Product Description

During the filming of his celebrated novel The English Patient, Michael Ondaatje became increasingly fascinated as he watched the veteran editor Walter Murch at work. The Conversations, which grew out of discussions between the two men, is about the craft of filmmaking and deals with every aspect of film, from the first stage of script writing to the final stage of the sound mix. Walter Murch emerged during the 1960s at the centre of a renaissance of American filmmakers which included the directors Francis Coppola, George Lucas and Fred Zinneman. He worked on a whole raft of great films including the three Godfather films, Julia, American Graffiti, Apocalypse Now, The Unbearable Lightness Of Being and many others. Articulate, intellectual, humorous and passionate about his craft and its devices, Murch brings his vast experience and penetrating insights to bear as he explains how films are made, how they work, how they go wrong and how they can be saved. His experience on Apocalypse Now - both originally and more recently when the film was completely re-cut - and his work with Anthony Minghella on The English Patient provide illuminating highlights.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #468940 in Books
• Published on: 2003-11-03
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 384 pages

Sunday Times
'A sublime example of how to produce a fearsomely intelligent book about the aesthetics of film-making'

Empire
'A revealing mix of memoir and masterclass'

Time Out
'As rich and rewarding a film book as I've read all year, a real meeting of minds ... immersive and expansive'

Customer Reviews

Fascinating look at film
This book is a transcription of a series of conversations between Michael Ondaatje, the author of "The English Patient", and Walter Murch, the editor of the film version of the book. Walter Murch has worked on many important modern films, including "Apocalypse Now", "The Conversation", and all the Godfather films, doing mostly sound design and film editing.
He discusses the creation of these and many other films with an insiders intimate knowledge of how each part adds to the whole. He mixes his strong technical knowledge with his love for the artistic process.
It is one of the best books I have ever read on film making. Both film makers and discerning film lovers will be knocked out by it.

Insightful and entertaining
An excellent collection of transcripted interview / conversations between novelist Ondaatje and editor/sound designer Walter Murch. Murch provides great insight into his specialist fields of film making and discusses all his major work, from editing The Godfather, Apocalypse Now, The Conversation etc through to directing Return To Oz and recent work on The English Patient. It's not all technical however and there are frequent, and equally interesting, digressions into cinema and the arts in general. Fantastic!