Title: A major disappointment.
Product review: 200 is far too few directors, and the selection is weighed towards current film-festival favorites.The write-ups on each director are by a grab bag of critics and scholars. The occasional gem (i.e. Robin Wood on Anthony Mann) is found among gushing fan notes and dull career overviews. There is little critical perspective such as in the editor's 1968 THE AMERICAN CINEMA.For the same money one could purchase David Thomson's A BIOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY OF FILM. In that great work are perceptive critical appraisals of several hundred directors with complete filmographies, with the added bonus of stars, writers, cameramen, etc.
Would you say this review depicts the product in a flattering or unflattering light?
