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A review by chrissie_whitley
The Way They Were: How Epic Battles and Bruised Egos Brought a Classic Hollywood Love Story to the Screen by Robert Hofler
5.0
Like many, the movie around which this work is centered and focused, The Way We Were, is a film that has always been in my life. I have no memory of watching it for the first time — it has simply existed. As I grew up watching it every few years, with each viewing I'd gain more information and pick up on details I missed the previous times.
When, as a newly crowned adult, DVDs started including these fantastic behind-the-scenes videos, I gobbled those up as fast as I could. I especially adored (and still miss) the sometimes included director's commentary, where you could watch the movie again while the director (though sometimes it was the director and an actor or just several actors and no director) spoke over the movie's audio track and talked about the making of the movie in different ways, often breaking down their thoughts behind scene setups, characterizations, and plot arcs.
With The Way They Were, Hofler has compiled one of the most complete studies about the making of a specific movie I've ever encountered — second maybe only to the widely known giant Gone with the Wind and the search for Scarlett. In fact, there are comparisons to Selznick's constant memo writing and similar high-volume communication during the making of The Way We Were.
Somehow with all my rewatches of this movie, it never occurred to me to think about what was going on during the time of the making of the movie — specifically politically with the Watergate scandal and President Nixon. In fact, beyond the political, Hofler delves deeply into the life and influence from which the story sprung — Arthur Laurents, who wrote the novel (after it was already pitched as a movie) and screenplay.
From the shooting schedule and deconstruction of how many key scenes were filmed to the reason the deleted scenes were cut, Hofler left nothing out. Going through from the first incarnation of the story of Hubbell and Katie to how director Sydney Pollack transformed (not singlehandedly) to the beloved cinema classic I know so well, Hofler was a wonderful guide and companion who never overshadowed the subject matter. I found this as easy to read as a novel and as informative and well-researched as the DVD special features I miss so much. I'll be buying the hardcover of this one for myself — the only thing that could possibly make it better is if there are photographs.
I received this book for free from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. This affected neither my opinion of the book nor the content of my review.
When, as a newly crowned adult, DVDs started including these fantastic behind-the-scenes videos, I gobbled those up as fast as I could. I especially adored (and still miss) the sometimes included director's commentary, where you could watch the movie again while the director (though sometimes it was the director and an actor or just several actors and no director) spoke over the movie's audio track and talked about the making of the movie in different ways, often breaking down their thoughts behind scene setups, characterizations, and plot arcs.
With The Way They Were, Hofler has compiled one of the most complete studies about the making of a specific movie I've ever encountered — second maybe only to the widely known giant Gone with the Wind and the search for Scarlett. In fact, there are comparisons to Selznick's constant memo writing and similar high-volume communication during the making of The Way We Were.
Somehow with all my rewatches of this movie, it never occurred to me to think about what was going on during the time of the making of the movie — specifically politically with the Watergate scandal and President Nixon. In fact, beyond the political, Hofler delves deeply into the life and influence from which the story sprung — Arthur Laurents, who wrote the novel (after it was already pitched as a movie) and screenplay.
From the shooting schedule and deconstruction of how many key scenes were filmed to the reason the deleted scenes were cut, Hofler left nothing out. Going through from the first incarnation of the story of Hubbell and Katie to how director Sydney Pollack transformed (not singlehandedly) to the beloved cinema classic I know so well, Hofler was a wonderful guide and companion who never overshadowed the subject matter. I found this as easy to read as a novel and as informative and well-researched as the DVD special features I miss so much. I'll be buying the hardcover of this one for myself — the only thing that could possibly make it better is if there are photographs.
I received this book for free from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. This affected neither my opinion of the book nor the content of my review.