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Going Steady: Film Writings 1968-1969 (Paperback)

This collection is Kael hitting her stride. It is some of the best film criticism available. Her review of Godard's Weekend is brilliant and her musings on the death of Mae Marsh and Griffith's Intolerance are beautiful. If you care about movies, this is a book you must read!