I Was Interrupted: Nicholas Ray on Making Movies

Rating:
Summary: Convinced me of Ray's worth.
Review: I'll be honest. I signed up for a course on Nick Ray and Orson Welles course because Orson Welles fascinated me, and I figured that Ray guy's film 'Rebel Without a Cause' was pretty good, so I could deal with that side of things as long as I got my Welles fix. I can only assume that, while many people can readily acknowledge the importance of Welles, few would express more than a blank face upon hearing Ray's name. In that regard, this book had the difficult task of making me personally see the importance of Ray.

While Ray impressed me through his own passion for his work, it unsettled me a bit that his wife was the one who convinced me of his importance. This is not meant to be a sexist statement, it unnerves me because Susan was not really around for the majority of Ray's career, and I normally would not weigh the opinions of her or anyone else in her position too heavily. She's a bystander! A biased bystander! But while she could have heaped praise and adulation upon her deceased husband, she didn't. And I appreciated that. Susan's sincere account of her time with her husband left me with more of an impression of the troubled filmmaker than any straightforward, three-times removed scholarly production of a biography ever could. Facts and figures are all well and good and, sure, they are necessary to outline the where and when of the filmmaker, but Susan's personal account was able to do what no fact could, and that was bring the man to life. I only wish that she had been around Ray for a longer period of time, giving more insight into his life as a youth working on films and what he was like in his heyday, but then, I wish for a lot of things.

In fact, Susan's portion of the book may have spoiled me. I found it a bit difficult to make it through the other 'authors' areas, with Eisenschitz providing that aforementioned 'facts and figures' version of a biography. Straightforward, to the point, void of emotion. Eisenschitz does not even necessarily look at Ray as a man, but more as a figure of production, with the results of his life taking precedence. An account such as this tends to distract from the human aspect of creation and creativity, and without Susan's or Nick's own accounts, I would have left feeling quite unfulfilled. I was reminded of when I learned about historical figures in high school, thinking of them more as lifeless 'characters' who did specific things rather than human beings who lived their lives.

Then there was Ray's section.

I had trouble trying to make something of Ray's own accounts, his diary entries giving me that same voyeuristic feeling I felt while reading the Welles/Bogdonovich interviews. I am wholly grateful that these words were given an opportunity to hit the page, for no one can talk better about themselves then, well, themselves. I wonder what it would have been like to be a student of Ray's, and I found myself thinking back to the days when I was more involved in acting and theatre, and how effective a teacher such as this would have been on me. For all of his quirks and deviations from the norm, Ray's tutelage would have undeniably been priceless. However, despite some of the more personal touches within Ray's part, I still felt as
though Susan's was much more powerful and enriching.

The three authors of the text both elevated and hindered it. It gave readers the ability to see the filmmaker from a variety of
perspectives, even using Ray's own words, but at the same time it fragmented the 'story' so to speak, making it difficult at times to follow smoothly.

I may have fell for the Welles, but I'll stay for the Ray.

Rating:
Summary: Convinced me of Ray's worth.
Review: I???ll be honest. I signed up for a course on Nick Ray and Orson Welles course because Orson Welles fascinated me, and I figured that Ray guy???s film ???Rebel Without a Cause??? was pretty good, so I could deal with that side of things as long as I got my Welles fix. I can only assume that, while many people can readily acknowledge the importance of Welles, few would express more than a blank face upon hearing Ray???s name. In that regard, this book had the difficult task of making me personally see the importance of Ray.

While Ray impressed me through his own passion for his work, it unsettled me a bit that his wife was the one who convinced me of his importance. This is not meant to be a sexist statement, it unnerves me because Susan was not really around for the majority of Ray???s career, and I normally would not weigh the opinions of her or anyone else in her position too heavily. She???s a bystander! A biased bystander! But while she could have heaped praise and adulation upon her deceased husband, she didn???t. And I appreciated that. Susan???s sincere account of her time with her husband left me with more of an impression of the troubled filmmaker than any straightforward, three-times removed scholarly production of a biography ever could. Facts and figures are all well and good and, sure, they are necessary to outline the where and when of the filmmaker, but Susan???s personal account was able to do what no fact could, and that was bring the man to life. I only wish that she had been around Ray for a longer period of time, giving more insight into his life as a youth working on films and what he was like in his heyday, but then, I wish for a lot of things.

In fact, Susan???s portion of the book may have spoiled me. I found it a bit difficult to make it through the other ???authors??? areas, with Eisenschitz providing that aforementioned ???facts and figures??? version of a biography. Straightforward, to the point, void of emotion. Eisenschitz does not even necessarily look at Ray as a man, but more as a figure of production, with the results of his life taking precedence. An account such as this tends to distract from the human aspect of creation and creativity, and without Susan???s or Nick???s own accounts, I would have left feeling quite unfulfilled. I was reminded of when I learned about historical figures in high school, thinking of them more as lifeless ???characters??? who did specific things rather than human beings who lived their lives.

Then there was Ray???s section.

I had trouble trying to make something of Ray???s own accounts, his diary entries giving me that same voyeuristic feeling I felt while reading the Welles/Bogdonovich interviews. I am wholly grateful that these words were given an opportunity to hit the page, for no one can talk better about themselves then, well, themselves. I wonder what it would have been like to be a student of Ray???s, and I found myself thinking back to the days when I was more involved in acting and theatre, and how effective a teacher such as this would have been on me. For all of his quirks and deviations from the norm, Ray???s tutelage would have undeniably been priceless. However, despite some of the more personal touches within Ray???s part, I still felt as
though Susan???s was much more powerful and enriching.

The three authors of the text both elevated and hindered it. It gave readers the ability to see the filmmaker from a variety of
perspectives, even using Ray???s own words, but at the same time it fragmented the ???story??? so to speak, making it difficult at times to follow smoothly.

I may have fell for the Welles, but I???ll stay for the Ray.

Rating:
Summary: Ray proves himself to be a great film-maker.
Review: Nick Ray has been forgotton by many and only remembered as 'the guy who directed "Rebel Without a Cause"'. True, "Rebel..." is a great film, but it is by no way the best of Ray's films. This book gives a new-comer to Ray an intriguing glimpse at his moments of genius from the inside out, giving them a taste of his films and then making them desperate to see them. For a more informed veiwer it embellishes Ray's work, giving personal insight into the complex films. Ray shows that his belief in serious film making (which the French Cahiers du Cinema critics lauded as auterism) was committed and honest. The resulting films are wonderful and unique, as is this book, which is informative, fascinating and sometimes tragic. Read it.