For Keeps: 30 Years at the Movies

Pauline Kael and movie criticism was at its height when American and foreign movies were at their height. The two go hand in hand. The high quality of the movies of the time made for inspired debate. But even given the fortunate circumstance to be writing at such a time she still stands out because she brings to her criticism not just an appreciation of film but an appreciation of art in all its forms. She is one of the few critics who can discuss Lolita or Women in Love or Sheltering Sky or Unbearable Lightness of Being as both literary work and film. She never really limits herself to being an expert on film, she always seems to be coming from some other expertise (like literature) and so she brings an authority and perhaps legitamacy to film criticism by talking about films in a way usually reserved for books. She believes more than anything else in the potential for film to be great, perhaps as great as literature, and I think her reviews are attempts to do her part in lifting the art form. Her belief in Bertolucci as one of films geniuses for instance is undiminished by the fact that she doesn't seem to like many of his films(Last Tango excepted). She is at her best when reviewing a great film like Altman's McCabe and Mrs. Miller, or Truffaut's Story of Adele H. at which time one can only sit back and listen as she is nothing short of inspired, ecstastic, and it is infectious. It is dissappointing that film never achieved the status she had in mind for it and she was dissappointed at the direction the art form went. her later reviews are still good but really the spark was gone by 75 or 76. She presided over what might be films greatest period(67-75). While the great directors were producing their best work she was the one who understood them first, so she will always be equated with that period, not merely a critic but a champion of an art form.

Love her or hate her (or both), it cannot be denied that Pauline Kael was the most important, witty, insightful, maddening, funny, infuriating, exhilirating and incisive movie critic of all time. For me, the only critic that equals her is her antithesis, the great Stanley Kauffmann. Kael burst upon the scene in the 1960s (though her first review appeared in 1953) and movie criticism has never been the same since. With her conversational, waspish prose style and absolute belief in the rightness of her convictions, Kael had a talent for inspiring both intense debate and intense thought. Her reviews were often more anticipated than the movies she wrote about. Her retirement in 1991 due to Parkinson's was a great loss for both movies and American literature: she was definitely one of the great essayists of the 20th century."For Keeps" is the definitive one volume Kael collection. From some of her earliest 1950s reviews to her last reviews for The New Yorker in 1991, virtually every important essay she ever wrote is here. Her most famous and controversial reviews (on "Nashville," "Last Tango in Paris," "The Godfather" and "Stardust Memories") are all included, as well as her legendary "Citizen Kane" essay, "Raising Kane." While Kael was an intellectual, writing for a (presumably) literate and educated audience, she was no cinema snob. Her joy in movies extended from Ingmar Bergman to "The Spy Who Loved Me." This is one of the great books on film ever published and a must have for any movie fan.

It's said that what distinguishes a great critic from a good critic is that a great critic's work will stand on its own, even after the material he or she has written about has faded away, been forgotten, or lost appeal. Kael's writing is of the great kind - truly memorable and insightful, even when removed from the context of cinema.This is a huge book, and one the reader should dip into, not read straight through. But what is contained within the pages is some of the most intelligent, passionate, and controversial ideas about movies available. I don't want to suggest that Kael is middle of the road, because she ceratinly isn't, but what her makes her unique (and quite enjoyable) is that she neither plays to the lowest common denominator nor plays to the elitist crowd. She is staunchly, proudly, individualistic, and if lowbrows may be offended by her criticisms of popular favorites, highbrows will be just as outraged at her scathing dismissals of pompous auteurs. On one hand, Kael lambasts "West Side Story" and refers to "The Sound of Music" as the Sound of Mucus, but on the other hand, she calls Fellini on his pretentions, trashes Kubrick's "2001" as an "amateur movie," and yawns her way through Wim Wenders' angel extravaganza. Such dismissals can come as a shock to the well-meaning film enthusiast, but the trashing of sacred cows is refreshing as well as disturbing.But there's so much more to this book than cheap shots. If Kael hates the films that fail to measure up to her standards, she adores those that do, and page after page is filled with warm praise regarding some of the finest cinematic works to grace screens since the mid-1960's. For helpful, intelligent reviews of films such as "Taxi Driver," "Nashville," "The Godfather," "Citizen Kane," and "Last Tango in Paris," look no further.Perhaps Kael's greatest gift is her ability to write in such a way that her knowledge and ideas can be removed from the discussion of film, and applied to life in general. For keen insights into politics, morals, history, theory, art, and philosophy, Ms. Kael's reviews serve a greater purpose than mere movie writing. Her essays are great criticism, bar genre.

Before the Age of Shalit and Siegel, there was Pauline Kael: uncompromisingly tough, outrageous, and never fearful of holding film to the highest of standards. In our current climate of yes-men, boosterism, and trite sound-bites ("A Thrill-Ride!", "Stunning!", etc.), we tend to forget that film can be dissected, penetrated, and endlessly analyzed. Kael was off the mark on numerous occasions, but she always provided well-reasoned and undeniably logical arguments. Incorporating film history, allusions, and a scholarly understanding of acting, lighting, direction, and screenwriting, Kael reinforced the notion that film could be much more than mindless, popcorn entertainment. True, most of the reviews are from the 1970s, but let us remember that she retired from the scene in the early 1990s. At the very least, Kael stimulates debate and it is impossible not to be pushed to defend one's cinematic choices after reading (and re-reading) this massive volume.

Whether you love her or hate her, there's one thing that can be her lovely prose on the high art of movies is a joy to read and a wonder to behold. (She never called them "films" because the word sounds too sophisticated and upper-class for such a mainstream medium.) Her reviews always make you think twice about the movies, and she has the courage to dare to attack those motion pictures considered timeless classics (calling "Casablanca" an example of "how entertaining a bad movie can be") and the insight and encyclopedic knowledge to back her claims with well-prepared arguments. Even when you find yourself violently disagreeing with her opinion (and you will disagree with her in places, I guarantee...her review of "The Sound Of Music" resulted in her being fired from her position at "The Atlantic" magazine!), you'll find yourself shaking your head and even understanding why she feels that way about some films...why she considers some two-bit hack films to be extraordinary marvels, while some of the greatest motion pictures of all time suffer from her barbed, witty poignancy. Her obvious biases do tend to flavour her reviews (she obviously has a heavy crush on Brian De Palma, while she despises Norman Mailer with a passion bordering on hate) but her writing is considered one of the cornerstones of modern-day film criticism. Along with the writing of James Agee, Kael's works are the standard to which all other film criticism is compared, outshining even such popular writers as Roger Ebert book you will want to keep; and if you are learning about the great classics of the cinema, it's a book you will return to time and time again