Pauline Kael. The Sound of Music. Enjoy! But it certainly is possible that the less opinionated Vogue was growing tired of Didion’s flouting of the status quo. Didion has a bit more leverage in her legend, if only because there is no loud opponent to her version of events. For a brief period during the 1930s, this unlikely idol became part of Hollywood’s glamorous elite. There are two main conflicts driving the narrative in The Sound of Music. There are 2,846 in all, ranging from early silents to the early 1990s, when Kael retired. The lighting suggests J.M.W. Little White Lies was established in 2005 as a bi-monthly print magazine committed to championing great movies and the talented people who make them. As musical-film, it is not fresh. Talking about Pauline Kael: Critics, Filmmakers, and Scholars Remember an Icon (Film and History) by Wayne Stengel. Kael (born June 19, 1919; died September 3, 2001) was born in Petaluma, California to Polish immigrant parents who originally came to Manhattan but quickly moved to the west coast to become farmers. Kael was known for her "witty, biting, highly opinionated and sharply focused" reviews, her opinions often contrary to those of her contemporaries. Turner in the American Southwest, his eyes popping with surprise. While both women were particularly resistant to the idea of being a part of the woman’s movement, as critics, they appeared purposeful in resisting Maria as a romantic model. First, it’s a good to very good film, but not De Sica’s best. He was correct. Pauline Kael (1919–2001) was undoubtedly one of the greatest names in film criticism. In fact, many critics despised it. Before long, she was writing cover articles and briefly became Vogue’s film critic. One week Kael would praise the Jane Fonda comedy western Cat Ballou, while in the next issue Didion would review The Sons of Katie Elder, making sure to take a swipe at Ballou in the process (Vogue was a weekly until 1973). I gave up months later after she kept panning every commercial movie from Lawrence of Arabia and Dr Zhivago to The Pawnbroker and A Hard Day’s Night.”. Back in 1965, eminent film critic Pauline Kael famously called The Sound of Music “the sugar-coated lie that people seem to want to eat.” Worse, she goes on to say, “We have been turned into emotional and aesthetic imbeciles when we hear ourselves humming the sickly, goody-goody songs.”. “With a wide-eyed, trusting Miss Andrews as Maria, eventually Baroness Von Trapp, you believe every world of the tale…as you never did when Mary Martin tried it,” Coe writes. Indeed, while critics like Crowther and Crist groaned their way through “The Lonely Goatherd,” a handful of critics were charmed by raindrops on roses and whiskers on kittens and curtains on children, forecasting the wild success the film would eventually have. The legend goes that her scathing critique, in which she called the film “the single most repressive influence on artistic freedom in movies,” got her fired from McCall magazine. It’s already been pointed out that Robert Wise initially balked at directing it because he thought the material was bad to begin with, and it’s Hollywood legend at this point how unenthused Christopher Plummer was to be starring in it, famously referring to the film as The Sound of Mucus and allegedly requiring to be liquored up before going on set. The wife of Superman co-creator Jerry Siegel was the real-life model for Lois Lane. “Except for Julie Andrews…the cast is generally stiff or mawkish. For a more extended discussion, see Pauline Kael's book Movie Love. The Sound of Music premiered to horrific reviews in 1965. Crowther really didn’t like Plummer in the film. At least, it’s enough to make critics nauseated, many of whom loathed The Sound of Music so much when it first hit theaters in 1965 that their critical bombs were vicious enough to nearly decimate those darned hills completely. On 25 July 1982, at London’s National Film Theatre, Pauline Kael invited questions from the audience. She’s what breathed life into the hills 50 years ago, when everything else about The Sound of Music should have had them on life support. The film has only grown in prominence over the years, yet at the time of its release, the critical consensus was far from glowing. The Sound of Music hasn’t tarnished over time; it was always dated, always reviled by the learned. The 16 mm black-and-white cinematography (by Jeff Preiss) is reticent yet expressive, impassioned; the film has a great look. “Only those of us who, despite the fact that we may respond, loathe being manipulated in this way and are aware of how self-indulgent and cheap and ready-made are the responses we are made to feel.”, Didion’s review isn’t quite laced with same venom, but it is snide and caustic. by Pauline Kael. From first frame to last, she imbues Maria and the film with a boundless ebullience, professionalism, and richness that radiates off the screen—and still hasn’t lost its shine. It’s as though they decided to position themselves in contrast to the virtuous ideal that Julie Andrews’ Maria represents. Each link contains between 20-30 reviews. (The Sound of Music, the film industry’s original Transformers?) The Sound of Music, the now iconic Julie Andrews- and Christopher Plummer-starring movie musical about love, nuns, Nazis, and clothing made out of curtains, celebrates its 50th anniversary Monday. These are among the nuggets a viewer gleans from Rob Garver’s one-and-a-half hour documentary, What She Said: The Art of Pauline Kael, which opens in … The film? Are we only viewing The Sound of Music through rose-colored glasses tinted with memories of watching it with our grandmothers, or of starring as a Von Trapp child in a production when we were kids, or of learning what a female deer was called by singing along to “Do-Re-Mi”? He branded Captain Von Trapp’s poignant crooning of “Edelweiss,” a film scene and performance that’s noted for many of us as the first time we’ve seen a single tear stream down our father’s cheek, with the m-word, too, calling it “a bit too painfully mawkish.”, The barbs kept coming. Pauline Kael called it "the sugar-coated lie that people seem to want to eat." But it doesn’t account for the fact that, undeniably, this is not a perfect film, or at least not the perfect film that we’ve convinced ourselves that it is all these years later. Kiss Kiss Bang Bang (1968) is Pauline Kael's second collection of reviews from 1965 through 1968, compiled from numerous magazines including The Atlantic, Holiday, The New Yorker, Life, Mademoiselle, The New Republic, McCall's, and Vogue.It features her review of The Sound of Music, which she notoriously dubbed "The Sound of Money," sparking outrage from loyal readers of McCall's. Citizen Kael Richard von Busack recalls the impact of film critic Pauline Kael By Richard von Busack. In the case of Christopher Plummer, it is both,” he wrote. In 1965, Didion was writing for Vogue Magazine. Even some of the more positive Sound of Music reviews from 1965 make no qualms about the fact that this movie’s plot is absolutely ridiculous. We believe in Truth & Movies. As The Sound of Music returns to cinemas in the UK, this time in 70mm, it might be worth reflecting on the film’s place within the canon. “Whom could it offend?” she wrote. Kael’s editor at the time, Robert Stein, argued throughout his life that it wasn’t what did for her. She did TV and radio, but her métier was print. It was rumoured by those close to her that she had grown tired of reviewing movies and The Sound of Music was a tipping point. In an edited selection from a previously unpublished transcript of the event, she explains why good films make her a better writer. Pauline Kael, who died in 2001 but would have turned 100 today, looks down on my writing desk askance – or rather, 10 volumes of her reviews do. O ne of the great legends of 20th century film criticism is that both Joan Didion and Pauline Kael were fired from their respective jobs for trashing The Sound of Music.These women, who by this point had built up a comfortable rivalry, were temporarily bonded by their mutual hatred of Robert Wise’s Oscar-sweeping musical. In Conversation. If ever there was a great example of how the best popular movies come out of a merger of commerce and art, The Godfather is it. Pauline Kael (/ k eɪ l /; June 19, 1919 – September 3, 2001) was an American film critic who wrote for The New Yorker magazine from 1968 to 1991. Pauline Kael, long-time New Yorker film critic, was famous for her scathing, but honest movie reviews. It’s a historical context that adds extra intrigue to the Sound of Music phenomenon. ... Music (1) Musical (1) Mystery (1) Short (1) Feature Film (17) ... A movie sound recordist accidentally records the evidence that proves that a car accident was actually murder and consequently finds himself in danger. Now it’s the most beloved and popular movie musical ever. What is really fascinating is how Didion and Kael latched on to this legend. It remains unclear what exactly inspired them to butt heads. It got the bum’s rush, though it’s a happy-go-lucky ode to the truckers on the roads, a sunny, enjoyable picture, with only ketchup being splattered (in a mock fight in a diner). Didion and Kael would spar in alternating issues. Movies That Pauline Kael Really Liked. The accomplishment of a performance like hers almost can’t be quantified or characterized, if only in the adoration for it all these years later. And then, his highest praise: “Miss Andrews is nothing daunted. Second, and far more importantly, she gives ZERO information about the film in her ‘review,’ choosing, instead, to write a kind of proto-blog post about things not even tangentially related to the film. A Californian native, she wrote her first review in 1953 and joined ‘The New Yorker’ in 1968. Pauline Kael Reviews A-Z. The Sound of Music is intended to be a feel-good extravaganza – one that sweeps aside considerations of logic and intelligence in a tide of exuberance that crests with an emotional high. In the other, the Nazis are invading Austria. Even critics who hated the film, like Crowther, credited Andrews for making the whole movie seem less asinine than it really was. She said of the film that it was, “more embarrassing than most, if only because of its suggestion that history need not happen to people … Just whistle a happy tune, and leave the Anschluss behind.”, Both women lost their jobs shortly after, and it’s commonly thought that it was because of their negative takes, though this has been disputed over the years. On its 50th anniversary, how did it climb that mountain? (Read TIME’s full review of The Sound of Music here in the TIME archives: R-H Positive) The definitive denunciation came from Pauline Kael, soon to be the country’s most influential film critic. Dev Patel is on fire in the new trailer for The Green Knight, Army of the Dead review – Zombie Tiger innocent, From far, far away to 4chan – The surprising legacy of Shrek, How personal trauma and national tragedy inspired Grave of the Fireflies. by Pauline Kael. She doesn’t just elevate subpar material. Did their scathing reviews of the hit musical costs these revered female film critics their jobs? Both women enjoyed the notoriety of being so vicious in print that it cost them their livelihoods, but the truth is a lot more obscure than the legend suggests. She took digs at many popular films like The Sound of Music … It’s certainly not unusual for a film to be ravaged by critics but voraciously consumed by moviegoers. She turns subpar material into iconic cinema. It is not sound.”, Still, Crowther was gracious enough to predict that the grandeur of the film’s sweeping shots of the Swiss Alps, not to mention Julie Andrews’s vigorously radiant performance, would be enough to appeal to the masses and make The Sound of Music a hit—something that Judith Crist, in an all-out-pan for the New York Herald Tribune, did not agree with, ruling that the film was designed for “the five to seven set and all their mommies.”, And Crist’s colleague Walter Kerr called the film, “Not only too sweet for words but almost too sweet for music.”, The Sound of Music’s director, Robert Wise, addressed the mixed critical reception years later, saying, “The East Coast, intellectual papers and magazines destroyed us, but the local papers and trades gave us great reviews.” (It’s also worth noting that Wise had initially turned down directing the film because he thought it was too saccharine.). Didion’s review implies a lesbian dalliance between Mother Superior and Maria, while also suggesting the kind of anesthetising historical take. Pauline Kael was born in Petaluma, CA, in 1919, and attended the University of California at Berkeley in the 1930s. While Kael was boisterous and Didion diminutive, it was said they spoke the same central California language, or “valley talk,” as John Dunne wrote in a diary entry. And after all this time that has passed, she’s still what keeps them alive. It’s a milestone that celebrates decades of the film’s cultural influence, commercial success, and indisputable status as one of our favorite things. They are given the same weight. In her inaugural film article, she wrote, “Let me lay it on the line: I like movies, and approach them with a tolerance so fond that it will possibly strike you as simple-minded.”. ... Amazon Music Stream millions of songs: Amazon Advertising Find, attract, ... Audible Listen to Books & Original Audio Performances: Book Depository Books With Free Delivery Worldwide: D espite her status as one of America’s greatest movie critics, Pauline Kael was regarded as a persona non-grata by certain Hollywood movers and shakers.. Diverging from mainstream tastes, she would pan popularly acclaimed films such as The Sound of Music, Lawrence of Arabia and West Side Story, thereby enraging high-powered film executives, who barred her from some press screenings. The songs, which have become part of the American musical lexicon, are immediately recognizable and, as Kael sarcastically acknowledged, eminently hummable. She plays a more saccharine nanny than Mary Poppins, but it doesn’t get her goat.”. Combining cutting-edge design, illustration and journalism, we’ve been described as being “at the vanguard of the independent publishing movement.” Our reviews feature a unique tripartite ranking system that captures the different aspects of the movie-going experience. That is most certainly true, and perhaps the driving force behind its 50-year reign as Hollywood’s most popular movie musical. It’s hard to imagine anyone else being able to pull such a feat out of her bag of tricks, but it’s because Andrews’s reservoir of skills and virtues is as infinite as Mary Poppins’s own carpet bag that we’ve all come to view The Sound of Music as excellence. Some have said it was a matter of logistics; Didion was tired of writing film reviews and, having moved to California, she and Vogue simply parted ways. Let me tell you about the state of film criticism before the late Pauline Kael entered the fray. What She Said: The Art of Pauline Kael soundtrack from 2019, composed by Rick Baitz. One of the great legends of 20th century film criticism is that both Joan Didion and Pauline Kael were fired from their respective jobs for trashing The Sound of Music. Was Convoy punished because of the blood Peckinpah has made us look at in the past? The movie starts from a trash novel that is generally considered gripping and compulsively readable, though (maybe because movies more than satisfy my appetite for trash) I found it unreadable. More Pauline Kael in the July 2019 issue of Sight & Sound Mission critical. As it turns out, twirling around like a maniac at the top of a hill is enough to make a person nauseated. At the same time, Kael was building her own reputation as a film critic. Pauline Kael ( June 19, 1919 – September 3, 2001) was an American film critic who wrote for The New Yorker magazine from 1968 to 1991. It should be fairly obvious: with the indomitable spirit of Julie Andrews. This documentary about Pauline Kael hits all the expected beats: Limelight, Hiroshima Mon Amour, The Sound of Music, Bonnie and Clyde, Last Tango in Paris, "Raising Kane," Woody Allen, Warren Beatty, Shoah, and Casualties of War. Julie Andrews singlehandedly saved what should have been a turkey of a film. Once upon a time Pauline Kael was famous. How did the movie overcome that irrefutable flaw to become a movie that’s not just enjoyable, but widely considered to be good? It grossed £60 million in its first year. It's like being pounded on the back every two minutes when your back is already sore … Pauline Kael praises Vittorio De Sica’s Shoeshine, below, but there are two problems here. She was one of the most influential American film critics of her era. Her disgraceful review of Shoah is quoted at length, and the film's defense boils down to: "No movie is sacrosanct, and hey, at least she was honest, right?" The success of the Transformers franchise certainly speaks to that. Kael’s review for McCall’s has become legendary in itself. The New York Times’ Bosley Crowther devoted two full columns to his distaste for the film’s unpalatable sweetness and artificial execution, while other prominent critics couldn’t stomach the film’s utterly batty plot. She was not alone with her lashings. Kael was known for her "witty, biting, highly opinionated and sharply focused" reviews, her opinions often contrary to those of her contemporaries. In fact, the film eventually became so popular that Pauline Kael was reportedly fired from her position as movie critic at McCall’s for panning it. So it’s startling to learn, then, that when The Sound of Music first premiered five decades ago, our beloved classic actually received middling-to-horrible reviews. (Kael called the film a “sugarcoated lie that people seem to want to eat”. As lore tells it, Kael was fired from McCall’s for her scathing review of the widely praised The Sound of Music. The Film since World War Two - Pauline Kael 1968. The sound track is made up of Baker recordings that span more than three decades-the idealized essence of the man. We should all be so thankful that she didn’t. “Staged…so as to wring every drop of sentiment.” As a whole? These women, who by this point had built up a comfortable rivalry, were temporarily bonded by their mutual hatred of Robert Wise’s Oscar-sweeping musical. Is it a musical classic or is it “cheap,” “self-indulgent” and “embarrassing?”, Tags: All signs pointed to its failure. She got her start in the advertising department and moved up to writing captions. Julie Andrews sure worked her mojo on that one. Pauline Kael was one of the most acclaimed, opinionated, and clever movie critics. Now it’s ... eminent film critic Pauline Kael famously called The Sound of Music “the sugar-coated lie that people seem to want to eat.” She tried and failed to work as a playwright in her 20s, and began writing film reviews as a freelance writer for film journals in the 1950s. She took particular issue with the film’s artificiality and wholesomeness, calling it a narcotic for the masses. The Sound of Music premiered to horrific reviews in 1965. One of Kael’s most notorious and polarizing reviews was for the 1965 classic SOUND OF MUSIC. But bad films that still manage to eke out decent box office returns don’t stand the test of time the way The Sound of Music has. LWLies 89: The First Cow issue – On sale now! The film was such a box office hit that it briefly replaced Gone With the Wind as the highest grossing film of all time. The Sound of Music, obviously, ... especially Christopher Plummer as Captain Von Trapp." “A virtual paraphrase of the musical-comedy book.” The direction? Describing their brief meeting at a New York Oscar party, he described them as “two tough little numbers with the instincts of a mongoose and an amiable contempt for each other’s work.”, When The Sound of Music was released in 1965, it was an instant sensation, topping box offices around the world. More, it’s the rare family film in which its popularity stands the test of time, most recently revitalizing the live-event TV business with NBC’s smash hit (but also critically derided) live musical staging and revitalizing Lady Gaga’s career with a spectacular Oscars tribute. In one, a father is upset that his children’s clothes are made out of curtains. Recorded: at University of California, Berkeley, 26 Apr. “It all is sterile. interviews On April 18 2016, The Sound Of Music won an Oscar after receiving an almost universal panning from the critics. The actor, director and producer discusses his latest project and reflects on his remarkably varied career. (Martin played Maria in the stage musical.). The surreal true story of Cynthia the movie star mannequin, Griffin Dunne on acting, Joan Didion and his plans for an After Hours TV show, The amazing story of Joanne Siegel – the super woman who inspired a comic book icon. “Saccharine pudding.” The screenplay? Released in 2020 containing music from What She Said: The Art of Pauline Kael (2019). “Despite the hopeless pretense of reality with which she and the others have to contend, especially in the last phase, when the Von Trapps are supposed to be fleeing from the Nazis and their homeland, Miss Andrews treats the whole thing with the same air of serenely controlled self-confidence that she has when we first come upon her trilling the title song on a mountain top,” he writes. 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