The New Biographical Dictionary of Film

Arranged alphabetically, and covering virtually every important actor, director and producer in film history (and many other figures associated with film), it provides fairly thorough filmographies, but it’s not intended as a reference book. On questions of fact (‘Who won Best Supporting Actor in 1975?’; ‘Who played Marlowe in Murder My Sweet?’) this is not the most convenient work to consult, and often the answer simply cannot be found.

Rather, this is film criticism – and Thomson is an acutely perceptive, intelligent and eloquent critic. Invariably passionate, often funny, frequently challenging and provocative, and occasionally annoying, he is a brilliant writer and a model of how to say a lot in few words. In little more than a sentence or two he can offer a profound observation or opinion which radically alters one’s own view on a film or individual.

He can be wonderfully iconoclastic. For example, both John Ford and Stanley Kubrick, widely esteemed as great directors, are (rightly to my mind) shown up for their severe shortcomings. Sometimes he can be spectacularly and justifiably savage, about Roberto Benigni or Wes Craven for example. Equally, he is very good at extolling the virtues of underrated individuals, Barbara Stanwyck for example. Above all he provides honest, thoughtful and sophisticated appraisals, in most cases amounting to miniature essays, which rarely fail to open up new insights.

Thomson is no snob or elitist: he may lambast Tony Scott and Madonna, but he has good things to say about Spielberg and Schwarzenegger, Tarantino and Sharon Stone. His favourite director is Howard Hawks, his favourite actress Angie Dickinson, and he has a deep fondness for American film. But he is as at home with world cinema as he is with Hollywood. Bergman, Dreyer, Ozu, Mizoguchi, Bresson, Riefenstahl, Renoir and Rivette are among numerous figures explored at length. All the great figures from past and present film are here, but so too are many who are obscure or minor but interesting or deserving of reassessment – for example, Yilmaz Guney, Larissa Shepitko or Kon Ichikawa (names unfamiliar to me before Thomson).

This is an ideal book for dipping into frequently, emerging each time with a widened and deepened appreciation of film and a starting point for further discovery; but it could even be read from cover to cover and provide an excellent (albeit unorthodoxly alphabetical) film education. If you love film and regard film as a serious medium rather than merely entertainment, if your film world is not restricted to mainstream Hollywood and a few old favourites but embraces the whole history of film from around the world, if you enjoy intelligent argument and strong opinions, then you will love this book.


One of the greatest film books available...   December 31, 2003
 13 out of 18 found this review helpful

The New Biographical Dictionary of Film is a revised edition of Thomson's seminal book on cinema- one of the key film books alongside The Cinema Book, Film Art & Susan Hayward's glossary of film terms. Quite simply, it is a book no serious fan should be without- & is of far more interest than things like Halliwell's or Virgin's Film Guides (you can get all that info off IMDB).

Thomson is one of the greatest writers on cinema & in this 900-plus page tome, he scans cinema (filmmakers, actors, writers) from A to Z from standard figures (Hitchcock, Welles) to more recent cinematic figures (Lars Von Trier, Halle Berry, Renee Zellweger, Nicole Kidman). Some of the essays/mini-essays are long- the Graham Greene entry being an example of this; while Tarantino is dispatched in a few tight paragraphs. The introduction does point out that the book is intended to provoke argument and develop thought about cinema...& it does just that.

Spielberg comes off better than he deserves, while Scorsese gets a kicking with an argument that I can't help but agree with; I don't think he had Kieslowski down. But the writings on Lynch's Blue Velvet & Mulholland Drive, on Bertolucci's The Conformist, on the dire Demme films Beloved & Philadelphia and so many examples I could cite are spot on. As too George C Scott, Coppola, Beatty (whom Thomson has written the best biog of, this side of Easy Riders Raging Bulls), Roberto Rossellini, Visconti, William Goldman, Warren Oates, Bob Fosse...look, the whole book!

In many ways, this book is a forerunner of the internet forum/review site, ultimately it's just an opinion- but an interesting one. Brilliantly written, insightful & always interesting, this is a film book to get lost in- I'm even thinking about reassessing my view of Vertigo (I'm not as keen as I am on NBNW and Rear Window). At this price, this is wonderful value & a book no serious film fan/writer can live without. The reviews of critics like Douglas Kennedy, Anthony Quinn & Chris Roberts are spot-on- you may not agree with some of the opinions, but they are valid & film-writing at its finest. The entry on Michael Bay is just one of the reasons this book is great, reminding me of a recent article Thomson wrote in the Independent on Sunday contrasting Pearl Harbor with From Here to Eternity. Up there with the great film-writers, as Chris Roberts stated in his Uncut review "brilliant, provocative & essential".

In line with the book, I'll offer: The Conformist, If.... & Sunset Boulevard (all of which are brilliantly written on here...). Simply put: OWN!!!!!!!!