Suddenly Something Clicked - by Walter Murch (Paperback)

Book Synopsis

The triple-Oscar winner of the Godfather films, Apocalypse Now and The English Patient presents a masterclass on movies and how they are made.

'A manual on how to make and watch films, and a beautiful memoir of the life of a cinematic artist.' Sight and Sound Books of the Year

Highly lauded film editor, director, writer and sound designer Walter Murch reflects on the six decades of cinematic history he has been a considerable contributor to - and on what makes great films great.

Together with Francis Coppola and George Lucas, Murch abandoned Hollywood in 1969 and moved to San Francisco to create the Zoetrope studio. Their vision was of a new kind of cinema for a new generation of film-goers. Murch's subsequent contributions in film editing rooms and sound-mixing theatres were responsible for ground-breaking technical and creative innovations.

In this book, Murch invites readers on a voyage of discovery through film, with a mixture of personal stories, meditations on his own creative tactics and strategies, and reminiscences from working on The Godfather films, Apocalypse Now, Lucas' American Grafitti, and Anthony Minghella's The English Patient and The Talented Mr Ripley.

Suddenly Something Clicked is a book that will change the way you watch movies.

Review Quotes

"This is an enormous book, a vast treasury of ideas, observations and innovation stretching from Physics to aesthetics. Only a mind like Walter Murch's could be capable of such a discourse. There is so much in it, it cannot really be described, only admired or kept as an Encyclopedia of Cinema-Everything." - Francis Ford Coppola

"Other figures in cinema history have expanded the parameters of how we see or hear it. No one but Murch has welded sight and sound with such intuition for both." - Telegraph

"Released from the self-imposed prison of the editing booth, Murch bursts with intelligent chatter, mixing reminiscence and practical tips with metaphysics and neuroscience." - Ther Times

"Walter Murch's SUDDENLY SOMETHING CLICKED is a profound yet playful meditation on how editing is the engine of movies and what altered our way of thinking. Suddenly we were more than we had been before. Or was it less? Settle for DIFFERENT." - David Thomson

"Walter Murch, the philosopher-king/professor of all things cinematic and author of In the Blink of an Eye, has delivered a masterful, encyclopedic take on 'the only art whose birthday is known to us.' A must-read for students of the medium and anyone with more than just a passing interest in film." - Paul Hirsch (editor of Star Wars and Empire Strikes Back)

"This enthralling book is an instant classic of writing about film, as well as an indispensable primer for anyone taking up editing or sound design." - Peter Cowie

"The entertaining stories offer an intimate look at a master at work, illuminating the painstaking craft that went into making numerous classics. Cinephiles will want to add this to their shelves." - Publishers Weekly