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How To Read a Film
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'The Other Bible. Holy Writ for
all cineastes'
-- Die Zeit, Vienna, 1998
Since it was first published in 1977, this classic of film literature
has appeared in nine editions in six languages, and has become a standard
introduction to film for a generation of readers, viewers, filmmakers,
and filmgoers. The fourth edition, years in the making, has been thoroughly
revised and updated, and includes a new section on the digital revolution
now transforming film and media.
The critical response to earlier editions of How
to Read a Film was notable:
- 'The best single work of its kind. ... The one
work on the subject one ought to buy as the start or nucleus of a library.'
-- Richard Gilman, American Film.
- 'Monaco has collected an enormous amount of useful
information and assembled it in an exhilaratingly simple and systematic
way. ... The book’s biggest virtue, aside from its range, is its ability
to explain complicated technical or ideological points without taking
any previous knowledge for granted. A neophyte could come away with
an equal understanding of sophisticated ideas ... And an expert would
not be bored.'
-- Janet Maslin, The New York Times Book Review.
- 'An astute and thoroughgoing analysis. ... Monaco
is cuts above the popular ‘criticism’ of Reed, Kael, et al. He is lucid
and sophisticated.'
-- Publishers Weekly.
- 'The book is a compliment to the reader. ... Monaco’s
spirit is gracious; he has a gift for making accumulations of detail
relevant and uncluttered. His manner is modest and undidactic, and he
is painstakingly scrupulous.'
-- Samson Raphaelson, Film Comment.
- 'Anyone who writes about film, who is interested
in film seriously, just has to have it.'
-- Richard Roud, Director, New York Film Festival.