Notes On The Cinematograph

Jonathan Griffin, Robert Bresson

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New York Review of Books
15 November 2016

Film, TV & Radio; Films, movies & cinema; Film movie guides & reviews; Film movie production: technical skills

The French film director Robert Bresson was one of the great artists of the twentieth century and among the most radical, original, and radiant stylists of any time. He worked with nonprofessional actors-models, as he called them-and deployed a starkly limited but hypnotic array of sounds and images to produce such classic works as A Man Escaped, Pickpocket, Diary of a Country Priest, and Lancelot of the Lake. From the beginning to the end of his career, Bresson dedicated himself to making movies in which nothing is superfluous and everything is always at stake.

Notes on the Cinematograph distills the essence of Bresson's theory and practice as a filmmaker and artist. He discusses the fundamental differences between theater and film; parses the deep grammar of silence, music, and noise; and affirms the mysterious power of the image to unlock the human soul. This book, indispensable for admirers of this great director and for -students of the cinema, will also prove an inspiration, much like Rilke's Letters to a Young Poet, for anyone who responds to the claims of the imagination at its most searching and rigorous.

By: Jonathan Griffin, Robert Bresson
Imprint: New York Review of Books
Country of Publication: United States
Edition: Main
Dimensions: Height: 202mm, Width: 127mm, Spine: 9mm
Weight: 130g
ISBN: 9781681370248
ISBN 10: 1681370247
Pages: 128
Publication Date: 15 November 2016
Audience: General/trade , ELT Advanced
Format: Paperback
Publisher's Status: Active

Robert Bresson (1901-1999) was a renowned French film director, whose work was characterized by his minimalist style and interest in actor (or character ) movement. Bresson directed thirteen films over forty years, including Au hasard Balthazar (1966), which is considered his masterpiece. Jonathan Griffin (1906-1990) was a translator, poet, and diplomat, who served as Director of BBC European Intelligence during World War Two. In addition to translating works by Robert Bresson, he translated Jean Giono novels, General de Gaulle's memoirs, and art criticism by Rene Huyghe. A collection of Griffin's poetry, In Earthlight, was published in 1995 by Menard Press.

Reviews for Notes On The Cinematograph

The collection Bresson on Bresson: Interviews 1943-1983 and Bresson's own Notes on the Cinematograph are primers for the gradual understanding of Robert Bresson, to paraphrase Gertrude Stein...Notes on the Cinematograph is the ultimate refinement of Bresson's thought, a loosely grouped succession of aphorisms and Zen koans. --J. Hoberman, The New York Times Half-philosophy, half-poetry, Notes on the Cinema-to-graph reads in places like The Art of War for filmmakers. --John Semley, The A.V. Club The power of Bresson's films lies in the fact that his purity and fastidiousness are at the same time an idea about life, about what Cocteau called 'inner style, ' about the most serious way of being human. --Susan Sontag Short, aphoristic fragments that guide Bresson's film making. Scribbed down as 'notes to self, ' reading them in whole is astonishing & inspiring, a totality of a brilliant filmmaker. --Mike Kitchell, HTMLGiant