Kazan on Film: The Master Director Discusses His Film

This is quite simply fascinating... It should be required reading for anyone interested in Kazan's work... Jeff Young has done us all a great service in providing this unique examination of the art of one of the greatest directors of all time.

Illustrated with 72 photographs and 19 original movie posters, Kazan: The Master Director And His Films is based on hundreds of hours of interview during the 1970s with master film maker Elia Kazan by Jeff Young who also drew upon his considerable experience and expertise as a writer, producer, and director, and former studio head for three major film companies. This impressive professional biography and analysis features a summary of each of Kazan's film plots and a discussion of 18 of the director's films in his own words. Of special interest is Jeff Young's commentary on Kazan's final film "The Last Tycoon". Kazan: The Master Director And His Films is well commended and highly recommended reading for all students and fans of Elia Kazan films.

Fantastic read for anyone who is either a Kazan fan or just plain fascinated by the medium of cinematic entertainment. Jeff Young has done a first class job of transporting this rather inaccesible figure into a very human but undeniably brilliant talent off the pages and into our hearts, minds and imaginations. A well earned 5 Stars!!

I was surprised and delighted to a find a galley copy of this soon-to-be released book at my local store, especially in light of the recent furor over Kazan's Oscar for Lifetime Achievement. Done long before Kazan was awarded this Honorary Oscar, the book focuses, as it should, on Kazan's work in film and theatre. And in that regard, it is universally agreed that Kazan is one of a small handful of Pantheon directors of the 20th Century.Mr. Young asks all the right questions, guiding Kazan into revealing the innermost workings of the creative process.. . . so much so, it should be required reading in film and theatre schools across the land. And if Kazan's answers to Young's subtle political probing don't satisfy everyone, they at least illuminate his view of a dark period in our nation's history - the era of the McCarthy / HUAC witch hunts and blacklistings. Mr. Young's objectivity in this regard is both refreshing and remarkable, given that Mr. Young's uncle was himself "blacklisted" during this wrenching period. It's an object lesson every media interviewer should heed. But don't be deceived - this is not a book just for filmmakers, but for everyone. It is about Art and Life, with the emphasis on Life. And as a leader of the revolutionary "New" theatre of the `30s and 40s, Kazan was instrumental in bringing true realism - the elusive merger of Art and Life - to both stage and film.As a journey through a tumultuous and significant life that both incorporates and encapsulates most of this last century, this book has everything a serious reader could ask for - it's both sensitive and smart. As such, it's one of the best, most revealing books I have read in years.

KAZAN is a must-read book even for those whose interest in film is casual, because along with its depth of film knowledge it also illuminates much human activity with insight and wisdom. I'm sorry to have read it in a single sitting because the unique pleasure of reading it for the first time is now denied me. It is a baedeker for actors, writers, directors, dramatists and even critics. The fuss about Kazan's Academy Award is an irrelevance in the face of his knowledge, acuity and insight as revealed in this book. (We are entitled to criticize Wagner's opinions - but to ignore his music is only damaging to ourselves.) It is easy to see, after reading Kazan, why American movies have so utterly dominated world cinema. This is a deeply interesting and worthwhile book for the general reader as well as the specialist.