Essential Cinema: On the Necessity of Film Canons

by Jonathan Rosenbaum

Overview

In his astute and deeply informed film reviews and essays, Jonathan Rosenbaum regularly provides new and brilliant insights into the cinema as art, entertainment, and commerce. Guided by a personal canon of great films, Rosenbaum sees, in the ongoing hostility toward the idea of a canon shared by many within the field of film studies, a missed opportunity both to shape the discussion about cinema and to help inform and guide casual and serious filmgoers alike.

In Essential Cinema, Rosenbaum forcefully argues that canons of great films are more necessary than ever, given that film culture today is dominated by advertising executives, sixty-second film reviewers, and other players in the Hollywood publicity machine who champion mediocre films at the expense of genuinely imaginative and challenging works. He proposes specific definitions of excellence in film art through the creation a personal canon of both well-known and obscure movies from around the world and suggests ways in which other canons might be similarly constructed.

Essential Cinema offers in-depth assessments of an astonishing range of films: established classics such as Rear Window, M, and Greed; ambitious but flawed works like The Thin Red Line and Breaking the Waves; eccentric masterpieces from around the world, including Irma Vep and Archangel; and recent films that have bitterly divided critics and viewers, among them Eyes Wide Shut and A.I. He also explores the careers of such diverse filmmakers as Robert Altman, Raúl Ruiz, Frank Tashlin, Elaine May, Sam Fuller, Terrence Davies, Edward Yang, Hou Hsiao-hsien, and Orson Welles. In conclusion, Rosenbaum offers his own film canon of 1,000 key works from the beginning of cinema to the present day. A cogent and provocative argument about the art of film, Essential Cinema is also a fiercely independent reference book of must-see movies for film lovers everywhere.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780801889714
Publisher:	Johns Hopkins University Press
Publication date:	06/01/2008
Edition description:	20
Pages:	472
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.20(h) x 3.80(d)
Age Range:	18 Years

About the Author

Jonathan Rosenbaum is film critic for the Chicago Reader and the author or editor of fourteen books, including Movie Wars: How Hollywood and the Media Limit What Films We Can See, Movies as Politics, and Placing Movies: The Practice of Film Criticism.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments
Introduction
I. Classics
Fables of the Reconstruction: The Four-Hour Greed
Fascinating Rhythms: M
The Color of Paradise: Jour de fête
Backyard Ethics: Hitchcock's Rear Window
Songs in the Key of Everyday Life: The Umbrellas of Cherbourg
A Tale of the Wind: Joris Ivens's Last Testament
Kira Muratova's Home Truths: The Asthenic Syndrome
The Importance of Being Sarcastic: Sátántangó
Blush
The Ceremony
Thieves
True Grit: Rosetta
II. Special Problems
Malick's Progress
Improvisations and Interactions in Altmanville, with an Afterword: Nashville
Mixed Emotions: Breaking the Waves
Fast, Cheap & Out of Control
The Sweet Cheat: Time Regained
James Benning's Four Corners
Overrated Solutions: L'humanité
The Sound of German: Straub-Huillet's The Death of Empedocles
Beyond the Clouds: Return to Beauty
Reality and History as the Apotheosis of Southern Sleaze: Phil Karlson's The Phenix City Story
Is Ozu Slow?
The Human Tough: Decalogue and Fargo
III. Other Canons, Other Canonizers
Lfie Intimidates Art: Irma Vep
Stanley Kwan's Actress: Writing History in Quicksand
Critical Distance: Godard's Contempt
Remember Amnesia? (Guy Maddin's Archangel), with an Afterword: Ten Years Later (Please Watch Carefully: The Heart of the World)
Ragged but Right: Rivette's Up Down Fragile
Critic with a Camera: Marker on Tarkovsky
Riddles of a Spinx: From the Journals of Jean Seberg
International Harvest: National Film Histories on Video
International Sampler: Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai
Not the Same Old Song and Dance: The Young Girls of Rochefort
Flaming Creatures and Scotch Tape
Ruiz Hopping and Buried Treasures: Twelve Selected Global Sites
IV. Disputable Contenders
Back in Style: Bertolucci's Besieged
The Young One: Buñuel's Neglected Masterpiece
In Dreams Begin Responsibilities: Kubrick's Eyes Wide Shut
The Best of Both Worlds: A.I. Artificial Intelligence
Under the Chador: The Day I Became a Woman
Chains of Ignorance: Charles Burnett's Nightjohn
Good Vibrations: Waking Life
Hell on Wheels: Taxi Driver
Meat, John, Dough: Pretty Woman
Tashlinesque
Weird and Wonderful: Takeshi Kitano's Kikujiro
Corpus Callosum
V. Filmmakers
Mann of the West
Otto Preminger
Nicholas Ray
Exiles in Modernity: Films by Edward Yang
Hou Hsiao-hsien: Becoming Taiwanese
The Countercultural Histories of Rudy Wurlitzer
Sam Fuller: The Words of an Innocent Warrior
The Mysterious Elaine May: Hiding in Plain Sight
Visionary Agitprop: I Am Cuba
The Battle over Orson Welles
License to Feel: Distant Voices, Still Lives and The Neon Bible
Death and Life: Landscapes of the Soul—The Cinema of AlexanderDovzhenko
Appendix: 1,000 Favorites (A Personal Canon)
Index

What People are Saying About This

Tom Gunning

As one of our few truly thoughtful, regularly-appearing film critics, Jonathan Rosenbaum strives less to simply describe or evaluate a film than engage the reader in an argument about values. He understands that film canons need not be a conservative listing of masterpieces, but an ongoing struggle for the richness of cinema and art in a world of commercialized leisure and passive politics.

— Tom Gunning, author of The Films of Fritz Lang

From the Publisher

Jonathan Rosenbaum is unquestionably one of the leading film critics working today. He is an invaluable guide to current movies—not because one always agrees with him, but because he enlarges our perceptions and often points us in the right direction, because he is intelligent and engages our intelligence—and has a sound grasp of the history of film, its aesthetic values and its social and political content. In many ways he is singularly well equipped for the project he undertakes in Essential Cinema: to establish a pantheon of great films in world cinema. This idea may be controversial nowadays but, in my view, that only makes it all the more worth undertaking. Bringing fresh acumen and insight to both established classics and more recent films, this book will inspire debate among those who care about the art of film.
—Gilberto Perez, author of The Material Ghost

Given the current intellectual environment, nothing could be more provocative or welcome than a film critic who openly defends the making of canons, and who compiles an informed, discriminating list of the best pictures ever made. Jonathan Rosenbaum's Essential Cinema performs both tasks brilliantly, at the same time giving us a bracing series of essays on the artistic, political, and entertainment value of individual films and film makers. Everyone who loves motion pictures ought to read this book. Rosenbaum's personal canon will stimulate debate, enhance education, and provide a valuable guide to a thousand nights of pleasurable viewing.
—James Naremore, author of More Than Night

As one of our few truly thoughtful, regularly-appearing film critics, Jonathan Rosenbaum strives less to simply describe or evaluate a film than engage the reader in an argument about values. He understands that film canons need not be a conservative listing of masterpieces, but an ongoing struggle for the richness of cinema and art in a world of commercialized leisure and passive politics.
—Tom Gunning, author of The Films of Fritz Lang

Gilberto Perez

Jonathan Rosenbaum is unquestionably one of the leading film critics working today. He is an invaluable guide to current movies—not because one always agrees with him, but because he enlarges our perceptions and often points us in the right direction, because he is intelligent and engages our intelligence—and has a sound grasp of the history of film, its aesthetic values and its social and political content. In many ways he is singularly well equipped for the project he undertakes in Essential Cinema: to establish a pantheon of great films in world cinema. This idea may be controversial nowadays but, in my view, that only makes it all the more worth undertaking. Bringing fresh acumen and insight to both established classics and more recent films, this book will inspire debate among those who care about the art of film.

— Gilberto Perez, author of The Material Ghost

James Naremore

Given the current intellectual environment, nothing could be more provocative or welcome than a film critic who openly defends the making of canons, and who compiles an informed, discriminating list of the best pictures ever made. Jonathan Rosenbaum's Essential Cinema performs both tasks brilliantly, at the same time giving us a bracing series of essays on the artistic, political, and entertainment value of individual films and film makers. Everyone who loves motion pictures ought to read this book. Rosenbaum's personal canon will stimulate debate, enhance education, and provide a valuable guide to a thousand nights of pleasurable viewing.

— James Naremore, author of More Than Night

Editorial Reviews

A virtuoso collection by one of the finest film critics currently active . . . His passions are unusually diverse . . . There's nothing here that won't enrich the reader in some way. If you have seen the film already, you will see it better. If you haven't seen it, you will want to.
—The Times of London

Rosenbaum's passionate, thoughtful, and richly informed advocacy of the films he cares about earns this book a place on any cinephile's shelf . . . Rosenbaum, an enormously erudite and deeply reflective viewer unbeholden to academic norms and taboos, is ideally positioned to propose a canon of great works . . . An essential guide.
—Boston Globe

Accessible without being dumbed down . . . Filled with perceptive insights and fascinating juxtapositions . . . A closing list of 1,000 favorite films is sure to spark debate among cineastes while offering a long checklist of films to watch.
—Publishers Weekly

Every essay demonstrates Rosenbaum's fervent dedication to the cinema and, more important, that he has the knowledge and insight to support his impassioned opinions.
—Booklist

Jonathan Rosenbaum is one of the most invested voices in writing about movies. When there's a subject he's spent decades thinking on, he's nonpareil.
—Newcity

Essential Cinema . . . is a chance to enjoy a bunch of reviews from the best long form critic on the planet.
—Memphis Flyer

Rosenbaum is one of those rare film critics who isn't too cool to tell us when a film gives him excitement, pleasure, and hope . . . Sometimes Rosenbaum becomes so strident about 'the lies' that Hollywood films and their publicists feed us that you want to whack him on the head with a copy of Entertainment Weekly. But, we need to hear about film lies from someone. And besides, there's no such thing as Jonathan Rosenbaum lite.
—Jewish Herald-Voice

[Rosenblaum's] canon is not exclusively Western, goes beyond purely aesthetic considerations, is a process of selection rather than reportage, and sees cultural criticism as valid.
—Reference and Research Book News

This is a road map for anyone who cares about discovering new cinematic terrain.
—Choice

Rosenbaum proves he is an essential critic, one we mustn't fail to read.
—Senses of Cinema

Important book.
—Steven Peacock, Film Studies

His observations on film composition are astute and thought-provoking . . . Essential Cinema is essential reading for the movie buff.
—Rebecca Oppenheimer, Howard County Times

From the Publisher

Rosenbaum is one of those rare film critics who isn't too cool to tell us when a film gives him excitement, pleasure, and hope . . . Sometimes Rosenbaum becomes so strident about 'the lies' that Hollywood films and their publicists feed us that you want to whack him on the head with a copy of Entertainment Weekly. But, we need to hear about film lies from someone. And besides, there's no such thing as Jonathan Rosenbaum lite.

Jewish Herald-Voice

Rosenbaum's passionate, thoughtful, and richly informed advocacy of the films he cares about earns this book a place on any cinephile's shelf . . . Rosenbaum, an enormously erudite and deeply reflective viewer unbeholden to academic norms and taboos, is ideally positioned to propose a canon of great works . . . An essential guide.

Boston Globe

[Rosenblaum's] canon is not exclusively Western, goes beyond purely aesthetic considerations, is a process of selection rather than reportage, and sees cultural criticism as valid.

Reference and Research Book News

This is a road map for anyone who cares about discovering new cinematic terrain.

Choice

Every essay demonstrates Rosenbaum's fervent dedication to the cinema and, more important, that he has the knowledge and insight to support his impassioned opinions.

Booklist

"Every essay demonstrates Rosenbaum's fervent dedication to the cinema and, more important, that he has the knowledge and insight to support his impassioned opinions."

Booklist

His observations on film composition are astute and thought-provoking... Essential Cinema is essential reading for the movie buff.

— Rebecca Oppenheimer

Howard County Times

Important book.

— Steven Peacock

Film Studies

In combining his reviews from the Chicago Reader with writing he's done for other magazines, Rosenbaum doesn't so much argue in favor of specific canons of film masterpieces as defend the very process of choosing films of artistic or cultural significance that deserve to be remembered and merit repeat viewing. His global approach is evident from the opening section, "Classics," which discusses films from Germany, France, Russia, Hungary, China and Belgium; even the two American selections (Greed and Rear Window) were made by expatriate directors. Rosenbaum largely ignores mainstream Hollywood; except for a review of Pretty Woman (negative) and A.I. (positive with reservations), Stanley Kubrick is about as commercial as it gets. Instead, Rosenbaum rails against an attitude he sees perpetuated by American studios and critics alike, in which a film isn't worthy of discussion unless it's in wide release or prominently displayed on the video shelves. He'd rather call readers' attention to things they probably wouldn't have seen otherwise, yet his treatment of individual films and filmmakers is accessible without being dumbed down, filled with perceptive insights and fascinating juxtapositions (the Coen brothers, for example, come up in a chapter-long comparison with Polish director Krzysztof Kieslowski). A closing list of 1,000 favorite films is sure to spark debate among cineastes (Ishtar?) while offering a long checklist of films to watch. (Apr. 27) Copyright 2004 Reed Business Information.

Publishers Weekly

Film critic for the Chicago Reader, an alternative weekly, Rosenbaum presents a new collection of film essays, some rather lengthy, others just extended notes, and most previously published in his weekly. The result is a highly personal look at world filmmaking and directors that combines celebrations, rediscoveries, polemics, and autobiographical reflections (Rosenbaum is the son and grandson of small-town movie exhibitors). It is not, however, as the publisher claims, a reference of must-see films. Some of the better essays include an extended look at a recent restoration of Erich von Stroheim's silent film classic Greed and trenchant appreciations of Alfred Hitchcock's Rear Window, Martin Scorsese's Taxi Driver, Jacques Demy's musicals, and Stanley Kubrick's later films. Rosenbaum isn't afraid to throw the spotlight on obscure international films and directors and almost forgotten American films like The Phenix Story. There are also brief essays on American directors like Nicholas Ray (Rebel Without a Cause), Otto Preminger (Laura), and Western auteur Anthony Mann (El Cid). The book concludes with a personal canon of favorite films, listed year by year from 1895 to the present. Well written, though not always exciting, this work should be considered by academic libraries. Public and school libraries would be better served by Pauline Kael's 5001 Nights at the Movies, Danny Peary's various books on cult films, or the annual compilation of Roger Ebert's film reviews.-Stephen Rees, Levittown Regional Lib., PA Copyright 2004 Reed Business Information.

Library Journal

A virtuoso collection by one of the finest film critics currently active . . . His passions are unusually diverse . . . There's nothing here that won't enrich the reader in some way. If you have seen the film already, you will see it better. If you haven't seen it, you will want to.

The Times of London

Essential Cinema . . . is a chance to enjoy a bunch of reviews from the best long form critic on the planet.

Memphis Flyer

Jonathan Rosenbaum is one of the most invested voices in writing about movies. When there's a subject he's spent decades thinking on, he's nonpareil.

Newcity

Rosenbaum proves he is an essential critic, one we mustn't fail to read.

Senses of Cinema

His observations on film composition are astute and thought-provoking . . . Essential Cinema is essential reading for the movie buff.

Howard County Times - Rebecca Oppenheimer

Important book.

Film Studies - Steven Peacock