5.0 out of 5 stars
Invaluable for Scorsese fanatics, Required for film scholars, and approachable for casual fans, March 27, 2010
This review is from: Scorsese Up Close: A Study of the Films (The Scarecrow Filmmakers Series) (Hardcover)
I am a film lover who has either read or skimmed through most if not all books written on Martin Scorsese or his films. THIS IS THE BEST MARTIN SCORSESE BOOK, and the only one of its kind. This book is useful for someone who just saw a Scorsese movie, liked it, and wants to know more about it and other movies similar to it; it's necessary for a fan who has seen his movies before and seeks a deeper understanding of the visual storytelling; and it's required reading for a film scholar who wants to know Scorsese's place in cinema.
DON'T READ THIS WHOLE THING, FIND THE PART THAT FITS YOU
CASUAL READERS: Author Ben Nyce (who taught film to people of all levels of familiarity with film, I presume) writes in an easy to understand tone. You can follow his chapters almost as easily as you could follow the films themselves. He rarely uses film terminology an average reader wouldn't know, and does not allude to works by other directors without sufficiently explaining them.
SCORSESE FANS: You need this book in your collections, even if it's the only book in it. It treads all the familiar places, and takes you to new ones.
FILM SCHOLARS: If you study film, you should want this book. It has detailed examination of landmark movies from the film canon of America's greatest living director, and one of the most important filmmakers in history. Nyce writes for everyone, but you will get the most out of his analysis. He places the films in context with the state of cinema in the era, finds parallels in Scorsese's own life, and uncovers their relationship with work from other directors Scorsese admired. Most importantly, Nyce is just so insightful. He delves into the psychology of Scorsese's characters, studying their motivations and actions in a scene-by-scene analysis of the films. He does this for all of Scorsese's MAJOR films-- he mentions but pretty much skips the movies that even avid Scorsese fans would have trouble remembering.
OVERALL: The book is so good it is often used in university film classes studying Scorsese's work in-depth. Nyce offers historical background when needed; studies the overlapping themes that Scorsese returned to throughout his career, and compares how the director approached them in each film; and offers the most insightful interpretations of many scenes, shots, or pieces of dialogue I have EVER READ on Scorsese's pictures. His attention to details in each film often made me see movies that I've watched dozens of times in a new light.
AUTHOR CREDENTIALS: Ben Nyce was professor of literature and film at the University of San Diego. He also wrote
Satyajit Ray: A Study of His Films, a book I only skimmed but would recommend to a more advanced student of film. His writing style is conversational, unpretentious, and always perceptive.
MOVIES STUDIED IN DETAIL: If you're like me, you want to know what, exactly, Nyce analyzes. These are most of the films... "Mean Streets," "Taxi Driver," "Raging Bull," "Goodfellas," "Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore," "The Last Temptation of Christ," "Bringing Out the Dead," "The King of Comedy," "After Hours," "The Age of Innocence," "Cape Fear," "Casino," "Kundun," and "The Color of Money." There is also a chapter dedicated to all of Scorsese's earliest works, another covering his foray into the Hollywood musical, and a postscript on "Gangs of New York", which was released as this book was about to go to press. It is three pages long and, although far less engaging, interesting, or informative than the rest of the book, acts as a detailed movie review, in which Nyce studies the film against Scorsese's past works.
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