NONFICTION

The Rhapsodes: How 1940s Critics Changed American Film Culture

by David Bordwell
Univ. of Chicago. Apr. 2016. 160p. illus. index. ISBN 9780226352206. pap. $20; ebk. ISBN 9780226352176. FILM
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As long as there have been films, there have been film critics. In the early days, these reviewers provided only a brief synopsis of a movie. However, by the 1930s-1940s, there was a shift in how motion pictures were being evaluated and discussed. Film was no longer a novelty of the nickelodeons, and the first generation that grew up with films began to analyze them in a totally new way. Bordwell (Film Art: An Introduction; The Way Hollywood Tells It) looks at four of the most influential voices of their era: Otis Ferguson, James Agee, Manny Farber, and Parker Tyler. These writers led the way for the next generation of better-known critics such as Roger Ebert, Pauline Kael, and Andrew Sarris; as their opinions evolved from slapdash to brilliant, they produced analytical discussions that were an art in themselves.
VERDICT With a fluid, lyrical style, Bordwell pays homage to a generation of critics lost to time and reintroduces them to a modern audience—those who read this book will be grateful.
Reviewed by Teri Shiel, Univ. of Connecticut Health Ctr. Lib., Farmington , Mar 01, 2016
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