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Simon, John (Author) & Beresford, Bruce (Contributor).
JOHN SIMON ON FILM: CRITICISM 1982-2001.
New York City, NY:
Applause Theatre & Cinema Books,
2005.
Hardcover.
First Edition/First Printing.
662 pages.
Fine/Fine.
Retrospective collection of film criticism. Widely regarded as John Simon's finest achievement since his classic "Reverse Angle". The true First Edition. Precedes and should not be confused with all other subsequent editions. Includes a rare gesture from a notable film figure: A Foreword/Appreciation by the Australian-born, American film director, Bruce Beresford. Presents John Simon's film reviews over a twenty-year period, one of the most critical in the medium's history. Around the early 1980's, there was a rare unanimity among the most respected and avidly-read film critics, including cinema's most influential champion, the late Pauline Kael of The New Yorker Magazine, that films were in alarming artistic decline with the rise and eventual dominance of the blockbuster film. In short, John Simon, the Harvard-educated film critic, was probably right after all: As early as the 1960's, the Second Golden Age of Cinema (the first was the Silent Film), he predicted that because of commercial pressures and a predominantly illiterate audience, films will become nothing more than mindless entertainment for kids, teen-agers, and most depressingly, adults with adolescent minds. Films have to be entertaining, but a film critic becomes irrelevant if that was all films were. There is no point in writing about mere entertainment seriously. Simon still takes films seriously, and it is what makes him the most demanding, the most rebarbative, and the most scathing critic America has ever produced. He proclaimed exactly one cinematic genius in the second half of the 20th century: Ingmar Bergman. With the benefit of distance, has there really been another film director of the same commanding genius? No. With the passage of time, John Simon will probably be proven right that "Persona" (Bergman's masterpiece), not "Citizen Kane", will be regarded by future generations as the greatest film of the 20th century. Every collection covers a lot of films, and Simon's 700-page retrospective is no exception. If what you want is a glowing review of your favorite film, you will be disappointed. The point of reading Simon (or Pauline Kael or any critic worth reading) is not what they have to say about a film (their "views"), but what those "views" say about them, a particular human being's sense and sensibility, to borrow Jane Austen's inimitable phrase for intelligence and taste. The more John Simon demolishes Steven Spielberg, Martin Scorsese, and the other sacred cows of Hollywood, the more enjoyable paradoxically he is to read. He also regarded his fellow critics as mediocrities, much worse than the films they wrote about. If the pen is poisonous, then Simon's is deadly. A "must-have" title for true lovers of film. This copy is prominently and beautifully signed in black fountain pen on the title page by John Simon. This title has been a surprising success, enjoys a cult following, and remains available in multiple subsequent printings. This is the only signed copy of the First Hardcover Edition available online and is in especially fine condition: Clean, crisp, and bright. John Simon does not do public signings so signed copies of his books are rare. A very scarce signed copy thus. One of the greatest American film critics of the 20th century. A fine copy. (SEE ALSO PAULINE KAEL AND STANLEY KAUFFMANN TITLES IN OUR CATALOG). ISBN 1557835071. $100.00 |
