Presented by City Lights in conjunction with Alfred Knopf and Zoetrope: All-Story
Celebrating the book launch of A Light In The Dark: A History of Movie Directors, published by Alfred Knopf.
From the celebrated film critic and author of The Biographical Dictionary of Film-an essential work on the preeminent, indispensable movie directors and the ways in which their work has forged, and continues to forge, the landscape of modern film.
Directors operate behind the scenes, managing actors, establishing a cohesive creative vision, at times literally guiding our eyes with the eye of the camera. But we are often so dazzled by the visions on-screen that it is easy to forget the individual who is off-screen orchestrating the entire production-to say nothing of their having marshaled a script, a studio, and other people's money. David Thomson, in his usual brilliantly insightful way, shines a light on the visionary directors who have shaped modern cinema and, through their work, studies the very nature of film direction. With his customary candor about his own delights and disappointments, Thomson analyzes both landmark works and forgotten films from classic directors such as Orson Welles, Alfred Hitchcock, Jean Renoir, and Jean-Luc Godard, as well as contemporary powerhouses such as Jane Campion, Spike Lee, and Quentin Tarantino. He shrewdly interrogates their professional legacies and influence in the industry, while simultaneously assessing the critical impact of an artist's personal life on his or her work. He explores the male directors' dominance of the past, and describes how diversity can change the landscape. Judicious, vivid, and witty, A Light in the Dark is yet another required Thomson text for every movie lover's shelf.
DAVID THOMSON is the author of more than twenty-five books, including The Biographical Dictionary of Film, Sleeping With Strangers: How the Movies Shaped Desire, biographies of Orson Welles and David O. Selznick, and the pioneering novel Suspects, which was peopled with characters from film. He was born in London in 1941 and educated at Dulwich College and the London School of Film Technique. He worked in publishing, at Penguin; he directed the film studies program at Dartmouth College; he did the series Life at 24 Frames Per Second for BBC radio; he scripted the film The Making of a Legend: Gine with the Wind; and he was on the selection committee for the New York Film Festival. He has been called the best or the most imaginative or reckless writer on film in English, but he presses on. His residence is in San Francisco, but he lives in his head.
show less
Celebrating the book launch of A Light In The Dark: A History of Movie Directors, published by Alfred Knopf.
From the celebrated film critic and author of The Biographical Dictionary of Film-an essential work on the preeminent, indispensable movie directors and the ways in which their work has forged, and continues to forge, the landscape of modern film.
Directors operate behind the scenes, managing actors, establishing a cohesive creative vision, at times literally guiding our eyes with the eye of the camera. But we are often so dazzled by the visions on-screen that it is easy to forget the individual who is off-screen orchestrating the entire production-to say nothing of their having marshaled a script, a studio, and other people's money. David Thomson, in his usual brilliantly insightful way, shines a light on the visionary directors who have shaped modern cinema and, through their work, studies the very nature of film direction. With his customary candor about his own delights and disappointments, Thomson analyzes both landmark works and forgotten films from classic directors such as Orson Welles, Alfred Hitchcock, Jean Renoir, and Jean-Luc Godard, as well as contemporary powerhouses such as Jane Campion, Spike Lee, and Quentin Tarantino. He shrewdly interrogates their professional legacies and influence in the industry, while simultaneously assessing the critical impact of an artist's personal life on his or her work. He explores the male directors' dominance of the past, and describes how diversity can change the landscape. Judicious, vivid, and witty, A Light in the Dark is yet another required Thomson text for every movie lover's shelf.
DAVID THOMSON is the author of more than twenty-five books, including The Biographical Dictionary of Film, Sleeping With Strangers: How the Movies Shaped Desire, biographies of Orson Welles and David O. Selznick, and the pioneering novel Suspects, which was peopled with characters from film. He was born in London in 1941 and educated at Dulwich College and the London School of Film Technique. He worked in publishing, at Penguin; he directed the film studies program at Dartmouth College; he did the series Life at 24 Frames Per Second for BBC radio; he scripted the film The Making of a Legend: Gine with the Wind; and he was on the selection committee for the New York Film Festival. He has been called the best or the most imaginative or reckless writer on film in English, but he presses on. His residence is in San Francisco, but he lives in his head.
Presented by City Lights in conjunction with Alfred Knopf and Zoetrope: All-Story
Celebrating the book launch of A Light In The Dark: A History of Movie Directors, published by Alfred Knopf.
From the celebrated film critic and author of The Biographical Dictionary of Film-an essential work on the preeminent, indispensable movie directors and the ways in which their work has forged, and continues to forge, the landscape of modern film.
Directors operate behind the scenes, managing actors, establishing a cohesive creative vision, at times literally guiding our eyes with the eye of the camera. But we are often so dazzled by the visions on-screen that it is easy to forget the individual who is off-screen orchestrating the entire production-to say nothing of their having marshaled a script, a studio, and other people's money. David Thomson, in his usual brilliantly insightful way, shines a light on the visionary directors who have shaped modern cinema and, through their work, studies the very nature of film direction. With his customary candor about his own delights and disappointments, Thomson analyzes both landmark works and forgotten films from classic directors such as Orson Welles, Alfred Hitchcock, Jean Renoir, and Jean-Luc Godard, as well as contemporary powerhouses such as Jane Campion, Spike Lee, and Quentin Tarantino. He shrewdly interrogates their professional legacies and influence in the industry, while simultaneously assessing the critical impact of an artist's personal life on his or her work. He explores the male directors' dominance of the past, and describes how diversity can change the landscape. Judicious, vivid, and witty, A Light in the Dark is yet another required Thomson text for every movie lover's shelf.
DAVID THOMSON is the author of more than twenty-five books, including The Biographical Dictionary of Film, Sleeping With Strangers: How the Movies Shaped Desire, biographies of Orson Welles and David O. Selznick, and the pioneering novel Suspects, which was peopled with characters from film. He was born in London in 1941 and educated at Dulwich College and the London School of Film Technique. He worked in publishing, at Penguin; he directed the film studies program at Dartmouth College; he did the series Life at 24 Frames Per Second for BBC radio; he scripted the film The Making of a Legend: Gine with the Wind; and he was on the selection committee for the New York Film Festival. He has been called the best or the most imaginative or reckless writer on film in English, but he presses on. His residence is in San Francisco, but he lives in his head.
read more
Celebrating the book launch of A Light In The Dark: A History of Movie Directors, published by Alfred Knopf.
From the celebrated film critic and author of The Biographical Dictionary of Film-an essential work on the preeminent, indispensable movie directors and the ways in which their work has forged, and continues to forge, the landscape of modern film.
Directors operate behind the scenes, managing actors, establishing a cohesive creative vision, at times literally guiding our eyes with the eye of the camera. But we are often so dazzled by the visions on-screen that it is easy to forget the individual who is off-screen orchestrating the entire production-to say nothing of their having marshaled a script, a studio, and other people's money. David Thomson, in his usual brilliantly insightful way, shines a light on the visionary directors who have shaped modern cinema and, through their work, studies the very nature of film direction. With his customary candor about his own delights and disappointments, Thomson analyzes both landmark works and forgotten films from classic directors such as Orson Welles, Alfred Hitchcock, Jean Renoir, and Jean-Luc Godard, as well as contemporary powerhouses such as Jane Campion, Spike Lee, and Quentin Tarantino. He shrewdly interrogates their professional legacies and influence in the industry, while simultaneously assessing the critical impact of an artist's personal life on his or her work. He explores the male directors' dominance of the past, and describes how diversity can change the landscape. Judicious, vivid, and witty, A Light in the Dark is yet another required Thomson text for every movie lover's shelf.
DAVID THOMSON is the author of more than twenty-five books, including The Biographical Dictionary of Film, Sleeping With Strangers: How the Movies Shaped Desire, biographies of Orson Welles and David O. Selznick, and the pioneering novel Suspects, which was peopled with characters from film. He was born in London in 1941 and educated at Dulwich College and the London School of Film Technique. He worked in publishing, at Penguin; he directed the film studies program at Dartmouth College; he did the series Life at 24 Frames Per Second for BBC radio; he scripted the film The Making of a Legend: Gine with the Wind; and he was on the selection committee for the New York Film Festival. He has been called the best or the most imaginative or reckless writer on film in English, but he presses on. His residence is in San Francisco, but he lives in his head.
show less
Date/Times:
261 Columbus Avenue, San Francisco, CA 94133
The Best Events
Every Week in Your Inbox
From Our Sponsors
UPCOMING EVENTS
Great suggestion! We'll be in touch.
Event reviewed successfully.