What She Said: The Art of Pauline Kael

Saw this today at a film festival in Auckland. It felt rushed and over stuffed full of trivia. Almost like the makers wanted coverage and balance :) I would have preferred a little more focus on some of the pivotal moments and we did get some of that.

Clips of Kael being interviewed were some of the best parts and there were also some notable responses by film makers, critics and others.

I suspect the clips from movies that were used were all very short because of licensing constraints but it would have been better to label the less obvious ones.

I didn't know the story about Mankiewicz and Citizen Kane. That seemed like one of the great moments and could have been teased out a little more.

We heard from her daughter and possibly grand daughter? I think the story about the collaboration with Warren Beatty was worth a deeper look but perhaps there were some legal fish hooks there.

The David Lean clips where he mentions he was devastated by a particular event where she took hime to task was interesting. Again I wonder if there was more to add there.

On the whole though I came out of the theatre reminded of the many times Kael had made a call on a movie and had by doing so added a little edge to the movie going experience.

I have enjoyed her writing and will look up some of those essays and reviews now.