Title: Academically Smug and Distasteful
Product review: This book purports to be the definitive work on Tarkovsky's films, yet at closer inspection this is perhaps one of the worst books on him. Why? The authors are conceited, smug academics who never miss an opportunity to take a swipe at Tarkovsky personally, who is obviously in no position to answer back. Furthermore, their interpretations of his films are somewhat narrow and overly literary (one of the hazards I suppose of spending your life on campus and not in the real world). Finally, the authors also never miss a chance to criticize other writers on Tarkovsky over what they perceive to be mistakes which are, more often than not, merely cases of Johnson and Petrie being overly critical when their own work is far from perfect, or simply wrong. Having got all that off my chest, this book does some good stuff in it, but it has to be weeded out. It's just a pity about the authors and their attitude. Caveat emptor.
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