(Taken out of the NYPL for the Performing Arts at Lincoln Center) I was browsing the film section and came across this thin volume recording a last interview with legendary New Yorker film critic Pauline Kael conducted by music critic Francis Davis. At only 126 short pages, I finished it in an hour or so. I liked the introduction best, giving an idea of Kael's later years. Suffering from Parkinson's Disease, she retired from writing to Great Barrington, Mass. Davis describes planning a night out at the local cinema including who would give them a ride, Kael's issues with mobility and having pizza with her grandson who was living with her for the summer. A torrential downpour prevents their going out and they wind out watching a DVD of Galaxy Quest and an episode of Sex and the City. (The grandson goes out despite the heavy rain.) There is something sweet and cozy about this evocation of a night at home with a cherished friend.
The conversation is far ranging and not very deep, covering her days at the New Yorker and relationship with editor William Shawn, many movies and TV shows and Kael's disenchantment with the contemporary arts scene. You get a hint of her wit and an idea of her taste (which I often disagree with. She hated Star Wars and finds The English Patient self-important and tedious, for example.)
I have several of Kael's books of collected reviews, but I have yet to read any of them cover to cover. I usually pick out individual pieces if I've just seen the film under consideration to compare my thoughts with hers. Some day I will have to read these works as a whole rather than dipping into them occasionally so that I can get an idea of the state of cinema for the several decades Kael covered. Afterglow would make a flavorful brief dessert to such a feast.
No comments:
Post a Comment