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A review by harmonyrockets
Afterglow: A Last Conversation with Pauline Kael by Francis Davis
3.0
The title sums it up perfectly; don't expect a lot of really deep insights on the history of cinema here. Most of the conversation is about Kael's thoughts on movies (and a bit too much about TV) at the time (1999/2000). The interviewer is quite obviously very bright and has great taste--and obviously a pretty huge "Paulette", judging by the interesting introduction. Mostly what you get in the interview though are just her thoughts on why and how movies have gotten bad, how and why people aren't going to see the little charming, subtle ones and going to see the crappy heavy-handed ones instead, how she stopped doing reviews because it would have been just too depressing to write negative reviews all the time, etc. The whole conversation is a bit depressing.
This book is mostly for hardcore Kael fans that just want to know what she thought of the movies from that time. Since her movie opinions come to an abrupt end in 1990, Paulettes need interviews like these to reassure themselves of their own movie opinions in the post-Kael-review world, and to make sure they didn't miss anything. And to make sure they don't have to start disliking any movies they might have previously enjoyed. She gives her thoughts on several films from 1999, and a few from 2000. She really liked Three Kings; she hated American Beauty. And no, she did not like Kubrick's new film Eyes Wide Shut:
"Ludicrous from the word go... That orgy was the most hygienic thing I've ever seen. It was strangely decorous. What was that all about, and who were these people that they had the money to stage such things? It really is a creepily bad movie. I don't understand why people were so willing to give Kubrick the benefit of the doubt when a lot of talented directors don't get the benefit of the doubt."
It's probably for the better that the interviewer didn't go too deep on other topics. When she speaks about old movies it's usually something you've heard her say before (like when she says something about how good The Godfather Pt. II is, it's like "yeah yeah, we know."). It's obvious that her memory/cognitive issues were affecting her; there were a few times she said she had really liked a movie, but didn't really know why (this is what she said about The Matrix, for instance). Kind of shocking coming from her.
The part where the interviewer tries to get her opinions on current TV shows goes on a bit long. At one point she starts talking about music and some albums she had been enjoying, but the interviewer, who is a music critic, oddly goes back to talking about TV without a follow-up. I would've liked to have heard more, since Kael was a big music person and the past interviewers were never interested in the subject. But oh well. Another interesting part is how she talks about her favorite new movie critics, as if to pass on the movie critic torch.
Anyways, if you are looking to read really great and insightful interviews with Kael, you should definitely start with Conversations With Pauline Kael.
This book is mostly for hardcore Kael fans that just want to know what she thought of the movies from that time. Since her movie opinions come to an abrupt end in 1990, Paulettes need interviews like these to reassure themselves of their own movie opinions in the post-Kael-review world, and to make sure they didn't miss anything. And to make sure they don't have to start disliking any movies they might have previously enjoyed. She gives her thoughts on several films from 1999, and a few from 2000. She really liked Three Kings; she hated American Beauty. And no, she did not like Kubrick's new film Eyes Wide Shut:
"Ludicrous from the word go... That orgy was the most hygienic thing I've ever seen. It was strangely decorous. What was that all about, and who were these people that they had the money to stage such things? It really is a creepily bad movie. I don't understand why people were so willing to give Kubrick the benefit of the doubt when a lot of talented directors don't get the benefit of the doubt."
It's probably for the better that the interviewer didn't go too deep on other topics. When she speaks about old movies it's usually something you've heard her say before (like when she says something about how good The Godfather Pt. II is, it's like "yeah yeah, we know."). It's obvious that her memory/cognitive issues were affecting her; there were a few times she said she had really liked a movie, but didn't really know why (this is what she said about The Matrix, for instance). Kind of shocking coming from her.
The part where the interviewer tries to get her opinions on current TV shows goes on a bit long. At one point she starts talking about music and some albums she had been enjoying, but the interviewer, who is a music critic, oddly goes back to talking about TV without a follow-up. I would've liked to have heard more, since Kael was a big music person and the past interviewers were never interested in the subject. But oh well. Another interesting part is how she talks about her favorite new movie critics, as if to pass on the movie critic torch.
Anyways, if you are looking to read really great and insightful interviews with Kael, you should definitely start with Conversations With Pauline Kael.