CompleteMartialArts.com - VideoHound's World Cinema : The Adventurer's Guide to Movie Watching
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List Price: $21.95
Our Price: $11.75
Your Save: $ 10.20 ( 46% )
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Manufacturer: Visible Ink Press
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Average Customer Rating:  
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Binding: Paperback
Dewey Decimal Number: 016.7914375
EAN: 9781578590599
ISBN: 1578590590
Label: Visible Ink Press
Manufacturer: Visible Ink Press
Number Of Items: 1
Number Of Pages: 550
Publication Date: 1998-10
Publisher: Visible Ink Press
Studio: Visible Ink Press
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Editorial Reviews:
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Wilhelm examines more than 800 movies from the audience's point of view, with an eye toward connections to other films and filmmakers, linking the international cinema with the American filmmaking experience. 100 photos.
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Spotlight customer reviews:
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Customer Rating:
Summary: A Film Studies Primer
Comment: I don't normally review out of print products but this book is worth making the exception. I bought it used and I would highly recommend a used copy to anyone who loves foreign movies. It has practically become my foreign film Bible. This book, published in 1999, is a collection of nearly 1000 reviews by the critic Elliot Wilhelm of films from all over the world and dating back to the silent era. He covers movies from Britain to Japan to Senegal to Iran to Brazil to Canada and so on. Some countries only have one movie reviewed others have dozens. Most internationally famous directors get some acknowledgement. Fellini, Bergman, Kurosawa, Bunuel, Truffaut and Renoir are just some of the directors who are treated to several reviews.
This is not an encyclopedia nor is it meant to be. Many acknowledged masterpieces of world cinema are not reviewed. Many movies and directors largely unheard of to American audiences are included. I do not think it was ever the author's slightest intention of namechecking every famous movie or director. This is not a be all, end all reference. It is a book of suggestions and opinions. An encouragement to look further. I use it with several other books and websites.
The vast majority of the reviews are positive. Many are even fawning. Wilhelm does have a tendency to overpraise. Sometimes I flatly disagree with his opinion. They can't all be brilliant. The book is dotted with biographical sketches that are just that: sketches. Mostly too brief to be of much use but there were a few names I hadn't heard of. Extremely helpful are the suggestions he gives at the end of reviews and the several ways (country, director, writer, cast, etc.) the book is indexed.
This is the book I go to over and over again to inform and inspire me in my fascination for foreign films.
Customer Rating:
Summary: AN EXCELLENT REFERENCE
Comment: What a refreshing, informative book! Of course, the question of which films to include is a personal one but the choices here are excellent, with films from every era and corner of the world represented. I particularly appreciate the lack of a rating system of stars (or bones, in this series) which can tend to be short-sighted and over-simplified. Instead the author delves as deeply as he can given the space with wonderful insight.
I also liked the inclusion of films worth watching highlighted here rather than an exhaustive list of films to avoid. For the record,
there were a few swipes at several films that have over-rated reputations
here in the States and these warnings are truly beneficial.
This is a marvelous, intelligent book - a "must" for anyone who loves world cinema and takes film seriously.
Curtis Stotlar
Customer Rating:
Summary: Excellent introduction to foreign film
Comment: This is a great place to start for the novice foreign film fan. Wilhelm writes with great enthusiasm, humour, and passion, yet tries to maintain a critical eye.
His selection of film titles and directors do at times seem a little questionable, particularly when he omits notable titles like Rules of the Game (by Renoir) or Close-Up (by Kiarostami), to the inclusion of titles like King Kong vs. Godzilla (by Montgomery ?!).
Nonetheless, with the idea that this was intended as an introduction to foreign film, he does a wonderful job in exposing truly great art, such as the works by Bresson, Bunuel, von Trier, Kaurismaki, and Herzog. Of course, less challening, yet still rewarding fare, like Shall We Dance, Kolya, and La Femme Nikita also get there due, as they should.
Even for a foreign film nut like myself, this book still remains a pleasure to turn to when I want to discover a new or forgotten film title.
This book is a wonderful starting point for those curious about discovering the exciting world of film that exists beyond American studios.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Intelligent Recommendations for Foreign Films
Comment: The author, a museum curator, possesses that rare gift of intelligence and good taste in talking about films. I don't know of any other reviewer of foreign films who is more reliable in helping me select "worthwhile films" and explaining why the films do have merit. I believe this would be a very fine gift
to that friend or relative who is fed up with Hollywood cliches and is looking for something fresh and interesting. An intesting feature entitled NEXT STOP which gives some additional films in the same genre. (For Example, for Ingrid Bergman's "Smiles of a Summer Night", tne next stop is "Rules of the Game, Boudu Saved from Drowning, the Magic Flute." highly recommended.
Customer Rating:
Summary: A Great Introduction to World Cinema
Comment: I've had this book since 1999 when it first came out and I love it. I knew nothing about world cinema when I first got it, and now I'm obsessed.
I agree with the other reviewers which say it is not a thourough examination of World Cinema, but like the author says in the introduction "Videohound's World Cinema isn't meant to be a definitive list of foreign titles, but the movies described here are a good place to jump in if you're new to international cinema."
The thing that I love about this book is Wilhelm's reviews: Totally subjective. His writing has made me avoid bad movies, and appreciate good ones that I may have missed the point of.
As for the not definitiveness, go look up the director on IMDB.com if you really want to know all the things a director has done.
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