Chronicle of a Passion

Although widely considered the best living French film critic at the time of his death in 1992, Serge Daney remains pretty much unknown in the English-speaking world. An editor of CAHIERS DU CINEMA from 1974 to 1981, critic for the daily LIBERATION from 1981 until his death, and founder of TRAFIC, Daney published four books during his lifetime. An additional three (a collection of journal entries, L'EXERCISE A ETE PROFITABLE, MONSIEUR; a book-length interview, PERSEVERANCE; an anthology of sportswriting, L'AMATEUR DE TENNIS) have come out posthumously.Yet no publisher has found it worth their while to put out an English-language Daney collection .

Thanks to the graciousness of editor Paul Willemen, I've finally managed to get a copy of the manuscript for Daney's CINEMA IN TRANSIT, an unpublished English-language anthology acquired by the British Film Institute in 1994. I've written to them to inquire about the possibility of posting it on this site but have yet to receive a response and doubt I ever will. If anyone out there would like a copy, please contact me.

In other Daney news, the French publisher POL has just released a collection of his work from 1964 through 1981, the period when he wrote for CAHIERS DU CINEMA. The best source for ordering Daney's French books in North America appears to be Gallimard, Montreal's French-language bookstore. They carry TRAFIC, as well.

Early in 2007, Berg Publishers will be releasing POSTCARDS FROM THE CINEMA, an English-language translation of PERSEVERANCE. This book is what became of Daney's project to write an autobiography - it combines his essay "the tracking shot in KAPO" (see below) with a lengthy interview with former CAHEIRS DU CINEMA editor Serge Toubiana. My review has appeared in CINEASTE's fall 2007 issue. I'm not sure if it will become available on-line - as of early September, the magazine website hasn't been updated with the current issue's contents.

For your one-stop Daney needs, you can take a look at the Serge Daney in English blog.

Introduction

Early CAHIERS reviews

ON "SALADOR"

THE TINKERERS (By Bill Krohn)

GODARDIAN PEDAGOGY

1977 Interview

CEDDO review

BEYOND A REASONABLE DOUBT

STALKER Review

COUP DE TORCHON

THE THREAD (An obituary of Jean Eustache)

TOO EARLY/TOO LATE review

ONE FROM THE HEART review

THE FORBIDDEN ZOOM

FROM THE LARGE TO THE SMALL SCREEN

TELEVISION AND ITS SHADOW

BACK TO THE FUTURE

WAITING FOR THE SNOW

Obituary (by Adrian Martin)

BEFORE AND AFTER THE IMAGE

THE LOVER

L'ENFANT SECRET

Jonathan Rosenbaum on Serge Daney

THE TRACKING SHOT IN KAPO

THE GODARD PARADOX

THE AQUARIUM (on Robert Kramer and John Douglas' MILESTONES)

THE SCREEN OF FANTASY (Bazin and animals)

DERSU UZALA

MONTAGE OBLIGATORY (the war, the Gulf and the small screen)

THE ELEPHANT MAN

IN STUBBORN PRAISE OF INFORMATION

THE SERPENT'S EGG

THE ORGAN AND THE VACUUM CLEANER (on Bresson's THE DEVIL, PROBABLY)

BABY SEEKING BATHWATER

John Ford Forever

FOR A CINE-DEMOGRAPHY

THE DOG AND THE ROPE

THE CRITICAL FUNCTION

ICI ET AILLEURS

THE NEW WAVE - A GENEALOGICAL APPROACH

THE SMASH OF RAGE

OUT OF AFRICA

LINKS THAT BIND

Miscellaneous links of interest

A index of worthwhile film criticism (including on-line critics, magazines & newspapers) on the WWW

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Music links

Desert Island Discs

A much-expanded list of film societies and rep theaters

I am not the novelist Steve Erickson, nor do I write for LOS ANGELES magazine. I do not
know how to get in touch with him.

Thanks to Laurent Kretzschmar, Paul Willemen, Adrian Martin, Michael Sicinski, Joe McElhaney and Frank Matcha for their assistance with the Daney section.

The mailroom is waiting .

Launched July 27th, 1997