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Forward Observer: Stanley Kauffmann at the Cinema 1998-2013
Stanley Kauffmann wrote film criticism for The New Republic for over 50 years, a tenure unsurpassed by any other major film critic. This collection of film criticism brings together reviews from the last 15 years of Stanley Kauffmann's life, from 1998 to 2013. Surveying the modern cinema at the end of one century and the start of another, Kauffmann brings clarity, unique insight and nuanced prose to bear on a wide variety of independent, foreign, and commercial cinema amidst great and ongoing technological, economic, and political shifts in the art form. A vital collection from an indispensable writer, whose critical prowess did not dim but was instead elevated by age, Forward Observer is an essential volume for any lover of film and criticism.
334 pages, Paperback
First published March 15, 2015
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April 1, 2015
ARC for review.
Full disclosure - I have no recollection of having heard of Stanley Kauffmann before seeing this book on NetGalley, but I enjoy film criticism, so I thought I would give it a try and it was well worth the effort (it's not a short book).
Kauffmann was the film reviewer for The New Republic for decades, but he was also a playwright, a drama teacher, a theatre critic, a fiction writer and was involved in the arts in so many ways it's astounding he was able to fit everything into one lifetime. While not a household name like Pauline Kael (in fact, Kael called Kauffman and other, like-minded reviewers "eggheads" or "squares" while she felt she took a far more populist approach), Kauffmann had a distinguished career in criticism for more than fifty years. He also believed strongly that there was a clear divide between journalistic criticism versus academic film study and his reviews are generally quite short and to the point. He could also be quite wry, his take on The Greatest Story Ever Told: "Sometimes I am more relieved than at other times that I am not a Christian. These occasions include the experience of most films about Jesus."
I was even more interested in this book when I saw the dates of this collection, assuming I would have seen a fair number of the movies reviews. Unfortunately I hadn't reckoned with Kauffmann's love of foreign films (French films are a particular passion), so I would guess that I had seen around half the movies reviewed.
Kauffmann finally bows to the inevitable in 2011, reviewing the documentary "Bobby Fischer Against the World" even though it was released on HBO, noting "some may think that therefore it fall under the rubric of 'television." But this misunderstanding has not prevented many of the best film directors in America from being driven to cable recently, for worthwhile work." This is quite a turnaround from 2001 when he lamented that Mike Nichols's film "Wit" was only available on HBO and he couldn't enjoy it fully since it wasn't on the big screen.
As to the reviews themselves, there's far too much ground to cover, so I'm moving to a Playboy interview form of Kauffman's general likes and dislikes (if he praised an actor or director more than once, he was definitely a fan..and obviously this doesn't include any releases since late 2012 - Kauffmann died in 2013) - some are what you would expect, but a few are surprising:
So, Kaufmann enjoys French cinema (natch), long walks on the beach, sunsets, Sharon Stone, Charles S. Dutton (especially in August Wilson's plays), David O. Russell, George Clooney ("born to be a leading man in film'), Dustin Hoffman, Kate Winslet (believes she's one of this generation's finest actresses), Albert Finney, Ian Holm (one of his favorite voices in all of cinema), "Center Stage", Akira Kurosawa (no surprise, with Kaufmann noting that "like great masters in other arts, Kurosawa is not "better than" others in his field: he is, at his best, incomparable")
He also lauds Morgan Freeman (my personal favorite actor), the film "It All Starts Today," Ang Lee (who "astonishes"), Poliah cinematographer Andrzej Bartkowiak, Julia Roberts (a bit surprising, I thought), "Tender Mercies", any great performance by a child actor (though he disliked the casting of Daniel Radcliffe as Harry Potter, calling him "an unexceptional boy in every way"...but also admitted he hadn't read any of the books), Eva Mattes, Maggie Smith (of course), Tom Cruise (prior to "Eyes Wide Shut," noting "if he would only stop smiling," America Ferrera in "Real Women Have Curves," Michael Apted's "Seven Up" series (these are phenomenal), Jeanne Moreau ("who for more than fifty years has been the epitome of Frenchness on the screen'), Charlize Theron in "Monster," Annette Bening in "Being Julia,"and Christopher Walken and Laura Linney in nearly anything.
Kudos also go to Oliver Stone ("one of the best American directors" even though he HATED "Alexander"), Joan Allen, Paul Haggis's direction and editing of "Crash" (he also singles out Matt Dillon's performance), Daniel Auteuil, "Jarhead," particularly the work of cinematographer Roger Deakins and editor Walter Murch), Felicity Huffman in "Transamerica," Sam Shepard (both as actor and writer,) Edward Norton (I think Kauffmann would have loved "Birdman"), Helen Mirren generally, and especially in "The Queen," Claude Chabrol, Liam Neeson (although who knows what Kauffmann made of Neeson's latter-day switch to an action star?), and "Shoah" (again, no surprise).
He dislikes much of Robert Altman's work (saying he was not as clever as the thought he was), Milla Jovovich as Joan of Arc, the later films of Roman Polanski (anything after "Repulsion", "Chinatown" and "Rosemary's Baby"), Renee Zellweger, "Dancer in the Dark" and Bjork's performance in it, "Cast Away," "Pearl Harbor" (but I think nearly everyone hated that movie), most boxing movies, "Kill Bill" (though he seems to generally admire Quentin Tarantino), and Colin Farrell.
The book has a separate section for documentaries, one of my favorite genres and Kauffmann reviewed three of my all-time favorites (he liked two, "Capturing the Friedmans" and "Marina Abramovic: The Artist is Present" and disliked "Bowling for Columbine."
The final section of the book, titled "Remarks" are brief entries published to acknowledge the passing of a great (highest praise to Richard Farnsworth for his acting in "The Straight Story" an absolutely glorious movie), noting his dislike for "top ten" lists (although he created a few in his career) and the way in which the killings at Virginia Tech were likely Seung-Hui Cho's realization of the film that he sent to NBC News after killing the first two victims and before killing the rest, "imagine it. Every moment while he was doing those killings, the existence of that film was in his head."
And some choice quotes: His review of "Hannibal" begins, "Voltaire, says an anecdote, was invited one evening to go along with a friend to a bordello, a place with certain specialties. Voltaire went. Next week the friend invited him again, and he declined. 'But,' said the friend, 'you seemed to enjoy it last week.'' Voltaire replied, "Once, a philosopher. Twice a pervert. Anthony Hopkins has gone to Hannibal Lecter for the second time." (he thoroughly enjoyed Hopkins in the role in "The Silence of the Lambs, though).
On "The Mexican" (the Julia Roberts/Brad Pitt vehicle)...'[it has a screenplay by J.H. Wyman which contends for that always elusive prize, the worst ever written."
On "Star Wars: Episode II - Attack of the Clones" - "...what it produced in me was serenity. Little could make me feel more serene that the thought that an imaginative person is fulfilling his dreams. Can there be a happier person than George Lucas?" also noting that criticism was now irrelevant for the Star Wars franchise.
And my definite favorite, in his review of "The Devil Wears Prada," "...this heroine is played by Anne Hathaway, one of the more big-ballyhoo nondiscovery, the flattest "major" arrival since Audrey Tautou. Hathaway has big eyes and small talent."
One odd thing - since I have not seen about half of the films in the book (maybe more) I thought I would come away with a huge list of films that I needed to see. I did not. In fact, I only marked two ("Michael" (and Austrian film, not the one with John Travolta and the documentary "Stranded").
True cinephiles will adore this book. Kauffmann is a wonderful writer, and his drama and writing experiences inform his reviews, and the reader will likely find a few appealing gems that he/she hasn't even heard of before being introduced by Mr. Kauffman. Highly recommended.
Full disclosure - I have no recollection of having heard of Stanley Kauffmann before seeing this book on NetGalley, but I enjoy film criticism, so I thought I would give it a try and it was well worth the effort (it's not a short book).
Kauffmann was the film reviewer for The New Republic for decades, but he was also a playwright, a drama teacher, a theatre critic, a fiction writer and was involved in the arts in so many ways it's astounding he was able to fit everything into one lifetime. While not a household name like Pauline Kael (in fact, Kael called Kauffman and other, like-minded reviewers "eggheads" or "squares" while she felt she took a far more populist approach), Kauffmann had a distinguished career in criticism for more than fifty years. He also believed strongly that there was a clear divide between journalistic criticism versus academic film study and his reviews are generally quite short and to the point. He could also be quite wry, his take on The Greatest Story Ever Told: "Sometimes I am more relieved than at other times that I am not a Christian. These occasions include the experience of most films about Jesus."
I was even more interested in this book when I saw the dates of this collection, assuming I would have seen a fair number of the movies reviews. Unfortunately I hadn't reckoned with Kauffmann's love of foreign films (French films are a particular passion), so I would guess that I had seen around half the movies reviewed.
Kauffmann finally bows to the inevitable in 2011, reviewing the documentary "Bobby Fischer Against the World" even though it was released on HBO, noting "some may think that therefore it fall under the rubric of 'television." But this misunderstanding has not prevented many of the best film directors in America from being driven to cable recently, for worthwhile work." This is quite a turnaround from 2001 when he lamented that Mike Nichols's film "Wit" was only available on HBO and he couldn't enjoy it fully since it wasn't on the big screen.
As to the reviews themselves, there's far too much ground to cover, so I'm moving to a Playboy interview form of Kauffman's general likes and dislikes (if he praised an actor or director more than once, he was definitely a fan..and obviously this doesn't include any releases since late 2012 - Kauffmann died in 2013) - some are what you would expect, but a few are surprising:
So, Kaufmann enjoys French cinema (natch), long walks on the beach, sunsets, Sharon Stone, Charles S. Dutton (especially in August Wilson's plays), David O. Russell, George Clooney ("born to be a leading man in film'), Dustin Hoffman, Kate Winslet (believes she's one of this generation's finest actresses), Albert Finney, Ian Holm (one of his favorite voices in all of cinema), "Center Stage", Akira Kurosawa (no surprise, with Kaufmann noting that "like great masters in other arts, Kurosawa is not "better than" others in his field: he is, at his best, incomparable")
He also lauds Morgan Freeman (my personal favorite actor), the film "It All Starts Today," Ang Lee (who "astonishes"), Poliah cinematographer Andrzej Bartkowiak, Julia Roberts (a bit surprising, I thought), "Tender Mercies", any great performance by a child actor (though he disliked the casting of Daniel Radcliffe as Harry Potter, calling him "an unexceptional boy in every way"...but also admitted he hadn't read any of the books), Eva Mattes, Maggie Smith (of course), Tom Cruise (prior to "Eyes Wide Shut," noting "if he would only stop smiling," America Ferrera in "Real Women Have Curves," Michael Apted's "Seven Up" series (these are phenomenal), Jeanne Moreau ("who for more than fifty years has been the epitome of Frenchness on the screen'), Charlize Theron in "Monster," Annette Bening in "Being Julia,"and Christopher Walken and Laura Linney in nearly anything.
Kudos also go to Oliver Stone ("one of the best American directors" even though he HATED "Alexander"), Joan Allen, Paul Haggis's direction and editing of "Crash" (he also singles out Matt Dillon's performance), Daniel Auteuil, "Jarhead," particularly the work of cinematographer Roger Deakins and editor Walter Murch), Felicity Huffman in "Transamerica," Sam Shepard (both as actor and writer,) Edward Norton (I think Kauffmann would have loved "Birdman"), Helen Mirren generally, and especially in "The Queen," Claude Chabrol, Liam Neeson (although who knows what Kauffmann made of Neeson's latter-day switch to an action star?), and "Shoah" (again, no surprise).
He dislikes much of Robert Altman's work (saying he was not as clever as the thought he was), Milla Jovovich as Joan of Arc, the later films of Roman Polanski (anything after "Repulsion", "Chinatown" and "Rosemary's Baby"), Renee Zellweger, "Dancer in the Dark" and Bjork's performance in it, "Cast Away," "Pearl Harbor" (but I think nearly everyone hated that movie), most boxing movies, "Kill Bill" (though he seems to generally admire Quentin Tarantino), and Colin Farrell.
The book has a separate section for documentaries, one of my favorite genres and Kauffmann reviewed three of my all-time favorites (he liked two, "Capturing the Friedmans" and "Marina Abramovic: The Artist is Present" and disliked "Bowling for Columbine."
The final section of the book, titled "Remarks" are brief entries published to acknowledge the passing of a great (highest praise to Richard Farnsworth for his acting in "The Straight Story" an absolutely glorious movie), noting his dislike for "top ten" lists (although he created a few in his career) and the way in which the killings at Virginia Tech were likely Seung-Hui Cho's realization of the film that he sent to NBC News after killing the first two victims and before killing the rest, "imagine it. Every moment while he was doing those killings, the existence of that film was in his head."
And some choice quotes: His review of "Hannibal" begins, "Voltaire, says an anecdote, was invited one evening to go along with a friend to a bordello, a place with certain specialties. Voltaire went. Next week the friend invited him again, and he declined. 'But,' said the friend, 'you seemed to enjoy it last week.'' Voltaire replied, "Once, a philosopher. Twice a pervert. Anthony Hopkins has gone to Hannibal Lecter for the second time." (he thoroughly enjoyed Hopkins in the role in "The Silence of the Lambs, though).
On "The Mexican" (the Julia Roberts/Brad Pitt vehicle)...'[it has a screenplay by J.H. Wyman which contends for that always elusive prize, the worst ever written."
On "Star Wars: Episode II - Attack of the Clones" - "...what it produced in me was serenity. Little could make me feel more serene that the thought that an imaginative person is fulfilling his dreams. Can there be a happier person than George Lucas?" also noting that criticism was now irrelevant for the Star Wars franchise.
And my definite favorite, in his review of "The Devil Wears Prada," "...this heroine is played by Anne Hathaway, one of the more big-ballyhoo nondiscovery, the flattest "major" arrival since Audrey Tautou. Hathaway has big eyes and small talent."
One odd thing - since I have not seen about half of the films in the book (maybe more) I thought I would come away with a huge list of films that I needed to see. I did not. In fact, I only marked two ("Michael" (and Austrian film, not the one with John Travolta and the documentary "Stranded").
True cinephiles will adore this book. Kauffmann is a wonderful writer, and his drama and writing experiences inform his reviews, and the reader will likely find a few appealing gems that he/she hasn't even heard of before being introduced by Mr. Kauffman. Highly recommended.
Displaying 1 of 1 review