Paris Hollywood: Writings on Film

Peter Wollen co-wrote one of my five favorite films of all, Michaelangelo Antonioni's, The Passenger, which is enough to give him pantheon status in my eyes. However, he is also the author of the terrifyingly influential, Signs and Meaning In The Cinema, which, thanks to Wollen's lucid prose style, is a lot less intimidating to read than the prose of his many imitators. This collection of recent writings on film on subjects as varied as William Burroughs and Howard Hawks is as pleasurable, illuminating and provocative as his classic film studies text. Although the essays were written over a period of ten years, they all have an immediacy thanks to Wollen's blend of wit, thoroughness, and insight. The essays on Blade Runner and video art are particularly timely. A perfect gift for both the serious general reader or the cinephile.