Read Instead…in Print

“If we could only find the courage to leave our destiny
to chance, to accept the fundamental mystery of our lives,
then we might be closer to the sort of happiness
that comes with innocence.”

Read instead…in print #31

I place Luis Buñuel’s autobiography My Last Sigh (1) in the same category with Jean Renoir’s, My Life and My Films. Another great filmmaker who recounts his life with cordiality and disarming candour, showing the skills of a storyteller. Without dedicating too much in the book to his films (I hardly expected him to explain his movies), Buñuel keeps the story centered on his personal life. It is an approach that makes you realise how many things in his films were taken directly from or influenced by real life, and the simplicity, modesty and humour that lay behind a master craftsman and a brilliant mind. Luis Buñuel was the eternal dreamer.

(1): The edition I have, with the cover above, published by The Minnesota University Press, is no longer available unfortunately.

Read instead… in print is about a good book about cinema or filmmakers. No discursive, pretentious analyses, no verbose scrutiny. Because the idea is to invite you to read the book, not read about it here. But instead of using social media, I use my journal. Back to basics. Take it as a wish to break free of over-reliance on social media (even if it’s just for posting a photo of a good book) for presenting my work, cultural finds and interests. These are things to be enjoyed as stand-alone pieces in a more substantial and meaningful way than showing them in the black hole of Instagram thronged with an audience with a short attention span. This is also a look through my voluminous collection of books about film that I use as research in my adamant decision to rely less and less on the online and more on more on print materials.