Late Style in Film

by Collin Brinkmann, Joseph McBride (Foreword)

376 pages, Paperback

Published May 15, 2026

Reviews

[Julesreads · Rating 5 out of 5]

An excellent new work of film criticism. I believe Brinkmann is about ten years younger than me, but when he said he became a cinephile tracks with my awakening as well, and that he loved Eastwood’s 15:17 to Paris (as do I, as well as much of Eastwood’s late work) and that he has a predilection for filmmakers’ later works (ditto), made me feel a kinship to him. The book is interesting, very optimistic but also steeped in film culture in a way I could both relate to the enthusiasm of and find exciting to see anew. The intro is over 100 pgs, so it’s a little bit of overkill and feels a little anxious at times but also I totally understand because the theory of “late style” isn’t well-defined or written about much especially in regard to cinema, so Brinkmann has a lot of contextualizing and explaining to do - not to mention how his contribution fits in and expands on (which gets a little lost in overselling the concept, citing any next film as a later film and therefore a late film, which I think cheapens the concept somewhat from late period work to simply the maturation of a filmmaker). That he ends the book on a note of “self-help” is telling and fitting. Covering Hawks, Chaplin, and Hitchcock, it may seem a bit fuddy-duddy to those looking for film’s newer voices to be written about, but the book gives new eyes to old masters and the works of theirs that critics in the past have not been the kindest to. In this new, expansive world of critical lenses and voices, Brinkmann’s is thorough and engaging.