Orson Welles

Cahiers du Cinema

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Masters of Cinema

An essential introduction to one of the world’s greatest directors.

Paolo Mereghetti

Editions:

Price: USD$9.95

100 points

Overview

Orson Welles (USA, 1915–1985) was a complete auteur, a brilliant director and scriptwriter, a prodigious actor of memorable physique and a figure of legend. He began his directing career in 1940, at the age of twenty-five, with Citizen Kane, an undisputed, ground-breaking masterpiece of cinema history. Welles’ stature as a baroque, impetuous and profoundly free artist made the studios uncomfortable. He had control of every detail on the twelve feature films he was able to make, including Lady from Shanghai with Rita Hayworth (1947), Touch of Evil with Charlton Heston (1958), adaptations of Shakespeare’s plays including Macbeth (1948) and Othello (1952) and Kafka’s The Trial (1962). Orson Welles remains a unique figure in cinema history and a real source of inspiration for future generations of film-makers.

Specifications

Paperback
English
240 x 195 mm, 9 1/2 x 7 5/8 in
104 pp
100 colour illustrations
ISBN-13: 9782866427016
ISBN-10: 2866427017

About the book

Essential introductions to the work of the world’s greatest directors

Comprehensive, authoritative, yet concise and accessible monographs on leading figures in the history of cinema

Organized chronologically, from the director’s earliest works to their most recent films

Clear and insightful texts written by some of the world’s most respected specialists – film critics, journalists and scholars

Richly illustrated with 100 images, including film stills, set photographs, film sequences and posters, some of which have rarely been seen before

Useful guide to the seminal films of the best directors

Includes a detailed biography, filmography and plot summaries

About the author(s)

Paolo Mereghetti is a journalist and critic, notably for Corriere della Sera. He is the author of a well-known Italian dictionary of cinema (Il Mereghetti), and has also contributed to the Venice Film Festival.