Reviews provided by Syndetics

Library Journal Review

Noted playwright, screenwriter, and director Mamet offers his views on film directing taken, some in transcript form, from lectures and classes at Columbia. With only two films under his belt, Mamet is an odd choice to publish his opinions here, and his ideas are unsurprising. Although presumably being paid by Columbia, Mamet ``suspects'' film schools are ``useless.'' Citing his heroes Eisenstein (story via cuts) and Hitchcock (pre-planning), he advises shooting scenes simply in the ``least interesting way'' possible and cutting everything extraneous to the story. He suggests reading in myth and psychology and watching a lot of animated cartoons. Refreshingly untheoretical, particularly regarding acting technique, this is fitfully interesting stuff, but a bit of an ego trip, too.-- David Bartholomew, NYPL (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

Booklist Review

Mamet, Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright and masterful screenplay writer, has directed only two films so far--House of Games and Things Change--but they are gems. This potent, concentrated book is the distillation of a series of lectures that Mamet conducted at Columbia University's film school. He claims that films are intimately linked to dreams, depending on juxtaposition rather than narrative. His statement that the "work of the director is the work of constructing the shot list from the script" is deceivingly simplified. His lectures reveal the workings of a powerfully focused mind, particularly in the exchanges with students. He goes by the K.I.S.S. rule ("Keep it simple, stupid"), practices restraint, and believes that the story is told in the cuts. Referring to Hitchcock, Bettelheim, Aristotle, Leadbelly, and the value of cartoons, Mamet is a blunt and rigorous teacher. For anyone interested in the making of movies or what makes this director tick. ~--Donna Seaman