Acting Naturally

David Thomson is a wizard, able to conjure seemingly all of cinema in one beguiling spell. Here is a fascinating series of essays on acting; he enthusiastically connects so many dots, jumping through portals and wormholes, to link a wide array of performances back to earlier eras and stars, then magically brings us to the recent past with his fantastic and always thoughtful observations! -Ken Burns, American filmmaker When David Thomson, our preeminent film critic/historian, tells you: 'I want you to see what I have taken decades to understand,' you oughta take the bait. Open to any page and you'll become enthralled by the soothing, all-knowing voice of the mentor-you-never-had whispering tales of forgotten film lore, childhood memories, sexy gossip. He'll have you hooked and aroused, so you want to travel with him across that turbulent sea of flickering images, on his mad hunt for that Great White Screen that has cast a spell on you. Have fun. -Philip Kaufman, director For anyone who loves actors, or performance, or who wonders about the magic of persuasive pretending, Acting Naturally is a series of joyful stimulations. It both illuminates performances you have seen and loved and encourages you to see ones you have missed. Like his great and irreplaceable Biographical Dictionary of Film, David Thomson's Acting Naturally is less like an intellectual analysis of a great art, and more like a late night conversation with your liveliest, smartest and most movie-mad friend. -Douglas McGrath, screenwriter, film director, actor