Abstract

‘Action!’ presents nineteen outstanding interviews with directors past and present, from around the world, working in a variety of genres, budgets and production environments from major studios to indie and DIY. The result is a vibrant group portrait of the filmmaking art, a kind of festival in words that explores everything from the enormous creative and personal satisfactions to the challenges and frustrations of the process.

‘Action! Interviews with Directors from Classical Hollywood to Contemporary Iran’ presents nineteen outstanding interviews with directors past and present, from around the world, working in a variety of genres and budgets and production environments from major studios to indie and DIY. The result is a vibrant group portrait of the filmmaking art, a kind of festival in words that explores everything from the enormous creative and personal satisfactions of filmmaking to the challenges and frustrations that range from meddlesome studio heads to state censorship. These articulate auteurs include iconic figures Fellini and Truffaut (in his moving final interview), avant-garde masters Otto Muehl and the Brothers Quay, social critics Barbara Kopple and Allie Light, mainstream mavericks Robert Wise and Douglas Sirk, and eleven others. While their work (and working methods) varies widely, these directors share the status of pioneer and subversive, fighting – sometimes against great odds – to put their unique vision onscreen.

'A 'must-own' for anyone seriously interested in developing a source-book library on film directing. These are the greats and the near-greats, many of whom have rarely been interviewed. The editor did a wonderful job!' —Eric Sherman, author of ‘Directing the Film’

Gary Morris publishes and edits ‘Bright Lights Film Journal’ and is the author of the monograph ‘Roger Corman’ (1985) in the prestigious Twayne Theatrical Arts Series.

''Action!' is a treasure-trove: nineteen rare interviews with a wide variety of film directors, all conducted by writers who are truly savvy about their subjects.  The book as a whole adds up to a practical PhD in what it takes to put personal vision up on the screen, both then and now.' —Jeanine Basinger, Chair, Film Studies Department, Wesleyan University

'I dare anyone to squeeze between two covers a more varied, useful and flat out entertaining sampling of the personalities that make the seventh art the liveliest.' —David Hudson, IFC.com

'Gary Morris and his distinguished collaborators are expert interviewers, deftly guiding conversations from tiny but illuminating details of practice to the highest and brightest flights of interpretation.' —Dave Kehr, film critic of the ‘New York Times’

'Utterly engaging… ‘Action!’ [is] a wide-ranging and exemplary collection.' —Richard Brody, ‘The New Yorker’