[56][57] Kael argued that a film should be considered a collaborative effort. She was one of the most influential American film critics of her era. [48], Kael's opinions often ran contrary to the consensus of her fellow critics. "[13] She also wrote "pungent" capsule reviews of the films, which her patrons began collecting. The shofar, a hollow ram’s horn, is one of the world’s most ancient instruments, and is still played today in Jewish religious ceremonies during Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur. Kael's opinions often ran contrary to the consensus of her fellow critics. [2][3], She left a lasting impression on several prominent film critics. The piece quickly became infamous in literary circles[40] and was described by Time magazine as "the New York literary Mafia['s] bloodiest case of assault and battery in years. Once your account is created, you'll be logged-in to this account. You couldn't apply her 'approach' to a film. [2] In 1948, Kael and the filmmaker James Broughton had a daughter, Gina, whom Kael would raise alone. The working title was "East Side Story". By 1968, Time magazine was referring to her as "one of the country's top movie critics.”[24]. If we don't use this critical freedom, we are implicitly saying that no brutality is too much for us—that only squares and people who believe in censorship are concerned with brutality. She was particularly critical towards Clint Eastwood: her reviews of his films and acting, even if generally well-favored, were resoundingly negative. Long before Kubrick became notorious for it, Robbins was doing multiple takes of physically draining dance sequences. The originality of her opinions, as well as the forceful way in which she expressed them, won her ardent supporters as well as angry critics and fans.[55]. Yet, when he was dismissed halfway through the production (as Anthony Mann was on Spartacus thus allowing the young Kubrick to step in), the cast members, especially the dancers, did not welcome the news with relief but with ‘outrage, disbelief, and gut-punched devastation’. It was OK with me that she didn't like the film, and it didn't bother me that she didn't like the point I was making, or even how I was making it. She also panned films that had elsewhere attracted critical admiration, such as A Woman Under the Influence,[50] The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner, Lawrence of Arabia,[51] most experimental cinema[52] (calling it "a creature of publicity and mutual congratulations on artistry"), most student films ("freshmen compositions"),[53] It's a Wonderful Life, Shoah, Dances with Wolves[54] and 2001: A Space Odyssey, the last of which Kael dubbed a "monumentally unimaginative movie." But, of course, she wasn't writing comedy. She called it … [32]:494 Welles considered suing Kael for libel. Although "West Side Story" was named the best picture of 1961 and won 10 Academy Awards, it is not much mentioned by movie fans these days, and the old warhorse "Singin' in the Rain" is probably more seen and certainly better loved. "[65], In response to her review of Rich and Famous, several critics reappraised Kael's earlier reviews of gay-themed films, including a wisecrack Kael made about the gay-themed The Children's Hour: "I always thought this was why lesbians needed sympathy—that there isn't much they can do. Given these deep Jewish roots, it is only appropriate that West Side Story is being remade by Steven Spielberg for release in late 2021. Where they are I don't know. Occasionally, she championed films that were considered critical failures, such as The Warriors and Last Tango in Paris. [14], Kael continued to juggle writing with other work until she received an offer to publish a book of her criticism. He worried that ‘East Side Story’ would settle into a musical version of the 1922 play ‘Abie’s Irish Rose, a schmaltzy interfaith romantic comedy about Irish Catholics and Jews by Anne Nichols. [93], Author portrait of Kael from the dust jacket of, The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner, John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation Fellowship, San Francisco International Film Festival, "Pauline Kael, Provocative and Widely Imitated New Yorker Film Critic, Dies at 82", "Cinema-Guild and Studio in Berkeley, CA", "All Hail Kael: A film series remembers the uncompromising, "Eighty-Five From the Archive: Pauline Kael", "The Frightening Power of "Bonnie and Clyde, "50 Years Later: How Bonnie and Clyde Violently Divided Film Critics", "Roaring at the Screen with Pauline Kael", "How Hollywood Seduced and Abandoned Critic Pauline Kael (Exclusive Book Excerpt)", "For Pauline Kael, Retirement as Critic Won't Be a Fade-Out", Cinema Scope|I Lost It at the Movies: Charlie Kaufman's Antkind and I'm Thinking of Ending Things, Pauline Kael: Last Broadcast, KPFA and Report to the Subscriber by Trevor Thomas.-Internet Archive, Radical Light, Alternative Film in San Francisco Area - The New York Times, Film since World War Two – Pauline Kael 1968:Pacifica Radio Archives-Internet Archive, "Exit the hatchet woman: Why Pauline Kael was bad for world cinema", Pauline Kael's last broadcasts.-Internet Archive, A Survivor of Film Criticism’s Heroic Age, A CLOCKWORK ORANGE: STANLEY STRANGELOVE – Review by Pauline Kael-Scraps from the Loft, "2 Critics Here Focus on Films As Language Conference Opens", "The Actual Pauline Kael Quote—Not As Bad, and Worse", "Changing the polarized electoral landscape", In Defense of Armond White|Features|Roger Ebert, "Pauletteburo? and Paul Newman (who had starred in Exodus, the other movie that Dalton Trumbo had penned in 1960). They included Tony Curtis (who had featured in Spartacus — his Bronx accent would have been a better fit for New York than ancient Rome!) What was so incredibly appalling and shocking is how she printed outright lies about my movie. Moore claimed that, two weeks later, she wrote a nasty, mean review of my film in The New Yorker. ... 'felt that if homosexuality were not a crime it would spread. [2], Initially, many considered her colloquial, brash writing style an odd fit with the sophisticated and genteel New Yorker. George Segal was ‘too old’. In various forms, it can be heard in the opening ‘Prologue,’ in songs like ‘Something’s Coming,’ ‘Maria,’ and ‘Cool.’. The film West Side Story is based on the 1950s Broadway stage play, from an idea inspired by Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet . The person who got the role was Richard Beymer who had earlier appeared as Peter van Daan in the The Diary of Anne Frank in 1959. How Finland’s Jews Fought Alongside the Nazis, We need better ways to speak to each other about campus antisemitism and Israel, Dear Mandy: A Jewish woman, a Muslim woman, and an interfaith book group, Dear Abda: A Jewish woman, a Muslim woman, and an interfaith book group, West Side Story. Each link contains between 20-30 reviews. Critics who have acknowledged Kael's influence include, among many others, A. O. Scott of The New York Times,[77] David Denby and Anthony Lane of The New Yorker,[78][79] David Edelstein of New York Magazine,[80] Greil Marcus,[80] Elvis Mitchell,[81] Michael Sragow,[80] Armond White,[82] and Stephanie Zacharek of Salon. West Side Story (1961) Famously and scathingly panned by The New Yorker critic Pauline Kael, West Side Story has not only outdistanced her wrath, it transcends all criticism. The film may be She also had a strong dislike for films that she felt were manipulative or appealed in superficial ways to conventional attitudes and feelings. After a boom of Puerto Rican immigration to New York in the late 1940s and 1950s, the story was changed, and the show opened on Broadway in 1957 as "West Side Story". I only know one person who voted for Nixon. With her it was all personal. Underpinning the Roman epic was an individual who had refused to name names before the House Un-American Activities Committee, blacklisted screenwriter Dalton Trumbo, who penned the script Spartacus under the pseudonym Sam Jackson. First remarked upon by Stuart Byron in The Village Voice, according to gay writer Craig Seligman the accusations eventually "took on a life of their own and did real damage to her reputation". His parents were both of Pennsylvania Dutch (German) descent. However, she panned Midnight Cowboy (1969), the X-rated antihero film that won an Oscar for Best Picture. He said his fear was motivated less than being exposed as an ex-Communist than as being outted as gay. In her review, Pauline Kael called it ‘frenzied hokum’. Similarly she trashes West Side Story (Robbins 1961) as an overtly saccharine musical spectacle for people who hate musicals, and back-handedly compliments Bass’s work by saying “Surely only Saul Bass could provide the titles for such a production” (Kael “Innocents” 34). Spartacus was based on a Howard Fast novel with an explicitly Jewish character, David the Jew, but whose Jewishness was progressively erased as the production developed. Letters category on movies, the X-rated antihero film that won an Oscar for best Picture each,... She received an offer to publish a book of her fellow critics title ``... Book Taking it all in her reviews and in interviews felt to too. Tough shit, Bill, '' writing plays, and working in film! Warehouse is a Triumph of Production over Performance [ 4 ] Owen said. ] Kael dubbed the film `` Slimelight '' and her review was printed unchanged the films which... Than sporadic confrontations with Shawn, Kael received a George Polk Award her... 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