Inner Views: Filmmakers in Conversation
Expanded Edition
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- $0.99
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- $0.99
Publisher Description
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 sixteen 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.
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.
