Film: The Front Line 1983 by Jonathan Rosenbaum


Film: The Front Line 1983
Title : Film: The Front Line 1983
Author :
Rating :
ISBN : 0912869038
ISBN-10 : 9780912869032
Language : English
Format Type : Paperback
Number of Pages : 238
Publication : First published January 1, 1983

The Film : The Front Line volumes treat approximately 20 filmmakers who are changing the shape of the movies shown in our neighborhood theaters, though their work will likely never be seen there. Jonathan Rosenbaum makes accessible the work of such neglected experimental and personal filmmakers as Chantal Akerman, Jon Jost, Ulrike Ottinger, Yvonne Rainer, and Mark Rappaport. These and others included here have been treated before only in media that are not readily available to the student of film, and yet they form an important part of film's front line.

Film: The Front Line 1983 Reviews

  • Muzzlehatch

    It took me some 15+ years to finally get ahold of this, but it was well worth it. This is a very personal appraisal by Rosenbaum of figures that he saw as some of the most important in the avant-garde and experimental film worlds, in the early 1980s -- so needless to say it would have a very limited scope of appeal, even were it more widely available. For me it is valuable for the insights in provides - some new to me and some merely rehashings in different language - on figures such as Jacques Rivette, Chantal Akerman, John Jost and Mark Rappaport, all narrative filmmakers albeit difficult ones; the chapters on the more obscure essay and experimental artists really don't have much appeal at the moment, as much of that work (Leslie Thornton's video stuff, for example) remains very difficult to see. Fans of Rosenbaum, and particularly those with wider access to the treasures he writes about, i.e. those living in NYC, Paris, LA etc, should definitely seek this out.