“I wrote him a letter once, asking him to let me do a documentary about him, which he kindly refused. But I also sent him an essay I had written about The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie. He wrote back and said he thought it was great in terms of the Sherlock Holmes aspect of trying to figure out what his movie was about, but I think these were things he didn’t give too much thought to. He put them in the movie because he liked them, not because he had some kind of carefully constructed scaffolding of themes and ideas. He goes where he wants to.”
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"If you love films and care about filmmakers, you'll have a hard time putting this book down. These lively conversations reveal just how much one generation of filmmakers influences the next - and how a single movie can change the course of a young person's life and career."
-Leonard Maltin, author of Leanord Martin's Movie Guide -
"A great and provocative read. Elder begins with a simple question and leads a wide variety of filmmakers down all sorts of unexpected paths. Why do we respond so passionately, even irrationally, to the movies that change our lives? The wonderful thing about being a critic or a lifelong movie lover is that life changes all the time in relation to the spells being cast on the screen. Elder's book honors that alchemic relationship many times over. It's addictive."
-Michael Phillips, film critic, Chicago Tribune