Bambi vs Godzilla

No, not Marv Newland's sublime 1969 film "Bambi Meets Godzilla". The astringent David Mamet holds forth on the nature of the film business, in particular how film narrative works (and how it doesn't). Its sub-title is "On the Nature, Purpose and Practice of the Movie Business", and he delivers on that with penetrating criticism and acerbic wit. Mr Mamet's appreciation of the craft of film making, as practiced by the craftspeople, is palpable. He digs the nuts and bolts of the work. He has great stories to tell, and is a consummate storyteller. In the process, he talks about how we are as human creatures, our purity, our venality, our common mix of both.

I like Mr Mamet's plays & films. I like very much his prose writing, its simplicity, pointedness, particularity, and boldness. For me, through his writings on theatre, film and writing itself, he constant delves beyond to refer to our humanity. And he is funn-nee.

The back cover quotes (inter alia*) Steve Martin thus: “David Mamet is supremely talented. He is a gifted writer and observer of society and its characters. I’m sure he will be able to find work somewhere, somehow, just no longer in the movie business.”

*inter alia appears by kind permission of Stan Orbit