Conversations with James Gray

From his modest origins in Queens to his latest project with Brad Pitt, from his first science-fiction movies on Super 8 to the world’s top film festivals, this book retraces the career of a maverick American filmmaker with a distinctly European style. It explores his various sources of inspiration, his writing process and his experiences on set – unexpected blizzards, car crashes, improvising with actors – offering a behind-the-scenes glimpse of the cinematic process.

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Alongside the filmmaker’s own words can be found interviews with the different actors, producers, screenwriters, production designers, editors and cinematographers that he has worked with over the years. Each interview reveals, step by step and with complete frankness, how a movie is made – from the earliest scenarios to the final mixing.

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Throughout these interviews, which are accompanied by a series of rare documents (screenplays, storyboards, set photographs, musical compositions, personal archives from the director), James Gray offers up a lesson in moviemaking that will delight both cinephiles and film students alike.

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With a preface by Jean Douchet, renown film critic of the French New Wave, and accompanied by a short introductory message from Francis Ford Coppola, James Gray provides readers with a thorough analysis of contemporary American cinema.

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The books are printed by Ebs Editoriale Bortolazzi in Italy on Munken Kristall Rough 100gr.

CONVERSATIONS WITH

JAMES GRAY / DIRECTOR

GWYNETH PALTROW / ACTRESS
VINESSA SHAW/ ACTRESS
EVA MENDES / ACTRESS

JAMES CAAN / ACTOR
TIM ROTH / ACTOR
MARK WAHLBERG / ACTOR

MONI MOSHONOV / ACTOR
FORD WHEELER / PRODUCTION DESIGNER
DOUGLAS MURRAY/ SOUND EDITOR
JOHN AXELRAD / EDITOR
HOWARD SHORE / COMPOSER
TOM RICHMOND / DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY
JOAQUIN BACA-ASAY / DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY
HARRIS SAVIDES / DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY
MATT REEVES / SCREENWRITER
ANTHONY KATAGAS / PRODUCER
NICK WECHSLER  / PRODUCER
PAUL WEBSTER / PRODUCER

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Jordan Mintzer is a film critic for The Hollywood Reporter. Prior to that he worked for Variety. He was born in Queens, New York, and currently lives in Paris. 

“Superb and sumptuous” RICHARD BRODY, THE NEW YORKER

“The films of James Gray, both in their thought and expression, are classic works which reinvent our conception of classicism. They are therefore entirely modern.” JEAN DOUCHET

“It is hands down the best book devoted to a single filmmaker released in the last decade.” IGNATIY VISHNEVETSKY, THE A.V. CLUB

“An indispensable source of insight into one of today’s best American filmmakers.” ADAM COOK, MUBI

“Best film book of the year” FRENCH GUILD OF FILM CRITICS (UJC)

“Mintzer's method is to create a ‘working book’ where he interviews not only Gray, but a number of his collaborators (actors, cinematographers, producers, editors, sound designers…) about the different steps that go into the preparing and making of his films. The goal is not necessarily to interpret, but to understand the complex alchemy – based on the vision of one man, and despite all the technical and logistical snafus which can arise during a shoot – that results in films which are fascinating in their profundity and their elegance.” DIDIER PÉRON, LIBERATION

“There’s something ‘Grayesque’ about the project, offering up an elegant mix of craft and ambition that opts for storytelling over theory.” FLORENCE MAILLARD, CAHIERS DU CINÉMA

“A book that’s as passionate as it is touching.” JEAN-BAPTISTE MORAIN, LES INROCKS

“After only four movies, James Gray is the subject of a rich and stylized monograph which the likes of David Fincher and the Coen Brothers could only dream of.” TÉLÉRAMA

 “A book which will become a landmark for film buffs the world over. A lesson in cinema that follows in the footsteps of the classic Hitchcock by Truffaut.” LAURE CROISET, TOUT LE CINÉ