Kazan on Directing

. Elia Kazan was born in 1909 in Istanbul. He died in September 2003. He graduated from Williams College and attended the Yale School of Drama before joining the Group Theatre. He was the founder of the Actors Studio, and he won three Tony Awards for direction (for All My Sons, Death of a Salesman, and J.B.) and two Academy Awards (for Gentleman’s Agreement and On the Waterfront), as well a

Mindia Chlaidze said Amazing Book! - Both amazingly inspirational, passionate and at the same time very precise and rational. The Book is amazing! for a number of reasons: first of all the great author. Despite some controversy over 195"Amazing Book! - Both amazingly inspirational, passionate and at the same time very precise and rational" according to Mindia Chlaidze. The Book is amazing! for a number of reasons: first of all the great author. Despite some controversy over 1952's affair Kazan remains one of the best American directors ever Just like another great director Sidney Lumet comments on the book - reading it really feels like having a deep interesting conversation with the author, that alone is one hell of a rare treat for books of this type. It is amazing and very useful how Kazan treats material a play or a screenplay, his amazing quest for certainty and precision, how he breaks the material down to find a basic idea - a spine,. 's affair Kazan remains one of the best American directors ever Just like another great director Sidney Lumet comments on the book - reading it really feels like having a deep interesting conversation with the author, that alone is one hell of a rare treat for books of this type. It is amazing and very useful how Kazan treats material a play or a screenplay, his amazing quest for certainty and precision, how he breaks the material down to find a basic idea - a spine,. Great for film lovers, and filmmakers! C. Santas Rarely has a book on film said so much in so little space. First, it is mostly Kazan's voice we hear. Secondly, the book is finely organized, offering editorial comments and questions,letters from Kazan countering with his lively answers to these and elaborating on his views, separate sections as director of stage and film (the book actually comes in two parts),and the most fascinating articles/speeches Kazan ever gave, as, for instance, an address by Kazan delivered ar Wesleyan University in 1973, which covers just about everything about directing under the sun. Kazan is a ". Three Stars good

We learn from Kazan’s journal entries how self-lacerating his criticism of his own artistic missteps could be. This fascinating book collects Kazan’s notes and journal entries associated with those seminal works as well as his notes on his productions of many lesser or, at least, less successful works by Tennessee Williams, Arthur Miller, and others, including Thornton Wilder, Archibald MacLeish, and Maxwell Anderson. From these writings we learn, for example, the extent to which Williams depended on the kindness and insight of Kazan to birth his masterpieces and also the limits of that dependence. Also included is Kazan’s fine essay on the craft of directing, “The Pleasure of Directing,” and editor Cornfield’s extensive notes and commentary, providing a context for Kazan’s words. Many a seminal play and

 And in the final section, “The Pleasures of Directing”—written during Kazan’s final years—he becomes a wise old pro offering advice and insight for budding artists, writers, actors, and directors.. Elia Kazan was the twentieth century’s most celebrated director of both stage and screen, and this monumental, revelatory book shows us the master at work.  Kazan’s list of Broadway and Hollywood successes—A Streetcar Named Desire, Death of a Salesman, On the Waterfront, to name a few—is a testament to his profound impact on the art of directing. This remarkable book, drawn from his notebooks, letters, interviews, and autobiography, reveals Kazan’s method: how he uncovered the “spine,” or core, of each script; how he analyzed each piece in terms of his own experience; and how he determined the specifics of his production