Abel Ferrara: The Moral Vision

Rating:
Summary: The Ultimate Book About Abel
Review: Brad Stevens did a magnificent work, that enlightens all the aspects of Ferrara's movies. As a very serious historian, he multiplies the sources of informations, and we discover for example the youth and formation of the film-maker. As a brilliant analyst, he compares each film with a whole range of literary and cinematic works. It's a model in terms of monography about a director.
The book is wonderfully illustrated. The filmography is the most complete and detailed.
A necessary book for everyone interested, nonetheless about Ferrara, but about American contemporary cinema in general.

Rating:
Summary: Essential reading for fans of Abel
Review: Brad Stevens, whose successful book on Monte Hellman was released in 2003, tackles another subject who doesn't always get the proper recognition that they so deserve. Through interviews with Ferrara himself (he wrote the brief introduction), correspondence with the main collaborators of the director, and enormous amounts of research, Stevens' book focuses on both the biographical and the theoretical nature of Ferrara's films. It's the most complete book on Ferrara at this time, and one would hope that Stevens would be able to update this text as Ferrara continues his controversial - but always impressive - career.
His section on unrealized projects alone makes this worthy of a purchase.