Inner Views: Filmmakers In Conversation [Paperback]

David Breskin (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 21, 1997

David Breskin is a fantastically talented interviewer: he has a knack for asking probing questions and the good sense to make sure his subjects answer them directly. He’s assured enough not to be cowed by his famous interviewees, but humble enough to let them do most of the talking, Inner Views contains eight length conversations that Breskin held with some of the most prominent modern film directors, many of them caught in the process of making their most important recent works. Francis Ford Coppola reveals the reasons for making The Godfather Part III after sixteen years of refusals. Oliver Stone traces his life from his earliest memories tot he making of JFK. Spike Lee, fresh from the success of Do the Right Thing, talks about the meaning of that movie and of Jungle Fever, which followed it. Robert Altman waxes eloquently on his unique filmmaking process, particularly as it relates to The Player and Short Cuts.And Clint Eastwood, caught just before the release of Unforgiven, gives a lively overview of his career. Throw in engrossing conversations with David Lynch, David Cronenberg, and Tim Burton and you have a book that provides indispensable insight into the live and work of the world’s most intriguing filmmakers.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

David Breskin is a fantastically talented interviewer: he has a knack for asking probing questions and the good sense to make sure his subjects answer them directly. He's assured enough not to be cowed by his famous interviewees, but humble enough to let them do most of the talking. Inner Views contains eight lengthy conversations that Breskin held with some of the most prominent modern film directors, many of them caught in the process of making their most important recent works. Francis Ford Coppola reveals the reasons for making The Godfather Part III after 16 years of refusals. Oliver Stone traces his life from his earliest memories to the making of JFK. Spike Lee, fresh from the success of Do the Right Thing, talks about the meaning of that movie and of Jungle Fever, which followed it. Robert Altman waxes eloquently on his unique filmmaking process, particularly as it relates to The Player and Short Cuts. And Clint Eastwood, caught just before the release of Unforgiven, gives a lively overview of his career. Throw in engrossing conversations with David Lynch, David Cronenberg, and Tim Burton and you have a book that provides indispensable insight into the life and work of the world's most intriguing filmmakers.

From Publishers Weekly

Breskin's interesting new volume presents fuller versions of seven interviews with noted filmmakers that previously appeared in Rolling Stone . Breskin's interviews are raw and often hard-hitting (in graphic language, Oliver Stone talks about the bitter lessons he learned while incarcerated on marijuana smuggling charges) and informative (Francis Coppola's take on his experience as a "director for hire" after the collapse of his Zoetrope studio). Yet frequently these conversations are rambling and unfocused. Ranging from veteran filmmakers Robert Altman and Coppola to younger directors such as Spike Lee and Tim Burton, this motley collection seems to be united only by Breskin's sense that each is an aut e ur . This judgment is not enough to pull the volume together. The filmographies provided for each director are also haphazard and list some but not all the television work of those profiled. Breskin provides good introductions to each interview, though some of his critical judgments are questionable.
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Details

• Paperback: 409 pages
• Publisher: Da Capo Press; Expanded edition (August 21, 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0306808013
• ISBN-13: 978-0306808012
• Product Dimensions: 8.2 x 5.4 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,180,425 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Essential reading for film fans, March 26, 2000

By 

linus (the land of wind and ghosts) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Inner Views: Filmmakers In Conversation (Paperback)

Probably the best book of director interviews since HITCHCOCK/TRUFFAUT and Andrew Sarris' INTERVIEWS WITH FILM DIRECTORS. After reading it, you want David Breskin to go around interviewing every director, immersing himself in their work beforehand, leading them into intimate and challenging conversations in which they sometimes get mad at him (even the laid-back David Cronenberg gets a little prickly at one point) but develop a grudging respect for him at the same time. INNER VIEWS collects eight interviews Breskin conducted for ROLLING STONE -- yes, children, there was a time when that magazine was worth reading -- though the pieces were significantly shortened for publication in RS, and thankfully restored to full sprawl here. I have no idea why we haven't seen more from Breskin; is he dead or retired? An interviewer this penetrating and eloquent shouldn't be allowed to ride off into the sunset.

I would be duty-bound to cherish this book simply because Breskin sits down with two of my gods, David Cronenberg and David Lynch; between their interviews here and the respective books about them edited by Chris Rodley, you will discover all you could ever want to know about these fascinating directors. But Breskin also interviews six other greats: Robert Altman, Oliver Stone, Francis Ford Coppola, Spike Lee, Tim Burton, and (in the expanded 1997 edition) Clint Eastwood. He parries amusingly with a few of them, as when Oliver Stone -- intellectual macho man that he is -- smugly breaks out a quote from Aeschylus, only to be informed by the unimpressed Breskin that Coppola had already related that same quote to him. (Stone is described as "surprised, his thunder stolen.") Breskin also gets yelled at a few times by accomplished shouter Spike Lee (this was before he became a father and mellowed) but admirably, calmly stands his ground -- yet Lee comes off not as a hothead throwing a diva tantrum but as an impassioned man who isn't used to being challenged by an interviewer from ROLLING STONE. Lee, and everyone else in the hot seat here, would discover that Breskin was much more than that.

5.0 out of 5 stars This is one of the best books of director interviews I have ever read., November 28, 2006

By 

B. A Varkentine (Seattle, WA United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Inner Views: Filmmakers in Conversation (Paperback)

Breskin plainly admires the filmmakers at their best, at work and as people. He wins them into describing, with greater articulation than most, what they were thinking when they made their films and how they see art in general.

But what makes the book so worthwhile is that Breskin makes his subjects pay the piper, when they would almost certainly rather dismiss at least some of his questions with a one-liner. He is not inclined, as more "fannish" journalists would be and have been, to let them off the hook for mistakes or evasive answers.

(Revealing as well to note which of those interviewed arguably still had their best work ahead of them and which did not. The two Davids, Cronenberg and Lynch, are especially useful for this)

1 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Breskin, we hardly knew ya..., June 14, 2004

By 

M. Foley "Tool Fool" (sun valley, idaho United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Inner Views: Filmmakers In Conversation (Paperback)

It's so very rare to be able to predict that a book, were it a publicly traded stock, is an investment certain to become more valuable over time, the antithesis of a kitten. Breskin has honed his ability to ingratiate ephemerally, and in this process, you will get a rare glimpse of these great directors actually moving outside of soundbite to let you in on some part of process. Very worth...worth.