(#2 in the 2002 Book Challenge)

This is the reprint in book form of Pauline Kael's 1971 New Yorker piece entitled Raising Kane. Apparently this is the work that blasted convention on how film critics and historians had viewed Citizen Kane up to that time (since then it's become the conventional way to view Citizen Kane). I found it very interesting, especially as about 1/3 deals with the actual film, and the rest is about the politics and climate in which the movie was written, produced, and distributed.

One thing that was bizarre to realize as I was reading is that Kael had seen Citizen Kane only a handful of times. I find it astonishing since I suspect that most people today, if sitting down to write a treatise on any movie, would take advantage of popping it in the ol' DVD player and watching it countless times. Apparently she had an amazing memory for film, and could discuss almost any film she had seen shot by shot, scene by scene, even if it had been years since she had seen it.

One of my favorite lines: "What is strange about reseeing a movie that one reacted to fairly intensely many years ago is that one may respond exactly the same way to so many details and be aware each time of having responded that way before."

I know she indulged in believing her own hype towards the end of her career, but I do enjoy her writing and I think she's generally very insightful.

Grade: A
Status: Recommended to anyone who is interested in the history of film, and seeing as it's so short, recommended to just about anyone, really. ( )