The Ambivalent Legacy of Elia Kazan
The Politics of the Post-HUAC Films
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کتاب های مرتبط
- اطلاعات
- نقد و بررسی
- دیدگاه کاربران
نقد و بررسی
November 15, 2016
Academy Award-winning director Elia Kazan (1909-2003) is most famous for two things: testifying against his colleagues before the notorious House Committee on Un-American Activities (HUAC) during the 1950s Hollywood blacklist era, and making 1954's On the Waterfront as a veiled justification for his testimony. Focusing on Kazan's post-HUAC career, Briley (The Baseball Film in Postwar America) portrays the filmmaker, disillusioned by the secrecy and moral certainty of both the Communist Party and the Catholic Church, as torn between an obligation to his friends and a fierce individualism. This bears out in his later films, such as the populist biopic Viva Zapata!, the anticommunist Man on a Tightrope, and the semiautobiographical On the Waterfront, which won eight Academy Awards. VERDICT Briley goes deep into Kazan's filmography and politics, so readers seeking dishy Hollywood gossip best look elsewhere. For the dedicated, it's a solid, in-depth portrait of a controversial cinematic icon.--Chad Comello, Morton Grove P.L., IL
Copyright 2016 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.
November 15, 2016
If the name Elia Kazan rings only a vague bell, try these movie titles: A Streetcar Named Desire, On the Waterfront, Viva Zapata! Kazan was an acclaimed film director who, during his appearance before the House Committee on Un-American Activities (HUAC) in the early 1950s, named several people as being Communists. Kazan lost many friends, but, unlike others (both those who named and refused to name Communists), he did not lose his career. In fact, he did some of his best work and won the second of his two directing Oscars after his HUAC testimony. This insightful and smoothly written book assays Kazan's post-HUAC films, arguing that they reflect the director's personal and political stance. For example: Viva Zapata!, the story of the Mexican revolutionary, can be seen as a deeply anti-Communist movie, and On the Waterfront, of course, is the story of an informer who overcomes his distaste for informing out of a desire to do the right thing. A sharply reasoned look at the career of one of Hollywood's most important directors.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2016, American Library Association.)
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