The Autobiographical Documentary in America (Wisconsin Studies in Autobiography)

Rating:
Summary: Ignores a pioneer of the genre
Review: For some bizarre reason, this book totally excludes from history the work of Jeff Kreines, who... well... let the NY Times do the work:

"Mr. McElwee learned how to make movies in the 70's, at the graduate film program at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. In those years, Boston was the cradle of American cinéma vérité and its more inward-looking, autobiographical offshoots. Mr. McElwee was particularly influenced by a filmmaker named Jeff Kreines, who pioneered a portable system of synchronized camera and sound equipment that allowed him to shoot films by himself. Free from the encumbrance of a film crew, in the early 70's Mr. Kreines made "The Plaint of Steve Kreines as Recorded by His Younger Brother Jeff," a documentary about his older brother's inability to move out of the house and from under his family's wing. "As far as I know, it was the first movie made in that style," Mr. McElwee said. "It showed that there was a tremendous potential to one-person filmmaking.""

Excising Kreines from history of a genre he helped invent is either ignorant or willfill, but in either case a disservice to the reader. Lane should be ashamed of himself.

Rating:
Summary: Great Intro to a fascinating area of personal filmmaking
Review: I read a lot of film books and, for me, the best ones accomplish one of two things: they either introduce me to films or genres that I know little about, or they give me new insight into films and genres that I love. Jim Lane's book manages to do both in a straight-forward, intelligent, but easily accessible style that accomodates both serious film scholars and the cocktail party film buff (like me). I knew next to nothing about the autobiographical documentary (and frankly, had little interest in exploring it) but I was drawn to the book because of my appreciation for "David Holzman's Diary". Of course, I read that section first, and enjoyed it so much that I found myself turning to the beginning of the book and reading about films that I had never seen. I ended up tracking down all the films central to the book, viewing them, and then returning to the chapters in the book to compare the authors views with my own.
What better compliment to pay a film book than to say it inspired me to go out and see more films.