| architecture |
| calligraphy |
| ceramics |
| clothing |
| comics |
| gardens |
| lacquerwork |
| literature |
| movies |
| music |
| painting |
| poetry |
| sculpture |
| tea ceremony |
| television |
| theatre |
| weaponry |
| thematic routes |
| timeline |
| the site |
context: movies > sources
BFI Film Classics: An Actor's Revenge by Ian Breakwell
You can't go far wrong with this series - those that I've read have all been really excellent (and I may as well take the opportunity to recommend my pal Mark Sinker's entry, on If...., not that it's relevant here). This is a small book, with about 40 pages of text, broken up by nearly as many colour screen shots, particularly welcome as a record of one of the best-composed films I've ever seen. Breakwell takes a pleasingly personal approach, describing his reactions at seeing the film for the first and second times in the context of his own artistic life. He's very good on the compositions, sound and acting, which are the strengths of the film, though I'd have liked a little more about the circumstances of production - Ichikawa was forced to make this film by the studio.