Customer Reviews

Judi Dench: Scenes from My Life

5 star:		(12)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

As I already have John Miller's biography of Dame Judi Dench, I debated getting the newly-released (as of the date of writing) Scenes from My Life, which I assumed was Dame Judi's autobiography and which I thought might be somewhat repetitious. I needn't have worried, for this is, in essence, a photo album annotated with brief anecdotes or fond memories concerning each photo. This is a beautiful, slightly oversized 223-page hardcover, which is printed on heavy, photo-quality paper and is packed with quality colour and black-and-white photos on every page with very little text.

Dame Judi is generous in sharing with us a number of personal photographs. Though there are shots of her at various ages and stages in her life and career, there are not many childhood family photos (sadly, she lost most of her personal photo collection in a house fire). Still, she has managed to amass a nice assortment. There are photos of her with her late-husband, actor Michael Williams, with their daughter Finty, with grandson Sam, and with her darling and obviously much-loved little shih tzu (photos of whom I noticed even adorn her dressing room mirror in one shot!). Though the majority of photos are scenes of Judi in her professional capacity, there are as many "off stage" photos (ie. behind-the-scenes shots, dressing room shots, etc.) as their are stills from films or photos taken on stage.

The book is divided into eleven chapters, beginning with "My Family and other animals." The next seven chapters are a visual chronology of Dame Judi's roles on stage from the fifties through to the nineties. Chapters nine and ten cover Dame Judi's roles on screen (both on television and on film). The final chapter, entitled "Some Off-Duty Moments," brings the book full circle with a few more spatterings of personal photos.

Dame Judi is reputed to be a lovely person, and her wonderful sense of humour is apparent throughout. With so many photos and so little text, I suppose one would best describe this as a "coffee table" book. Certainly, it doesn't take long to read (and is well suited to being picked up and put down), but the nicest thing about it is the feeling one gets while going through the book, for it's almost as if Judi Dench herself is sitting with us, giving us a guided tour as we look through her photo album.

In conclusion, this is a lovely book which is sure to be enjoyed by fans of Dame Judi Dench, whether one is an avid reader or not, and it's the sort of book that is a pleasure to return to again and again. Highly recommended to all fans of this lovely, talented, and very successful Oscar-winning actress.

As a long-time fan of Dame Judi Dench, I found this book to be a perfect companion to her autobiography by John Miller 'Judi Dench: With a Crack in Her Voice'. I didn't have the advantage of following her life more closely by living in England. When I read the autobiography, I wanted to 'see' more of her to sense this life she was sharing with us. This book gives the reader a full spectrum of her life and the pictures are wonderfully presented. I am so glad to have added this to my collection which also includes 'Darling Judi'. For me, the three books together complete a full and beautiful picture of this wonderful lady and actress.

I am a fan of Judi Dench's and this book is a keeper--the photos and anecdotes are superb.

I have always been a fan of Judi Dench; her acting has inspired me. I enjoyed the book very much. I have never bought a book about an actress in my lifetime but I couldn't resist this one. It's on my table in the living room and everyone scans it and tells me they are going to buy it too.

This is a very good quality book and talks about Judi Dench's life from the beginning, but it's not what you might think.

If you're just a huge fan of her TV works, this book will be greatly disppointing. Although the pages are a thick, high glossy quality, the print is ENORMOUS with lots of "junk" fillers (an entire page with 1 quote). It does has a lot of old pictures and details her work history well, but I was quite disappointed nonetheless. I loved A Fine Romance and As Time Goes By; However less than 6 pages talked about her TV Life.

I was expecting more of a biography. My advise is to thumb through this one locally and really know what your buying before hand. I am a HUGE fan, but this isn't the right book for everyone.

Quite enjoyable. Nice to get a take on the richness of her remarkable career. The insight she brings to her acting tell volumes between the lines. Certainly one of the greatest artists of our time yet modest and endearing.

For any Judi Dench fan, this book is a must! It is filled with personnal family photos that are very touching. The highlights of her career on stage and film are well represented. All pictures have captions by Dame Judi. It would be a great gift for any fan.

Being a long time fan of Judi Dench, this lovely book shows her wonderful sense of humour, compassion and love of life.

Great, never before seen photos, she is truly a beautiful lady.

A book I will treasure.

Judi Dench continually amazes, and her wonderfully open, honest, and often touching personal photo album style of bio leaves one with an even greater sense of her lovliness as a human being. The book is truly a delightful journey.

If your are as big a Dame Judi fan as I am this book is a must read or maybe, more accurately, a must see. It's sprinkled with family photos of Judi Dench, her late husband, Michael Williams and her daughter. Best of all it covers virtually all of her career from her early Royal Shakespearean Company days through all of her stage, movie and TV performances (up to but not including her latest film, "Notes on a Scandal.)

This book is literally presented as "scenes" with great photos and anecdotes about her many talented costars starting with her RSC performances - a virtual who's who of great British actors.

If you are an American like me and were originally introduced to Judi Dench through the limited offerings of her BBC TV show "As Time Goes By," this book gives you loads of insights into the breadth of her career. It has dozens of black and white photos and just as many brilliant color photos.

There are brief comments by Dame Judi about family photos and other personal moments that give one a bit of insight into her real life. She comes across as being very down to earth and her legendary sense of humor shines through. The only reason I didn't give it 5 stars is because this isn't an actual autobiography by Dame Judi. It would have been nice to have had more material written by her.

All in all this is a great coffee table book for fans of one of the great actors of our times.