17 years after her death, Pauline Kael remains a force in the field of film criticism. If you adore movies and are interested in learning more about how they tick, burrowing deep into what makes us love a particular film (or what makes us despise one), you'd be hard-pressed to read a better film critic than Pauline Kael (1919-2001). Must well known for her tenure as the film critic for The New Yorker (beginning in 1967 with an explosive rave of Arthur Penn's Bonnie and Clyde), Kael's prose was known for its sharp wit, its jazzy style, its intense breakdowns and scene analyses, and a no-holds-barred approach to sussing out a film's positive and negative qualities. Regardless of whether you agreed with Kael or not, her writing was fascinating, providing observations that felt exclusively her own. Personally, her negative take on Stanley Kubrick's The Shining is one of this No Film School writer's favorite reads, albeit one I do not necessarily concur wholeheartedly with. In her wake, Kael's influence left behind a number of criticism disciples, known collectively (and usually appreciatingly) as "the Paulettes." Read More...
Published By: NoFilmSchool - Wednesday, 14 November, 2018