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A review by ivostarr
The Conversations: Walter Murch and the Art of Editing Film by Michael Ondaatje
5.0
This was an amazing book. Granted, you do need to be a little bit of a film geek--and maybe a literature geek--to enjoy it to some extent. But, as someone who has been really intrigued by the art of editing film, this book provides incredible insight into the philosophy and practices of the remarkable Walter Murch.
Murch has edited the Godfather series, The Conversation, Apocalypse Now redux, The English Patient, The Talented Mister Ripley, and many others. This book offers some color on how a particular scene came together in a film to how Murch, who also acted as sound designer on many of these films, recorded the perfect wind in a desert to create a sound effect. And, there is another interesting level to the conversations transcribed in this book because Michael Ondaatje, the author of The English Patient, guides the discussion. There are wonderful moments where Murch and Ondaatje trade their secrets on how they approach their art.
After finishing this book, I do tend to think that Walter Murch is a rare breed of editor these days. He's a Renaissance man with a wide variety of interests that help inform how he cuts a film. He conducts a lot of his own research about a film project to figure out what his take on things will be. For example, he goes into magnificent detail on how he came to help shape a pivotal scene in The English Patient through his reading of the characteristics of Nazi soldiers and through his use of removing sound. I'm already teetering on the edge of giving too much away for those who might not have seen this movie, but my point is that film audiences benefit immensely from Walter Murch's inquisitive mind.
What is interesting is that in the book Murch often comments on the fact that the one area that he hasn't studied much is film history. To be honest, I think that this has contributed to his success in many ways. The way he infuses his other interests results in a unique creativity and also has encouraged him to try methods to arrive at a certain result that others thought would never work.
Murch has edited the Godfather series, The Conversation, Apocalypse Now redux, The English Patient, The Talented Mister Ripley, and many others. This book offers some color on how a particular scene came together in a film to how Murch, who also acted as sound designer on many of these films, recorded the perfect wind in a desert to create a sound effect. And, there is another interesting level to the conversations transcribed in this book because Michael Ondaatje, the author of The English Patient, guides the discussion. There are wonderful moments where Murch and Ondaatje trade their secrets on how they approach their art.
After finishing this book, I do tend to think that Walter Murch is a rare breed of editor these days. He's a Renaissance man with a wide variety of interests that help inform how he cuts a film. He conducts a lot of his own research about a film project to figure out what his take on things will be. For example, he goes into magnificent detail on how he came to help shape a pivotal scene in The English Patient through his reading of the characteristics of Nazi soldiers and through his use of removing sound. I'm already teetering on the edge of giving too much away for those who might not have seen this movie, but my point is that film audiences benefit immensely from Walter Murch's inquisitive mind.
What is interesting is that in the book Murch often comments on the fact that the one area that he hasn't studied much is film history. To be honest, I think that this has contributed to his success in many ways. The way he infuses his other interests results in a unique creativity and also has encouraged him to try methods to arrive at a certain result that others thought would never work.