Conversations with Jack Cardiff
From an email sent to me 2/6/03
Dear Steve,
I thought my new book on Jack Cardiff, to be published in September by Batsford, might be of interest to you:
Conversations with Jack Cardiff
Published by Batsford/ Chrysalis September 2003
Jack Cardiff is inarguably the greatest living cinematographer. His career has spanned more then 80 years - from his first film as a child star in 1918 (My Son) to his latest work in 2002 with Christopher Coppola.
Cardiff pioneered Technicolor in England, working on their first UK feature, Wings of the Morning in 1936 and later developing his distinctive, painterly style in three masterly collaborations with Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger - A Matter of Life and Death (1946), Black Narcissus (1947) and The Red Shoes (1948). Although Cardiff's name will be forever inextricably linked with Powell and Pressburger, he has also forged brilliant collaborations with directors as diverse as Alfred Hitchcock, Henry Hathaway, King Vidor, John Boulting, Richard Fleischer and John Huston.
In the late 1950s, at the height of his creative powers, Cardiff bravely launched a parallel career as a director; a decision vindicated not least by his adaptation of Sons and Lovers (1960), which received no fewer than seven Oscar nominations.
The twenty-plus hours of interviews that form the core of Conversations with Jack Cardiff were conducted over the summer of 2002, interrupted only be Jack's frequent departures to film festivals, awards ceremonies, speaking engagements and, on one occasion, a brief trip to America to shoot a new film. At the age of 88 Jack managed to cover three continents whilst we worked together; an impressive feat and a tribute to his continuingly tireless efforts to define (and on occasions redefine) the art of cinematography. This book is not a tribute to Jack - his films perfectly fulfil that function - but a glimpse behind the curtain at the collaborations, personalities and craftsmanship that have created some of the cinema's most enduring images.
With a chronological approach and substantial historical notes Conversations with Jack Cardiff presents an oral history of cinema itself, further enhanced by dozens of behind the scenes production photographs from Jack's own personal collection, a forward by Mike Figgis and contributions from many of those who have worked with Jack - Steven Berkoff, Leslie Caron, Dino De Laurentiis, Freddie Francis and others.
For further details, Contact:
Curzon Mayfair
Or contact the author
Justin Bowyer
A launch event in London with a screening and Q&A with Jack is being arranged for September.
See
report on the event & on the book.
By the way, congratulations on the site - am a regular visitor :)
Kind Regards,
Justin
Boxfish Media
www.boxfishmedia.com
