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Brian De Palma |
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Director / Screenwriter |
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1940 - |
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Born September 11,
Newark, New Jersey, USA |
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Key
Production Country: USA |
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Key Genres:
Thriller, Psychological Thriller, Crime, Crime Thriller, Horror,
Gangster Film |
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Key
Collaborators: Paul
Hirsch (Editor),
Stephen H. Burum (Cinematographer), Bill Pankow (Editor), Pino Donaggio
(Composer), Jerry Greenberg (Editor), William Finley (Character Player),
Charles Durning (Character Player), John Lithgow (Leading Player), Robert De Niro
(Leading Player),
David Koepp (Screenwriter) |
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Highly Recommended: Blow
Out (1981)*, The Untouchables (1987) |
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Recommended: Carrie
(1976)*, Scarface
(1983)* |
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Worth
a Look: Sisters (1973), Phantom of
the Paradise (1974), Dressed to Kill (1980), Casualties of War (1989), Raising Cain (1992), Carlito's Way (1993), Mission: Impossible (1996) |
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Approach with Caution:
Greetings (1968), Hi, Mom! (1970), Obsession (1976), The Fury (1978),
The Black Dahlia (2005), Redacted (2007) |
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Duds: Body Double
(1984), Snake Eyes (1998), Mission to Mars (2000), Femme Fatale (2002)^ |
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* Listed in TSPDT's
1,000 Greatest Films
section; ^
Listed in TSPDT's
21st Century's Most Acclaimed Films
section. |
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Links:
[
Amazon
] [
IMDB ] [
TCMDB ] [
All-Movie
Guide ] [
Senses
of Cinema: Great Directors ]
[
Film Reference ] [
Wikipedia ] [
De
Palma a La Mod ] [
Gerald
Peary Interview ] [
Brian
De Palma on "Snake Eyes" ] [
Los Angeles Times Article (2006) ] [
Reverse
Shot Feature (2006) ] [
Close-Up Film
Interview (2008)
] [
Flickering Myth Interview (2012) ] [
Flickering Myth Interview #2 (2012) ] |
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Books: [
Becoming Visionary: Brian De Palma's Cinematic Education of the Senses
] [
Misogyny
in the Movies: The De Palma Question ] [
Double
De Palma: A Film Study With Brian De Palma ] [
Brian
De Palma: Interviews ]
[
Brian De Palma: Authorship as Survival ] [
Brian De Palma ] |
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"Like
Hitch, De Palma is famed for
his elegant camera movements, shock cutting, use of lurid colour
(especially red), and meticulously staged set-pieces of violent
action - in short, technique - but unlike the master he lacks
originality and ideas... There is a cold, clinical misanthropy
(and, indeed, misogyny) to much of De Palma's work, evident in
his readiness to subordinate his thinly drawn characters to
flashy visual effect." -
Geoff
Andrew (The Director's Vision, 1999) |
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"His
early lower-budget thrillers, although superbly manufactured,
were too bloody and garish for the average taste and infuriated
many critics. But De Palma began gaining respectability with
Dressed to Kill (1980) and following several critical
setbacks, reached the apex in the late 80s with such
high-powered productions as The Untouchables (1987) and
Casualties of War (1989). A superb technician, he was
finally crafting material worthy of his bold, often dazzling,
visual flair." -
(The
MacMillan International Film Encyclopedia, 1994) |
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"There is a
self-conscious cunning in De Palma's work, ready to control
everything except his own cruelty and indifference. He is the
epitome of mindless style and excitement swamping taste or
character. Of course, he was a brilliant kid. But his usefulness
in an historical survey is to point out the dangers of movies
falling into the hands of such narrow movie-mania, such
cold-blooded prettification." -
David Thomson (The New Biographical Dictionary of Film, 2002) |
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"De Palma's early films (Greetings; Hi, Mom) are
clever satires on the manners and mores of 1960s youth. His
recent efforts are erratic explorations into genre filmmaking.." -
William R. Meyer (The Film Buff's Catalog, 1978) |
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"'I
think that
Hitchcock probably
has had the best story ideas and cinema ideas in the history of
the cinema, and I'm just trying to follow the master a little
bit." -
Brian De Palma (Directing the Film, 1976) |
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"I've
dropped myself into straightforward character pieces in order to
explore that form and reap its values. But you are sort of
restricted visually when your first requirement is to tell a
fairly straightforward story."
- Brian De Palma |
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Please
note that the rating given for this director (see top-right) is based
only on the films we have seen (listed above). Films by this director
that we haven't seen include The Wedding Party (1969), Get to Know Your
Rabbit (1972), Home Movies (1979), Wise Guys (1986), and The Bonfire of
the Vanities (1990). |
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