From the Publisher
The Conversations is a treasure, essential for any lover
or student of film, and a rare, intimate glimpse into the worlds of
two accomplished artists who share a great passion for film and
storytelling, and whose knowledge and love of the crafts of writing
and film shine through.
It was on the set of the movie adaptation of his Booker
Prize-winning novel, The English Patient, that Michael
Ondaatje met the master film and sound editor Walter Murch, and the
two began a remarkable personal conversation about the making of
films and books in our time that continued over two years. From
those conversations stemmed this enlightened, affectionate book --
a mine of wonderful, surprising observations and information about
editing, writing and literature, music and sound, the I-Ching,
dreams, art and history.
The Conversations is filled with stories about how some
of the most important movies of the last thirty years were made and
about the people who brought them to the screen. It traces the
artistic growth of Murch, as well as his friends and contemporaries
-- including directors such as Francis Ford Coppola, George Lucas,
Fred Zinneman and Anthony Minghella -- from the creation of the
independent, anti-Hollywood Zoetrope by a handful of brilliant,
bearded young men to the recent triumph of Apocalypse Now
Redux.
Among the films Murch has worked on are American
Graffiti, The Conversation, the remake of A Touch
of Evil, Julia, Apocalypse Now, The
Godfather (all three), The Talented Mr. Ripley, and
The English Patient.
"Walter Murch is a true oddity in Hollywood. A genuine
intellectual and renaissance man who appears wise and private at
the centre of various temporary storms to do with film making and
his whole generation of filmmakers. He knows, probably, where a lot
of the bodies are buried."
From the Jacket
"The Conversations is a treasure, essential for any lover or
student of film, and a rare, intimate glimpse into the worlds of
two accomplished artists who share a great passion for film and
storytelling, and whose knowledge and love of the crafts of writing
and film shine through.
It was on the set of the movie adaptation of his Booker
Prize-winning novel, "The English Patient, that Michael Ondaatje
met the master film and sound editor Walter Murch, and the two
began a remarkable personal conversation about the making of films
and books in our time that continued over two years. From those
conversations stemmed this enlightened, affectionate book -- a mine
of wonderful, surprising observations and information about
editing, writing and literature, music and sound, the I-Ching,
dreams, art and history.
"The Conversations is filled with stories about how some of the
most important movies of the last thirty years were made and about
the people who brought them to the screen. It traces the artistic
growth of Murch, as well as his friends and contemporaries --
including directors such as Francis Ford Coppola, George Lucas,
Fred Zinneman and Anthony Minghella -- from the creation of the
independent, anti-Hollywood Zoetrope by a handful of brilliant,
bearded young men to the recent triumph of "Apocalypse Now Redux.
Among the films Murch has worked on are "American Graffiti, "The
Conversation, the remake of "A Touch of Evil, "Julia, "Apocalypse
Now, "The Godfather (all three), "The Talented Mr. Ripley, and "The
English Patient.
""Walter Murch is a true oddity in Hollywood. A genuine
intellectual and renaissance man who appears wise and private at
the centre of various temporarystorms to do with film making and
his whole generation of filmmakers. He knows, probably, where a lot
of the bodies are buried."
About the Author
Michael Ondaatje is the author of four previous novels, a memoir,
and eleven books of poetry. His most recent novel, Anil's
Ghost, won the Governor General's Award, the Giller Prize, the
Prix Medicis, and the Irish Times Literature Prize. Born in Sri
Lanka, he came to Canada in 1963 and apart from his books has made
two documentary films. He lives in Toronto.
Trade Paperback
368 Pages, 6.89 x 8.42 x 0.82 in
October 5, 2004
Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group
English
0375709827
9780375709821