Friday, April 14, 2023

Book Nook - Sydney Pollack: A Subliminal Existentialist

 Sydney Pollack: A Subliminal Existentialist


by Wes D. Gehring

Filmmaker Sydney Pollack found his greatest success as the director of such celebrated pictures as They Shoot Horses, Don't They?, The Way We WereTootsie, and Out of Africa which won Pollack Oscars for both director and producer. Pollack found early success as an actor, an acting teacher, and later as a producer. In ensuing years, he would be praised as a character actor, from Dustin Hoffman's scene stealing agent in Tootsie to a sympathetic cynic in Eyes Wide Shut.

Forever curious, Pollack often used these films to see how other significant directors plied their trade. Trying to balance time for family and his many other soon-to-be-explored talents, Pollack's ability to recognize quality material also made him a producer of such memorable works as The Fabulous Baker BoysSense and Sensibility, The Talented Mr. RipleyIris, and Michael Clayton. This work weaves the story of Pollack's life and career through ten of his films and covers his relationship with two actors; teacher and mentor, Burt Lancaster, and Robert Redford, with whom he frequently collaborated

Peter Evans, Emeritus Professor of Film Studies, Queen Mary University of London, recently wrote the author, "You certainly make an excellent case for his [ Pollack's ]re-evaluation, [ while ] providing your characteristic mixture of scholarship and sharp analysis."






ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Wes D. Gehring is a distinguished professor of film at Ball State University and associate media editor for USA Today magazine, for which he also writes the column “Reel World.” He is the author of over 40 film books, including biographies of James Dean, Carole Lombard, Steve McQueen, Robert Wise, Red Skelton and Charlie Chaplin.

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