BOOK REVIEWS

Pinter on Pinter

Vanja Černul, 2004, Point-of-view shots: conversations with cinematographer Tomislav Pinter, Zagreb: V.B.Z.

Review of the book of interviews of Vanja Černjul with Croatian cinematographer Tomislav Pinter. The author of the article points out the lack of systematic monograph studies of great cinematographers such as Pinter is and calls this book of interviews a welcome initiative. The book presents interviews with Pinter conducted by his younger colleague Vanja Černjul, Croatian cinematographer who got a Master’s Degree at the New York Tisch School of Arts and has eight American long features in his filmography. The title of the book — Point-of-view shots — implies that the book is not a critical monograph with a critical approach, but »just« a collection of spontaneous private conversations. In ten chronologically structured chapters, the interviews follow Pinter’s private and professional biography, starting with his classical status in the Croatian cinema (he cooperated with leading directors, worked on photography in a series of classical films of Croatian film modernism /Ante Babaja, Vatroslav Mimica/), following his leading status as Yugoslav cinematographer (Oscar winning films with Aleksandar Petrović; director of photography in a series of works of the Serbian black wave and the Slovenian new film), finishing with his international career (O. Welles’ The Merchant of Venice and The Deep; Vizi privati, pubbliche virtù by M. Jancso, Steppenwolf by F. Haynes).

The reviewer, however, feels that the book is no more than an enthusiastic initiative whereas Tomislav Pinter deserves a comprehensive, expert monograph, with thorough critical analysis and appropriate graphic material, such as one of the leading European cinematographers deserves.

Silvestar Kolbas