![]() And it’s not that there isn’t great truth in the theory, but it has always been the case that films are made by a strange, hard-to-define gathering of forces and the director is just one of them. Because once had that scheme in place, we could be published, we can get tenure, we can get jobs, and we’re okay through to the end of the line. ![]() I came of age in what we call the auteur period, when it seemed proper, comforting, and enjoyable to say to ourselves that films are made by directors, and that they are the equivalent of artists. JONATHAN KIRSHNER: What got you thinking about writing a book like this?ĭAVID THOMSON: Well, I felt that film and film studies needed a significant change in what we think directors were. What follows is an edited version of that conversation. ![]() Thomson describes his new book, A Light in the Dark: A History of Movie Directors, as “an attempt to make readers think about the task of directing, the shape of careers, and the ways personality and obsession get on the screen as style.” He engaged these topics and more - his personal favorites, the book’s unspeakable oversights, and how “the business” has shaped (and will change) our relationship with films and filmmakers - in a long (virtual) discussion with Jonathan Kirshner. ![]() FILM HISTORIAN AND CRITIC David Thomson is the author of more than 25 books, including “Have You Seen…?”: A Personal Introduction to 1,000 Films , The Big Screen: The Story of the Movies, and A New Biographical Dictionary of Film, currently in its sixth edition.
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