Pauline Kael

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Pauline Kael (1968)

Pauline Kael (born June 19, 1919 in Petaluma , California , † September 3, 2001 in Great Barrington , Massachusetts ) was an American film critic . She is counted among the most important film critics of the 20th century.

life and work

Youth, training and career beginnings

Pauline Kael was the fifth child of Judith Jetta Kael, née Friedman, and Isaac Kael. Both parents originally came from Pruszków, Poland . The Kaels, like several other Jewish families, had settled in Petaluma, California, where they ran a chicken farm. Pauline read a lot and loved reading from childhood on and was encouraged by her environment in her interest in culture. The family went to the cinema together, where silent films were shown.

Kael studied philosophy at the University of California, Berkeley from 1936 to 1940 . In 1941 she moved to New York with the poet Robert Horan, with whom she was dating at the time. While Horan quickly made contact with the local intellectual scene, Kael shuffled from one poorly paid job to the next. In the mid-1940s she returned to the west coast of San Francisco , where she initially lived with her mother. Their daughter Gina, who was born in 1948, comes from a brief relationship with the poet James Broughton.

Success as a film critic

Her first film review appeared in City Lights magazine in San Francisco in 1953 . Further discussions followed, e.g. B. in Partisan Review , in Moviegoer Magazine and in Kulchur. She also began writing regularly for Film Quarterly , and from 1955 hosted the radio show Behind The Movie Camera on the community-run local radio station KPFA . In the 1960s, Kael first gained greater attention through her arguments with film critic Andrew Sarris , the leading American proponent of the auteur theory . In her essay Circles and Squares , she criticized this theory, among other things because it only works in retrospect and dogmatically plays off the works of directors against each other. Kael wanted to see the films on their own rather than in the context of a complete oeuvre.

From the mid-1950s to 1960, she and Ed Landberg ran the Cinema Guild on Telegraph Avenue in Berkeley , which is considered one of the first American art house cinemas. Kael's succinct announcement texts and her influence in the selection of films contributed to the popularity of the cinema. Landberg and Kael showed European films, e.g. B. by Ingmar Bergman or Laurence Olivier , but also American musical films, westerns and comedies.

In 1965, her first collection of film reviews was published as a book, I Lost It at the Movies, which was a sales hit and was well-received in the press. Was the verdict of Richard Schickel in The New York Times Book Review : "I'm not sure exactly what Miss Kael lost in the cinema, but certainly not her wit. Her collected reviews confirm [...] that she is the smartest, most astute, resourceful and unaffected film critic currently active in the US. ”Due to the success that was now beginning, Kael and her daughter moved back to New York, which is considered the capital of the American publishing industry. There she wrote briefly in 1966 for the women 's magazine McCalls , in which, however, by reviewing the popular large-scale productions Dr. Zhivago and The Sound Of Music quickly made unpopular. She has been hired to give lectures and radio shows, and has written for magazines such as Holiday and The Atlantic Monthly . On the one hand, her clients valued Kael as an excellent film critic, on the other hand she was notorious for her undiplomatic openness, which sometimes bordered on rudeness.

Time at The New Yorker

In 1967 she offered the Atlantic Monthly a positive review of the gangster drama Bonnie and Clyde by Arthur Penn , which was rejected by the magazine because it was too long. The text eventually appeared in the New Yorker . Kael described the film as a "turning point in American cinema". This criticism is one of the reasons why Bonnie and Clyde , who was initially panned by established critics such as Bosley Crowther , eventually developed into an Oscar- winning blockbuster. After the article was published, she was hired by the New Yorker as a film critic and stayed there with one interruption until 1991.

The essay Trash, Art and the Movies , which Kael wrote for Harper's Magazine in 1969 , was ranked 42nd of the 100 best examples of good journalism of the 20th century in a 1999 New York University poll . In the extensive piece she encouraged her readers to trust their own impressions and not to follow the opinion of critics. You can enjoy films immediately, they don't have to be declared as art. So z. For example, some exploitation films like Wild in the Streets have more to do with the lives of the audience and are smarter than films that were produced with more budget.

In 1971, Kael published the essay Raising Kane in the New Yorker , which subsequently appeared as the foreword to The Citizen Kane Book . In it she developed the thesis that it was not Orson Welles who was the creative head behind the classic film Citizen Kane , but the screenwriter Herman J. Mankiewicz . While many readers enthusiastically received the grippingly written essay, Kael was heavily criticized from other sources: For example, the director and film critic Peter Bogdanovich stated that Kael obviously did not know how much a finished script would be changed during the shooting. Kael's old opponent Andrew Sarris mentioned in his reply in the Village Voice that Kael himself had also used the works of others for Raising Kane . In fact, she had used research and interviews with UCLA professor Howard Suber without, as agreed, naming him as a co-author and sharing the fee for the essay with him. Raising Kane influenced the ten Oscars nominated film Mank by David Fincher from 2020.

In 1979, Hollywood star Warren Beatty offered Kael a lucrative offer to work as a producer for Paramount . The now almost 60-year-old Kael was dissatisfied with her mediocre commitment to the New Yorker and took the opportunity to change her career. Due to her inexperience with the customs in Hollywood, however, she quickly failed: The director James Toback ended the collaboration with her on the film Love and Money. Kael does not understand that a film script is always only the starting material and that it is naturally adapted to the circumstances during the shoot. As a replacement, Kael got a job as "Creative Production Executive". Her role was to advise producers on developing film ideas. Here she failed because of Paramount's marketing-oriented Vice President Donald Simpson, who threw off almost all of her ideas. None of the projects that were close to her heart were realized - with the exception of The Elephant Man , which was eventually made into a film by David Lynch . The frustrated Kael let her contract with Paramount expire and returned to the New Yorker in 1980 . She had shared her engagement there with Penelope Gilliatt : While Kael wrote the weekly film column “The Current Cinema” for the months from September to March, Gilliatt was responsible for the rest of the year. However, after Gilliat was given leave of absence due to plagiarism allegations , Kael took over the column all year round from 1980.

In the same year Kael's book When the Lights Go Down was published with texts from 1975 to 1979. Like its predecessors, the book sold well, but critical voices accused Kael of being too close to filmmakers and lacking neutrality. Her sometimes excessive indulging in superlatives was also criticized. Finally, in August 1980, a devastating broadside against Kael came out in The New York Review of Books : The 8,000-word piece by the renowned journalist Renata Adler - which, among other things, as Kael wrote for the New Yorker - was entitled The Perils of Pauline . The headline resembled a 1963 replica by Kael opponent Andrew Sarris to the Circles and Squares essay entitled The Auteur Theory and the Perils of Pauline . Adler criticized Kael's book as "line by line [...] worthless." In her opinion, she criticized Kael's vulgar language with which she "relentlessly and unstoppable" images of "sexual and deviant behavior, impotence, masturbation, indigestion, and excretions." "Excrement" conjure up. She complained about Kael's bad style. The critic constantly uses rhetorical questions that say nothing, but "bully, presume, insult, frighten, advertise, interfere, admonish, incite". In addition, Kael took advantage of the New Yorker’s editorial staff , which was generous towards the authors and did not dictate what or how much to write about. Kael's lengthy texts ensured that there was no room for other authors in the magazine. From Time magazine eagle article was described as "blutigster case of injury in recent years" in the circles of "New York cultural mafia" in New York Magazine of "scorched earth dismantling of the most revered film critic in America" was mentioned. In the Los Angeles Review of Books in 2011, the scandal was referred to as "the literary confrontation of the decade". Only two sentences have survived from Kael himself: “It's a shame that Miss Adler can't do anything with my texts. What can I say?"

During her time with the New Yorker, Kael was considered the most influential film critic in the United States. She got involved in her texts z. B. strong for the New Hollywood cinema of the 1960s and 1970s and thus promoted the careers of filmmakers such as Martin Scorsese and Robert Altman . During this time she was known for gathering a circle of younger admirers who were disparagingly called "Paulettes". On the one hand, Kael encouraged these protégés, on the other hand, she quickly dropped them as soon as she had the impression that she was wrong about them. The journalist Carrie Rickey reported that she made a mistake with Kael when she moved up to a professional level comparable to that of the former sponsor. Paul Schrader , who later referred to himself as the former "Paulette" and emphasized how much Kael had promoted his career, drew her displeasure in 1971. He had refused to accept the film critic job she had intended him to do. David Denby wrote an obituary for his former role model in 2003 with the title "My Life as a Paulette". In this text Denby confesses that he wanted to please her with his lyrics, but Kael then distanced himself.

End of life

In the late 1980s, Kael was diagnosed with Parkinson's disease . Due to her rapidly deteriorating health, she ended her engagement with the New Yorker in February 1991 , the film column was taken over by Terrence Rafferty. Kael retired to her home in Great Barrington , where she died in 2001.

Meaning and trademark

Pauline Kael published a total of 13 books and wrote hundreds of film columns for the New Yorker.

She did not believe in the objectivity of criticism and emphasized the influence of her own personality on her lyrics. With this attitude in particular, she influenced many later film critics. Roger Ebert wrote that Kael brought the first-person perspective to the fore in film criticism. Not least because of this personal approach, Kael has become the “most powerful, most beloved and most hated film critic of her time”. She always found open words for films that she loved or hated. At the same time, her film reviews were characterized by humor and sharp observations. Owen Gleiberman put it in Variety : “When Pauline Kael reviewed a film, the text pulsed with life. Which is not to say that she didn't analyze everything carefully. The analysis was burned into every word and interwoven with the expressive power of her free and fluid writing style. "

literature

Publications (selection)

  • I lost it at the movies. Little, Brown & Co, Boston 1965
  • Kiss Kiss Bang Bang. Little, Brown & Co, New York City 1968
  • Deeper Into Movies. Little, Brown & Co, New York City 1973
  • 5001 Nights at the Movies. Holt, Rinehart and Winston, New York City 1982
  • The Age of Movies: Selected Writings of Pauline Kael. Edited by Sanford Schwartz, Library of America , Boone 2011, ISBN 978-1-59853-508-2

Awards

Movies

  • Ed & Pauline . Documentary, USA 2014, 18 min., Directors: Christian Bruno, Natalija Vekic
  • What She Said: The Art of Pauline Kael . Documentary, USA 2018, 50 min., Written and directed by Rob Garver

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Owen Gleiberman : Berlin Film Review: 'What She Said: The Art of Pauline Kael'. In: Variety. February 10, 2019, accessed February 27, 2021 (American English).
  2. ^ The warrior critic: in praise of Pauline Kael. June 13, 2019, accessed February 27, 2021 .
  3. ↑ Brian Kellow: Pauline Kael. A Life in The Dark . Viking Penguin, New York 2011, ISBN 978-0-670-02312-7 , pp. 1 ff .
  4. ↑ Brian Kellow: Pauline Kael. A Life in The Dark . Viking Penguin, New York 2011, ISBN 978-0-670-02312-7 , pp. 15-41 .
  5. ^ Pauline Kael, American film critic. In: Encyclopædia Britannica. Accessed February 17, 2021 .
  6. ↑ Brian Kellow: Pauline Kael. A Life in The Dark . Viking Penguin, 2011, ISBN 978-0-670-02312-7 , pp. 49 f .
  7. ↑ Jessica Rafalko: “Auteur, Schmauteur,” and Other Such Eloquent Musings on the Different Critical Frameworks Offered by Pauline Kael and Peter Wollen. October 3, 2016, Retrieved February 27, 2021 (American English).
  8. ↑ a b Roger Ebert : Knocked up at the movies | Roger Ebert. October 22, 2011, accessed February 27, 2021 (American English).
  9. ↑ Jason Sanders: Off the Shelves: Pauline Kael and the Berkeley Cinema Guild. In: UC Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive (BAMPFA). Accessed February 9, 2021 .
  10. ↑ Brian Kellow: Pauline Kael. A Life in The Dark . Viking Penguin, New York 2011, ISBN 978-0-670-02312-7 , pp. 50 ff .
  11. ↑ Brian Kellow: Pauline Kael. A Life in The Dark . Viking Penguin, New York 2011, ISBN 978-0-670-02312-7 , pp. 85-101 .
  12. ↑ Richard Schickel: Bonnie and Clyde. In: Library of Congress. Accessed February 14, 2021 .
  13. ↑ Steven Gaydos: Truth takes bullet with 'Clyde' tale. In: Variety. July 7, 2003, accessed February 14, 2021 .
  14. ↑ Pauline Kael. In: The New Yorker. Accessed February 10, 2021 .
  15. ^ New York Film Critic Pauline Kael Dies at 82. In: The Washington Post. September 4, 2001, accessed April 13, 2021 .
  16. ↑ Brian Kellow: Pauline Kael. A Life in The Dark . Viking Penguin, New York 2011, ISBN 978-0-670-02312-7 , pp. 121 f .
  17. ↑ Andrew Sarris: Citizen Kael vs. 'Citizen Kane'. In: The Village Voice. April 15, 1971, accessed March 31, 2021 .
  18. ↑ Brian Kellow: Pauline Kael. A Life in The Dark . Viking Penguin, New York 2011, ISBN 978-0-670-02312-7 , pp. 156-167 .
  19. ↑ Verena Lueken: "Mank" on Netflix: The legend of the dream factory . In: FAZ.NET . ISSN  0174-4909 ( faz.net [accessed April 1, 2021]).
  20. ↑ Lawrence Van Gelder: Pauline Kael, Provocative and Widely Imitated New Yorker Film Critic, Dies at 82 . In: The New York Times . September 4, 2001, ISSN  0362-4331 ( nytimes.com ).
  21. ↑ Brian Kellow: Pauline Kael. A Life in The Dark . Viking Penguin, New York 2011, ISBN 978-0-670-02312-7 , pp. 269-278 .
  22. ↑ James Parker: Renata Adler: Troll or Treasure? In: The Atlantic. April 22, 2015, accessed April 11, 2021 .
  23. ^ Andrew Sarris: The Auteur Theory and the Perils of Pauline . In: Film Quarterly . tape 16 , no. 4 . University of California Press, 1963, pp. 26-33 , JSTOR : 3185951 .
  24. ^ Press: Kiss Kiss Bang Bang (Ouch Ouch) . In: Time . August 4, 1980, ISSN  0040-781X ( time.com ).
  25. ↑ Philip Nobile: Adler vs. Kael . In: New York Magazine . tape 13 , no. 31 , August 11, 1980, ISSN  0028-7369 , p. 26 .
  26. ↑ Brian Kellow: Pauline Kael. A Life in The Dark . Viking Penguin, New York 2011, ISBN 978-0-670-02312-7 , pp. 282 ff .
  27. ↑ Patrick Holzapfel: A provocative film critic: Pauline Kael. In: Filmdienst. June 14, 2019, accessed February 17, 2021 .
  28. ↑ Brian Kellow: Pauline Kael. A Life in The Dark . Viking Penguin, New York 2011, ISBN 978-0-670-02312-7 , pp. 290 ff .
  29. ^ Paul Schrader: Paul Schrader remembers Pauline Kael: 'She was my second mother'. In: The Guardian. June 13, 2019, accessed April 19, 2021 .
  30. ↑ David Denby: My Life as a Paulette. In: The New Yorker. October 12, 2003, accessed April 19, 2021 .
  31. ↑ Brian Kellow: Pauline Kael. A Life in The Dark . Viking Penguin, New York 2011, ISBN 978-0-670-02312-7 , pp. 338-356 .
  32. ↑ Pauline Kael. In: The New Yorker. Accessed April 27, 2021 .
  33. ^ A b Penelope Houston : Obituary: Pauline Kael. In: The Guardian. September 5, 2001, Retrieved February 27, 2021 (American English).
  34. ^ Owen Gleiberman: Berlin Film Review: 'What She Said: The Art of Pauline Kael'. In: Variety. February 10, 2019, accessed April 27, 2021 .
personal data
SURNAME Kael, Pauline
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American film critic
DATE OF BIRTH June 19, 1919
PLACE OF BIRTH Petaluma
DATE OF DEATH September 3, 2001
PLACE OF DEATH Great Barrington