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Table of Contents
About The Book
From one of cinema’s wisest and most penetrating observers, an arresting new perspective on the sweep of film history.
David Thomson has been called “the greatest living writer on the movies.” Here is a career capstone of sorts—a one-volume history of film and screens as illuminating and provocative as his classic Biographical Dictionary of Film. In tracing the progress, from the Lumiere Brothers to the Coens, Thomson glories in the great movies, but admits to increasing unease over what the medium has done to us—promoting fantasy, misleading models of sexual identity, the cult of authority, power, and happy endings.
This revisionist history is as alert to technology and business as it is to art and fun in tracing our pursuit of the lifelike instead of life. By turns trenchant, lyrical, and comic, Thomson uncovers our addiction to voyeurism and villainy, and a habit of passivity that has betrayed our political and cultural identity. In a survey that reaches from Metropolis to Rear Window to Anora, this will redirect ideas about film everywhere. As The New York Times has put it, “Thomson proves anew that he is irreplaceable.”
David Thomson has been called “the greatest living writer on the movies.” Here is a career capstone of sorts—a one-volume history of film and screens as illuminating and provocative as his classic Biographical Dictionary of Film. In tracing the progress, from the Lumiere Brothers to the Coens, Thomson glories in the great movies, but admits to increasing unease over what the medium has done to us—promoting fantasy, misleading models of sexual identity, the cult of authority, power, and happy endings.
This revisionist history is as alert to technology and business as it is to art and fun in tracing our pursuit of the lifelike instead of life. By turns trenchant, lyrical, and comic, Thomson uncovers our addiction to voyeurism and villainy, and a habit of passivity that has betrayed our political and cultural identity. In a survey that reaches from Metropolis to Rear Window to Anora, this will redirect ideas about film everywhere. As The New York Times has put it, “Thomson proves anew that he is irreplaceable.”
Appearances
JUL 12
3:00PM
In Person
Introducing Jean-Luc Godard’s "Pierrot le fou" (1965) with post-screening book signing
Learn MoreBerkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive
2155 Center St
Berkeley, CA 94720
About The Author
Photograph by Lucy Gray
David Thomson is the author of more than twenty books, including biographies of David O. Selznick and Orson Welles, and The New Biographical Dictionary of Film. His writing and his books have been featured in The New York Times, The Guardian, the Los Angeles Times, The Atlantic, Esquire, Slate, and many more. He lives in San Francisco.
Product Details
- Publisher: Simon & Schuster (July 7, 2026)
- Length: 368 pages
- ISBN13: 9781668205730
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Raves and Reviews
"After a lifetime of helpless thraldom to beautiful people in the dark, Thomson has written a spirited jeremiad against the influence of the movies on us and on politics—or, as it’s sometimes known, show business for ugly people."
—The Financial Times
“This is the right moment to take the medium’s pulse… Thomson’s about-face over the movies might be a surprise, but that a critic of his stature would wrestle with cinema’s enduring value is not. Whether in the spirit of saving or eulogizing the industry, the question of its influence deserves serious thought.”
—The Atlantic
“A Sudden Flicker of Light works best when Thomson’s running on autopilot… Then the wisdom tumbles like Milk Duds fresh from the concessionaire.”
—Harper's Magazine
"Thomson is widely regarded as the greatest living writer on film, which gives him the right to indict it. Rather than simply a history of cinema, A Sudden Flicker of Light argues that film has spent a century training audiences toward passivity and fantasy, which has had consequences for culture and politics."
—Cultured Magazine
"Thomson is an impassioned, articulate, and knowledgeable threader of stories and observations."
—Houston Press
"Informative and thought-provoking... True cinephiles will find value in the historical commentary."
—Red Carpet Crash
"A Sudden Flicker of Light is deeply personal, persuasive and intelligently-argued... If you are a film buff who eats, sleeps and drinks cinema from all over the world, including classics from yesteryear up to modern blockbusters, then I would strongly recommend this book. Thomson is an excellent critic and his sharp, often witty writing brings to life many celebrated works. A Sudden Flicker of Light is guaranteed to make you see seemingly unimpeachable films in a new light."
—Entertainment Focus
“Thomson is considered a preeminent film critic and historian, and this absolutely essential, indispensable book shows us why.”
—Booklist (starred review)
“A feast for cinephiles.”
—Publishers Weekly
"More than a flicker of light: a flood of illumination."
—Kirkus Reviews
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Hardcover 9781668205730
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