The Extraordinary Image

Robert P. Kolker takes readers on a fascinating journey into the lives and work of these three directors, examining the unique visual themes—and finding the common threads of genius—in their cinematic worlds. Parade Magazine

The Extraordinary Image takes as a welcome point of departure the notion that filmmaking is essentially the craft of building images, and telling stories by way of their composition and juxtaposition. Kolker’s project is especially well-tailored to that insight, as the directors under consideration are among the most purposefully cinematic of filmmakers... The book is littered with keen observations readily savored. Boston Review

For a book of criticism, [The Extraordinary Image] is wonderfully accessible, less like a lecture and closer to a conversation. [Kolker's] observations reflect both the consensus of critical thought on these films, and his personal connections to the images ... this collective study adds a distinctive tone that will make this of interest to fans of any of these filmmakers. Library Journal

Kolker ingeniously brings together three dissimilar filmmakers—Hitchcock, Welles, Kubrick—and deftly manages to make them convincing subjects of a comparative study… Kolker writes with such fluency and grace about these filmmakers that he makes the feat of discussing their quite distinct and challenging respective oeuvres seem easy... Kolker's study makes one hungry to experience its subjects' creativity anew, inspiring one to revisit the oeuvres of three great, distinctive, and distinct filmmakers whose bodies of work, as Kolker persuasively argues, converge in the creation of lasting and, indeed, extraordinary images. Cineaste

This book offers far more pleasures than we can easily count, all reflecting the author's passion for film and his ability to get it into highly personal writing. He shows us how Hitchcock, Kubrick and Welles brought excitement and light to the cinema, however dark or distraught their films became, and there is something quite dazzling about the way he keeps picturing these three figures as belonging together and yet entirely different from each other. Michael Wood, author of Alfred Hitchcock: The Man Who Knew Too Much

Like the three masters he loves, Kolker brings power and passion to his brilliant study of this trio of closely related and unforgettable filmmakers. It is a supremely sublime achievement. Bill Nichols, author of Introduction to Documentary and Speaking Truths with Film

The most refreshing quality of The Extraordinary Image is its respect for the humanist tradition. Kolker’s bottom-line insistence on the deeply rooted humanity of the greatest cinema is invigorating, especially when he connects his emotions about movies with his longtime effort to share his insights and enthusiasms with students and readers. Hitchcock Annual

This is not the first book to consult when studying Kubrick, but Abrams provides enough compelling insights and revisions of well-trodden territory to make one go back to the films. His study doubles as a general intellectual biography of Kubrick, and one of its pleasures is learning what books were on Kubrick’s shelf. Choice