Book description
This is possibly the most entertaining, surprising and enjoyable film
book ever written. Thomson set himself the near-foolhardy task of
writing one page each on 1000 of the films that he has particularly
liked or in some cases, abhorred. Some half-million words of funny,
vigorous, wayward prose later, we are all the happy beneficiaries of
his deranged labour.
Always unexpected, never repetitive, Have You Seen ? can be
read consecutively from Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein
to Zabriskie Point or dipped into over many years, and it
is a masterclass in how to write about films and how to love them.
Sometimes Thomson will be interested in the director, sometimes in the
culture that made such a film possible at such a time, sometimes in
the stars (always in the stars, to be honest), and sometimes even in
the outrageous cynicism and corruption of most financial backers.
Have You Seen ? is crammed with great love stories,
westerns, musicals, war stories, comedies, and dramas. It is as in awe
of film noir as of silent farce, and adores Hollywood but also
favours British, Japanese and European cinema: camp disasters, kitsch
and pretention hold no fears. If Thomson has a bottom line it is his
incredulity that so much that is so enjoyable and moving and
worthwhile was ever made at all and that thanks to DVD we can now
watch it forever. Have You Seen ? will redirect how you spend
your evenings for the rest of your life for the better.
David Thomson is, among many other things, author of The
New Biographical Dictionary of Film, now in its fourth
edition. His recent books include a biography of Nicole Kidman, Fan
Tan (a novel written in collaboration with Marlon Brando) and
The Whole Equation: A History of Hollywood. Born in London,
he now lives in San Francisco.
A very personal and hugely entertaining look at the greatest films
ever made, David Thomson's Have You Seen... offers some of the
most moving, perceptive and ridiculous precis of films ever to be put
to paper. From being in raptures over Anatahan and utterly
nauseated by The Sound of Music, Thomson's witty and informed
look at over 1,000 films is the ideal companion to the silver screen.
