A Shared Cinema

by Michel Ciment, N T Binh, Martin

352 pages, Paperback

Published March 7, 2024

About the author

Michel Ciment was a French film critic and the editor of the cinema magazine Positif. He was a Chevalier of the Order of Merit, Knight of the Legion of Honour, Officer in the Order of Arts and Letters, and the president of FIPRESCI. Ciment was noted for his love for American film, somewhat unusual in his French cultural environment.

Michel Ciment est un critique de cinéma et rédacteur en chef du magazine de cinéma Positif. Il est Chevalier de l'Ordre national du Mérite, Chevalier de la Légion d'honneur, Officier de l'Ordre des Arts et des Lettres et président de la FIPRESCI. Ciment est connu pour son amour pour le cinéma américain, quelque peu inhabituel dans son environnement culturel français.

Reviews

[David Sterritt]

Old friend Paul Cronin has revivified his publishing operation, Sticking Place Books, and a very welcome result is the appearance of “A Shared Cinema: Conversations with N.T. Binh” by the late, great critic Michel Ciment, whom I knew, liked, and conversed with for many years. It’s a wide-ranging volume, mainly focused on French cinema but touching on a robust number of auteurs, national cinemas, and industrial circumstances in countries around the world. It’s structured as a book-length interview session, not unlike the legendary Hitchbook by Hitchcock and Truffaut, serving up a steady stream of facts, factoids, and opinions, all delivered with Michel’s characteristic blend of authoritative knowledge and sound critical judgments. I don’t agree with every opinion – not surprising, since I’m pretty opiniated myself – and I spotted a tiny number of minor inconsistencies, but almost every page is rich and rewarding. Highly recommended for anyone who cares about movies, the people who make them, and the critics who appraise and assess them.