About the Book
'What I remember was that it was the first time a piece of fiction had had such a devastating emotional effect on me. A lot of children remember seeing cartoons, Pinocchio or Bambi or something that breaks their heart. I remember seeing The Blue Angel and it breaking my heart. It was the first time I realised there was an adult world - that adults could damage each other or destroy each other emotionally. It might have fed into a whole series of epiphanies about my own upbringing. I was living in a family where my grandparents had separated in quite complex circumstances. Perhaps it resonated with some elements of that, to do with simply how love can be a rupturing and damaging emotion as well as a healing one. Also, to see somebody who is in an authority position made so small, so diminished, by the feeling of having no control.' Anthony Minghella / The Blue Angel
'In a strange, lethal way, I was suddenly wildly attracted to the process of filmmaking, even though it is described as a nightmare - a matter of horror - in that film. There is a trancelike atmosphere. Suddenly, I was reminded that you can feel like it's a matter of life and death when you make a film. It changed from being a mediocre feeling of emptiness in your life to something that feels necessary. I realised that filmmaking can be many things - and it can be narcotic in a way. You can become addicted to it.' Thomas Vinterberg / Hearts of Darkness
Screen Epiphanies brings together 32 leading film-makers to discuss the films that inspired them to pursue a career in the movie business, or which influenced their own film-making practice, or which stayed with them because of their depictions of familiar communities, intense human relationships or unknown worlds.
Beautifully illustrated with images from the films discussed, Screen Epiphanies is a thought-provoking and often moving insight into the creative process and the way in which artists are inspired by each other's work, but also into the centrality of cinema in all our lives, and its power to change our ambitions and how we see the world around us.
Table of Contents:
Introduction.- Kevin Macdonald, The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp.- Paul Schrader, Pickpocket.- Anthony Minghella, The Blue Angel.- Danny Boyle, Apocalypse Now.- Gurinder Chadha, Purab Aur Pachhim.- Mike Leigh, Room at the Top.- Mike Hodges, The Sweet Smell of Success .- Thomas Vinterberg, Hearts Of Darkness.- Albert Maysles, Not a film, people.- Sally Potter, Monsieur Hulot's Holiday.- Nick Park, Rebecca.- Alan Parker, Little Fugitive.- Manoel De Oliveira, Berlin, Symphony of a City.- Don Boyd, Hamlet.- David Puttnam, Pinocchio.- Frank Darabont, THX1138.- Lars Von Trier, Barry Lyndon.- Atom Egoyan, Persona.- Barbet Schroeder, Voyage to Italy.- Bertrand Tavernier, Fort Apache.- Mike Newell, La Grande Illusion.- Ken Loach, The Fireman's Ball.- Michael Apted, Wild Strawberries.- Jeremy Thomas, Badlands.- Abbas Kiarostami, Eight and a Half.- Stephen Frears, Meeting Karel Reisz.- Terence Davies, Doris Day.- Aki Kaurismäki, Nanook of the North.- Mike Figgis, Weekend.- Mira Nair, La Jetée.- Stephen Woolley, Zulu .- Martin Scorsese, The Red Shoes.
About the Author :
GEOFFREY MACNAB is a freelance journalist and author based in London. He is the UK correspondent for 'Screen International' and also writes for the Guardian, the Independent and Sight& Sound. His books include J Arthur Rank and the British Film Industry (1994), Searching for Stars: Stardom and Screen Acting in British Cinema (2000), The Making of Taxi Driver (2006) and
Ingmar Bergman: The Life and Films of the Last Great European Director (2009).
Review :
Kudos to film writer Geoffrey Macnab for allowing a simple premise to blossom with such varied, interesting results…We are treated to insights into early lives, learn about how cinema was consumed in bygone decades, become intrigued about films we may have never heard of before, and gain insights into inspirations – often not the ones you'd expect.
Epiphanies is a thought-provoking and often moving insight into the creative process and the way in which artists are inspired by each other's work, but also into the centrality of cinema in all our lives and its power to change our ambitions and how we see the world around us
Geoffrey Macnab's Screen Epiphanies has the ingenious notion of asking a wide range of filmmakers to recall their first taste of cinema and the impact it made on them
Screen Epiphanies is full of such moving narratives. Collaboratively, they create a charming, jigsawed film history.
The choices are many and varied, but what stands out is a deep love of the cinema-going experience...
Screen Epiphanies is handsomely produced, with a flattering photograph of each interviewee opening the entry, and stills from favoured movies intespersed throughout. Macnab's introductions are fluid and concise, primarily biographical but also interested in capturing a flash of personality or physique.
