Acting Naturally, David Thomson
Acting Naturally, David Thomson
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Acting Naturally
The Magic in Great Performances

Author: David Thomson

Narrator: David Thomson

Unabridged: 10 hr 58 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 02/07/2023

Synopsis

From the celebrated film critic and author of The New Biographical Dictionary of Film, a fascinating look at some of the cinema’s finest actors and how they approach their craft

"Open to any page and you’ll become enthralled by the...tales of forgotten film lore, childhood memories, sexy gossip.”—Philip Kaufman, director

Meryl Streep, Marlon Brando, Anthony Hopkins, Carey Mulligan. When we watch these remarkable actors in a performance, we see only Sophie, Stanley Kowalski, Hannibal Lecter, or Cassie from Promising Young Woman. How are they able to transform our world in this way? How and why do they do what they do?

In Acting Naturally, David Thomson sheds light on the actors who have shaped the film industry. He shrewdly analyzes these stars—among them, James Dean, Nicole Kidman, Denzel Washington, Louise Brooks, Riz Ahmed, Sir Laurence Olivier, Viola Davis, and Jean Seberg—revealing how a sly smile, an extra-long pause, even a small gesture of the hand can draw in an audience. And he takes us behind the scenes to examine casting and all the other moments leading up to “Action!”

Through intimate anecdote, humor, and the insight born of a lifetime watching and analyzing film, Thomson explores the real reasons why we go to the movies and looks at how they influence our lives. This book is not only necessary reading for an insider’s view of the industry but also a surprising investigation of the relationship between acting and living.

About David Thomson

David Thomson is one of the great living authorities on movies, and is, most notably, the author of The New Biographical Dictionary of Film. He has written more than twenty books, including biographies of David O. Selznick and Orson Welles.

Reviews

Goodreads review by Sara on September 05, 2023

Meandering, with the distance of a critic and the adoration of a fan. I was hoping for a real exploration of craft.......more

Goodreads review by Ran on June 23, 2023

Too niche for me......more

Goodreads review by John on February 16, 2023

This is standard Thomson...lots of bloviation, yet several memorable bits. The highlights here involve Carey Mulligan, Anthony Hopkins, Jo Van Fleet, an imagining of "Last Tango in Paris" with Marlon Brando and Meryl Streep, and, most of all, a short chapter about Harrison Ford and David Blaine. Thi......more

Goodreads review by T on April 27, 2023

This merges three things not really found in other books on cinema: a) acute knowledge, critical savvy; b) psychological lens full enough to sight on-screen skills and allure with audience wish-fulfillment and real-life mimicry; and c) a true writing gift. Thomson is the master.......more

Goodreads review by Linda on August 21, 2023

Informative regarding the film industry, some Hollywood stars. First 1/3 reads quickly and is quite interesting, the rest is challenging if one is not in the field, however, good bits pop up along the way.......more

Quotes

“David Thomson is such a wonderful writer, at once vigorous and tender, wistful and witty, intelligent and earthy, that this review, as is already evident, could be done entirely as an assemblage of his elegant, pungent, aphoristic sentences.”—John Banville, The Wall Street Journal

“Passionate . . . The author nimbly ambles his joyful way through his extensive film knowledge and his reflective attitude toward the people who act in them. . . . Throughout, the author provides movie suggestions, many of which readers will want to seek out immediately. [Acting Naturally is] an informative, ‘wild party’ for movie fans and actors, veterans and newbies alike.”—Kirkus Reviews

“David Thomson is a wizard, able to conjure seemingly all of cinema in one beguiling spell. Here is a fascinating series of essays on acting; he enthusiastically connects so many dots, jumping through portals and wormholes, to link a wide array of performances back to earlier eras and stars, then magically brings us to the recent past with his fantastic and always thoughtful observations!”—Ken Burns, American filmmaker

“When David Thomson, our preeminent film critic/historian, tells you:  ‘I want you to see what I have taken decades to understand,’ you oughta take the bait. Open to any page and you’ll become enthralled by the soothing, all-knowing voice of the mentor-you-never-had whispering tales of forgotten film lore, childhood memories, sexy gossip. He’ll have you hooked and aroused, so you want to travel with him across that turbulent sea of flickering images, on his mad hunt for that Great White Screen that has cast a spell on you. Have fun.”—Philip Kaufman, director

“For anyone who loves actors, or performance, or who wonders about the magic of persuasive pretending, Acting Naturally is a series of joyful stimulations. It both illuminates performances you have seen and loved and encourages you to see ones you have missed. Like his great and irreplaceable Biographical Dictionary of Film, David Thomson’s Acting Naturally is less like an intellectual analysis of a great art, and more like a late night conversation with your liveliest, smartest and most movie-mad friend.”—Douglas McGrath, screenwriter, film director, actor

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