264:) – and the far-left politics which accompanied the latter – saw Durgnat become an outsider figure within British film culture. In 1973 he moved to Canada, beginning a peripatetic teaching career in North America, which took him to New York, San Francisco and Los Angeles. In the late 1970s, he taught film at the
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Returning to London at the close of the decade, he launched a series of withering assaults on the linguistics-based film theory that had come to dominate film academia over the previous decade; perhaps as a result, he did not publish another new book until 1999. He did, however, return to write for
88:(1 September 1932 – 19 May 2002) was a British film critic, who was born in London to Swiss parents. During his life he wrote for virtually every major English language film publication. In 1965 he published the first major critical essay on
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Durgnat's socio-political approach – strongly supportive of the working classes and, almost as a direct result of this, American popular culture, and dismissive of left-wing intellectuals whom he accused of actually being
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conservatives in disguise, and dismissive of overt politicisation of film criticism, refusing to bring his own left-wing views overtly into his writings on film – can best be described as "radical populist".
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in 1957, often accusing it of elitism, puritanism, and upper-middle-class snobbery, notably in his 1963 essay "Standing Up For Jesus" (which appeared in the short-lived magazine
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on
Michael Powell, on whom Durgnat began but did not complete a full-length book. It also includes such rare pieces as "Standing Up for Jesus". The collection was described by
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829: (archived 30 May 2009) (A descriptive, illustrated bibliography of the work of noted film critic) Cinemonkey.com
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Durgnat was born in London in 1932 to Swiss parents who had immigrated to
England in 1924. Durgnat's family was of
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667:"1963 and all that: Raymond Durgnat and the birth of the Great British Phantasmagoria | Sight & Sound"
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in Hong Kong, then a
British possession. After leaving the army in 1954, he studied English literature at
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BFI Publishing, distributed by The
University of California Press, Berkeley, 2002, 248 pages,
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BFI Publishing, distributed by The
University of California Press, Berkeley, 1999, 96 pages,
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from 1960. The thesis he wrote there provided the source material for a number of his books.
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251:. As the LFMC's chairman he was instrumental in promoting filmmakers such as Jeff Keen and
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University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), published in the e-film journal Rouge.com
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833:'1963 and all that: Raymond Durgnat and the birth of the Great British Phantasmagoria'
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Raymond
Durgnat: Prolific film critic contemptuous of his trade's doctrinal theories.
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Studio Vista/Dutton
Pictureback, New York, 1965, reprinted 1967, 1970, 160 pages
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The rise of structural film (at the LFMC) and of structuralism (in the journal
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128:(in the 1980s), and taught at various art schools and universities, notably
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386:(essay "China Gate") Edinburgh Film Festival, Edinburgh, 1969, 128 pages
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in 1991, and contributed to that publication again later in the 1990s.
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Obituary by
Charles Barr – The Independent, Saturday, 25 May 2002
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The MIT Press, Cambridge; Faber and Faber, London 1974, 419 pages,
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article by Henry K. Miller about
Durgnat and film culture in 1963
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The MIT Press, Cambridge; Faber and Faber, London 1967, 288 pages
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A Mirror for England: British Movies From Austerity to Affluence
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During 1966 and 1967, Durgnat was a major player in the nascent
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but lost his job in 1932; afterwards, he opened a drapery shop.
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A Mirror for England: British Movies from Austerity to Affluence
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The University of California Press, Berkeley, 1988, 382 pages,
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The University of California Press, Berkeley, 1974, 429 pages,
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Sexual Alienation in the Cinema: the dynamics of sexual freedom
140:. Towards the end of his life he was visiting professor at the
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University of California Press, Berkeley, 1977, 176 pages,
652:"Culture Always is a Fog:" Interview with Raymond Durgnat.
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Children of Albion: Poetry of the "Underground" in Britain
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The Crazy Mirror: Hollywood Comedy and the American Image
378:(poem: "Scrap Iron"), Penguin, Baltimore, 1969, 384 pages
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University of California Press, Berkeley, 1968, 152 pages
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University of California Press, Berkeley, 1968, 144 pages
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as "the essential film book of this or almost any year".
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Critic who carved out new territory in the study of film
232:). From 1960, he was a regular presence in the monthly
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on Charing Cross Road, a hub of the emerging British
746:"BFI Screenonline: Keen, Jeff (1923-2012) Biography"
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They Drive by Night: The Criticism of Manny Farber.
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877:in 1973, now with an Afterword written in 2002.
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336:A Motion Monograph, London, 1963, 102 pages
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547:Taylor & Francis Group, London, 1992,
479:Faber and Faber, London, 1976, 238 pages,
401:Horizon Press, New York, 1970, 280 pages,
350:Calder and Boyars, London, 1966, 207 pages
156:descent, and he was raised in a religious
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588:Palgrave Macmillan/BFI, 2014, 256 pages,
514:BFI Publishing, London, 1978, 124 pages,
414:Faber and Faber, London 1970, 394 pages,
694:"The Queer History of Films and Filming"
160:household. Durgnat's father worked as a
784:"De Filmkrant :: World Wide Angle"
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427:Studio Vista, London, 1972, 320 pages,
210:In the early 1950s, he had written for
891:Alumni of the Slade School of Fine Art
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290:in the years before its merger with
266:University of California, San Diego
395:Praeger, New York, 1969, 144 pages
301:, were also published by the BFI.
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110:(1974). He wrote principally for
334:Nouvelle Vague: The First Decade
782:Martin, Adrian (January 2015).
823:A Raymond Durgnat Bibliography
297:His last two books, including
220:publication after the exit of
136:, where his students included
1:
586:The Essential Raymond Durgnat
559:WR: Mysteries of the Organism
303:The Essential Raymond Durgnat
855:Durgnat on Bells are ringing
573:A Long Hard Look at "Psycho"
181:Pembroke College, Cambridge
74:Pembroke College, Cambridge
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299:A Long Hard look at Psycho
873:, originally written for
845:‘Culture Always is a Fog'
729:Obituary: Raymond Durgnat
241:London Film-Makers' Co-op
216:, but fell out with this
142:University of East London
205:Slade School of Fine Art
175:, which he spent in the
169:Sir George Monoux School
78:Slade School of Fine Art
750:www.screenonline.org.uk
167:He was educated at the
95:His many books include
709:Cite journal requires
671:British Film Institute
243:(LFMC), then based at
218:British Film Institute
769:Rosenbaum, Jonathan.
522:(Essay in collection)
287:Monthly Film Bulletin
183:. With the filmmaker
125:Monthly Film Bulletin
896:English film critics
438:The Strange Case of
284:the BFI publication
134:Royal College of Art
105:The Strange Case of
794:on 28 December 2014
130:St Martin's College
122:(in the 1970s) and
16:British film critic
871:Jonathan Rosenbaum
727:Kevin Gough-Yates
636:on 1 October 2009.
545:and English Genius
354:Films and Feelings
348:Eros in the Cinema
278:Jonathan Rosenbaum
230:Films and Feelings
97:Films and Feelings
594:978-1-84457-451-3
581:978-0-85170-920-8
568:978-0-85170-720-4
553:978-0-415-03373-2
537:978-0-520-05798-2
520:978-0-85170-086-1
500:978-0-520-03424-2
485:978-0-571-10656-1
472:978-0-520-02283-6
457:978-0-571-09966-5
449:978-0-262-04041-9
433:978-0-289-70261-1
420:978-1-84457-453-7
407:978-0-8180-0701-9
274:Jean-Pierre Gorin
234:Films and Filming
189:Thorold Dickinson
113:Films and Filming
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213:Sight and Sound
200:The Next of Kin
177:Education Corps
154:French Huguenot
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70:Alma mater
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673:. 21 June 2018
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270:Manny Farber
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245:Better Books
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119:Film Comment
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103:(1970), and
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53:(2002-05-19)
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916:2002 deaths
911:1932 births
510:Pressburger
491:Luis Buñuel
463:Jean Renoir
369:Luis Buñuel
341:Greta Garbo
249:underground
65:Film critic
51:19 May 2002
885:Categories
600:References
529:, American
527:King Vidor
512:and Others
268:alongside
138:Tony Scott
62:Occupation
37:1932-09-01
630:"UEL HSS"
203:) at the
158:Calvinist
148:Biography
194:Gaslight
185:Don Levy
132:and the
99:(1967),
825:at the
798:26 July
755:26 July
677:26 July
308:Positif
655:Rouge.
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361:Franju
261:Screen
226:Motion
835:– a
800:2023
757:2023
715:help
679:2023
590:ISBN
577:ISBN
564:ISBN
549:ISBN
533:ISBN
516:ISBN
496:ISBN
481:ISBN
468:ISBN
453:ISBN
445:ISBN
429:ISBN
416:ISBN
403:ISBN
276:and
197:and
48:Died
31:Born
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