Notes On The Cinematograph (New York Review Books Classics)

Classic but difficult read.

This book is regularly chosen among the best on cinema review, or film in general. And deservedly so. The tone is sober to the point of dryness, there's not one word wasted, nothing is written for mere decoration, let alone as a filler. The text is sparce, down to the point. And yet it's a delight.Surely one of the shortest book on cinema ever written, arguably one of the best. (As a bonus, it can be read as a treaty on any other art or even craft. It is that good).

Good to read

Great book full of interesting notes. It opened my eyes to the huge difference in creativity between theatre and film.

Exactly as ordered Perfect quality many thanks

Anyone interested in creating art will appreciate these notes

Essential reading for any fans of Bresson or his films. It's a short book containing several hundred disjointed notes (or "scars" as the forward says) on the nature of cinema and this concept of "cinematography". Bresson didn't think of cinematography as we do, he divided cinema into two, firstly the majority, those who put theatre on screen and who were stuck using actors and music (he always refers to his actors as models and he hates all music in film); and secondly those who work in cinematography, which for Bresson was the proper way of making films. It's very interesting to read a film philosophy that I completely disagree with on almost every level (except his attitude to music). Bresson didn't believe in beautiful shots, didn't believe in close-ups, didn't believe in acting, hated the idea of mixing art forms and was generally a bit of a mad man really. He basically in this book says that what everyone else is doing is wrong and what he is doing is right. But the tragic irony is that he was striving for the truth, for the authentic from his non-actors, but as a result of his methods the performances in his films are some of the least truthful I've ever seen. There is a certain amount of insanity in casting a non actor as Joan of Arc for example, but God love him, that's exactly what he did in his pursuit of the truth and at least from these notes it appears he never stopped trusting his ideology of vision and sound, although the later notes do get less judgemental of everyone else's "theatre on screen".

It is a little book with ideas and practices by this great filmmaker. Elaborated are notes on role of sound in film, Bresson's experiences during filming and mantra like statements, which will be appreciated largely by filmmaking community only.Still I would recommend it.

muito bom

great book

They cheated me of my money. More than a month and no refund yet.

I finally had the chance to buy this book. It has always been out of stock and the only option for buying it was on amazon seller lists or on ebay where it sold for ridiculously high prices ($50+). It's almost impossible to find at a brick and mortar bookstore (and i live in nyc!).So if you're interested in it, you should buy it while it's available. It seems to go on sale sporadically in limited stock. And for $6 it's a great deal.It's a small little book with a lot of different notes in it. Each page has about 4 or 5 notes. It sort of resembles a book of quotes. It's definitely not a collection of essays on filmmaking. Some of the notes can be a bit redundant with the same idea said over again in a slightly different way. But there are a lot of inspirational little tidbits and guide posts in there that make it a good read. You can read it straight-through but i feel like it's best to have it somewhere handy and occasionally open it up to a random page and read a few of the notes when you need a little bit of inspiration.If you like Bresson's work or you're a filmmaker interested in his style, i think you'll enjoy it.

¡¡Una verdadera masterclass!! Si te interesa profundizar en el cine bien como aficionado o como creador, no dudes en leer este maravilloso libro escrito por uno de los grandes de la historia del cine.