The Cutting Edge: The Magic of Movie Editing (2004)

User Rating:

7.6/10   

Director:

Wendy Apple

Writer:

Mark Jonathan Harris (written by)

Genre:

Documentary

Plot:

Documentary about the art of film editing. Clips are shown from many groundbreaking films with innovative editing styles. |

Plot Keywords:

Film Editor | Film Making | Film History | Old Movie

Cast

Kathy Bates	...	Narrator (voice)
Zach Staenberg	...	Himself
Jodie Foster	...	Herself
Michael Tronick	...	Himself
Anthony Minghella	...	Himself
Sean Penn	...	Himself
Walter Murch	...	Himself
Martin Scorsese	...	Himself
Rob Cohen	...	Himself
Quentin Tarantino	...	Himself
Steven Spielberg	...	Himself
James Cameron	...	Himself
Antony Gibbs	...	Himself
Mark Goldblatt	...	Himself
Sally Menke	...	Herself

Runtime:

USA:98 min

Country:

USA | Japan | UK

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White | Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

Finland:K-15 | Canada:PG (Ontario)

Filming Locations:

London, England, UK

Company:

A.C.E.

Trivia:

This documentary is featured on the Two-Disc Special Edition DVD for Bullitt (1968), released in 2005.

Movie Connections:

Features Love Story (1970)

first rate documentary

This is a first-rate job of work, one of the best documentaries on film-making that I've ever seen, opening up the fascinating world of film editing by letting great editors and directors speak to us directly about the mysteries of film cutting--supported by illuminating examples drawn from real films. I can't praise too highly the thoughtful choice of speakers, from Thelma to Dede to Walter Murch and on down the line. Nice to see director Joe Dante too. I was particularly pleased at the inclusion of early film editing examples, such as Dziga Vertov's Man With a Movie Camera and, of course, the down-the-stairs sequence from Potemkin. (The film includes a few sequences from later films that echo the Potemkin sequence, but I bet there's at least five examples they missed!) Bravo! Michael Goodwin