RONALD BERGAN

Brought completely up to date, this insightful biography remains "a must for any self-respecting Coen fan" (Screentrade).This fully updated edition of the first biography of the Coen Brothers includes their complete work so far, from Blood Simple to Inside Llewyn Davis (2013), with a reassessment of their remarkable career as a whole. Joel and Ethan Coen have pulled off the ultimate balancing act. Despite having their movies financed and distributed by major studios, they have managed to remain true independents, rejecting commercial cliches and never giving up on their own fiercely idiosyncratic vision. While doing so, they have established themselves among the worlds leading filmmakers.From their startling debut, Blood Simple (1984), all of their movies reveal a distinctive stamp: a flamboyant visual style, richly conceived characters, crisp dialogue, and brilliant casting. They have revitalized old Hollywood genres such as noir, screwball, and the western, giving them a contemporary sensibility. In this biography, Ronald Bergan traces the brothers Jewish roots, their beginnings as film geeks in suburban Minneapolis, their battle to get their first feature made and released, through their early features and the movies of their maturity. He gives blow-by-blow accounts of the making of each movie. New chapters cover all those released since O Brother, Where Art Thou? (2000), with which the first edition of this book ended.

With the recent influx of A-list stars like Nicole Kidman, Kevin Spacey, and Matt Damon vying to perform on the London stage, never has the West End enjoyed such a high profile. This updated edition of "The Great Theaters of London"--with brand new sections on the Almeida, the Donmar Warehouse, Shakespeare''s Globe, the Young Vic, and more--is a timely celebration of the cultural history behind each of the great London theaters. Handsomely illustrated, and with A-Z entries, this is the perfect book for the London visitor and theatergoer.

«Por favor, díganle al señor Eisenstein que he visto su película «Potemkin», y que la admiro mucho. Lo que nos gustaría es que hiciera algo parecido, pero bastante más barato, para Ronald Colman» Sam

Now back in print, the definitive biography of a seminal figure in film history, whom Orson Welles called the greatest of all directors.Jean Renoirs career almost spans the history years of cinemafrom the early silent movies, to the naturalism of the talkies, committed cinema, film noir, Hollywood studio productions, the Technicolor-period comedies and fast television techniques. His film The Grand Illusion remains one of the greatest movies about the effects of war.Decades after its release, Renoirs The Rules of the Game (1939) is the only film to have been included on every top ten list in the Sight & Sounds respected decennial poll since 1952, cementing Renoirs influence. Andre Bazin and François Truffaut praised Renoir as the patron saint of the French New Wave.Jean Renoir: Projections of Paradise gives detailed accounts of Renoirs working methods and captivating appraisals of his films, and his long and fascinating life from his blissful childhood as the son of the great Impressionist painter August Renoir. This is a must-read for students of film and all fans of entertaining, timeless movies.

Now back in print, this acclaimed biography reassesses a titan of early cinema based on new material released after the fall of the Soviet Union. Sergei Eisenstein: A Life in Conflict tells the dramatic story of one of world cinemas towering geniuses and principal theorists. Ronald Bergan details Eisensteins life from his precocious childhood to his explosion onto the avant-garde scene in revolutionary Russia, through his groundbreaking film career, his relationships with authors and artists such as James Joyce and Walt Disney, and his untimely death at age fifty. Eisensteins landmark films, including The Battleship Potemkin and Ivan the Terrible, are still watched, admired, and taught throughout the world.Drawing upon material recently released from the Soviet archives after the breakup of the USSR and from Eisensteins personal letters, diaries, and sketches, Bergan shines a new light on the influence of Eisensteins early life on his work, his homosexuality, and his keen interest in the West. This book is the definitive biography of an influential director who saw film as the synthesis of all the arts and whose work displayed a passionate and profound grasp of art, science, philosophy, and religion.