Real and Reel: The Education of a Film Critic

(Paperback)

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From a little before ten years of age Brian McFarlane became addicted to stories told on the screen, and the mere fact that he had difficulty in getting to see the films he wanted - or any for that matter - only made them seem more alluring. But it wasn't just seeing the films that mattered: he also wanted, and quite soon needed, to be writing about them and these obsessions have been part of his life for the next sixty-odd years. Real and reel is a light-hearted and but deeply felt account of a lifetime's addiction. It is one particular writer and critic's story, but it will strike sparks among many others. Though many other interests have kept Brian McFarlane's life lively, nothing else has exerted such a long-standing grip on the author's imagination as film. Editor of the Encyclopaedia of British Cinema, co-editor of Manchester University Press's British Film Makers series, and author of over a dozen critical works on film and adaptation, Brian McFarlane's autobiographical Real and reel can also be read as a biography of the subject of Film Studies itself. -- .

Reviews

Knowledgeable and such fun. This man really knows and loves movies Syvlia Syms, OBE ...highly entertaining picaresque confession of a film fanatic's journey from the Wimmera to the World ... Brian's own story and his arcane knowledge of cinema are equally delicious and infectious, both told with impeccable drollery Geoffrey Rush It is easy to tell that this book has been a labour of love. Brian McFarlane is a true movie 'buff', but one who knows what he is talking about. It is a joy to share his knowledge and enthusiasm. Judi Dench, DBE

Author Bio

Brian McFarlane is an Adjunct Associate Professor attached to the English Department and was Visiting Professor at the University of Hull.