Richard Brody (born January 22, 1958) is an American film critic,

filmmaker Filmmaking or film production is the process by which a Film, motion picture is produced. Filmmaking involves a number of complex and discrete stages, beginning with an initial story, idea, or commission. Production then continues through screen ...

and

author In legal discourse, an author is the creator of an original work that has been published, whether that work exists in written, graphic, visual, or recorded form. The act of creating such a work is referred to as authorship. Therefore, a sculpt ...

Background

Brody grew up in Roslyn, New York. He is Jewish and has personally identified as an atheist. Brody attended

Princeton University Princeton University is a private university, private Ivy League research university in Princeton, New Jersey, United States. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth, New Jersey, Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the List of Colonial ...

, receiving a BA in comparative literature in 1980. He first became interested in films after seeing

Jean-Luc Godard Jean-Luc Godard ( , ; ; 3 December 193013 September 2022) was a French and Swiss film director, screenwriter, and film critic. He rose to prominence as a pioneer of the French New Wave film movement of the 1960s, alongside such filmmakers as ...

's seminal

French New Wave The New Wave (, ), also called the French New Wave, is a French European art cinema, art film movement that emerged in the late 1950s. The movement was characterized by its rejection of traditional filmmaking conventions in favor of experimentat ...

film '' Breathless'' during his freshman year at Princeton. In the early 1980s, after graduating from college, Brody briefly lived in Paris. He is the author of a biography of Godard. Brody has two children with his wife, Maja, who immigrated to the United States from

Yugoslavia , common_name = Yugoslavia , life_span = 1918–19921941–1945: World War II in Yugoslavia#Axis invasion and dismemberment of Yugoslavia, Axis occupation , p1 = Kingdom of SerbiaSerbia , flag_p ...

Career

Before becoming a film critic, Brody worked on documentaries and made several independent films. Since 1999 he has written for ''

The New Yorker ''The New Yorker'' is an American magazine featuring journalism, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons, and poetry. It was founded on February 21, 1925, by Harold Ross and his wife Jane Grant, a reporter for ''The New York T ...

,'' and in December 2014, he was made a Chevalier (Knight) in the

Ordre des Arts et des Lettres The Order of Arts and Letters () is an order of France established on 2 May 1957 by the Minister of Culture. Its supplementary status to the was confirmed by President Charles de Gaulle in 1963. Its purpose is the recognition of significant ...

for his contributions in popularizing French cinema in America.

Favorite films

Brody participated in the 2012 ''Sight & Sound'' critics' poll, where he listed as his ten favorite films the following: *'' Gertrud'' (Denmark, 1964) *'' The Great Dictator'' (US, 1940) *'' Husbands'' (US, 1970) *'' Journey to Italy'' (Italy, 1954) *''

King Lear ''The Tragedy of King Lear'', often shortened to ''King Lear'', is a Shakespearean tragedy, tragedy written by William Shakespeare. It is loosely based on the mythological Leir of Britain. King Lear, in preparation for his old age, divides his ...

'' (US, 1987) *'' The Last Laugh'' (Germany, 1924) *'' Marnie'' (US, 1964) *''

Playtime ''Playtime'' (stylized as ''PlayTime'' and also written as ''Play Time'') is a 1967 Satire (film and television), satirical comedy film directed and co-written by Jacques Tati. Tati also stars in the film, reprising the role of Monsieur Hulot ...

'' (France, 1967) *'' The Rules of the Game'' (France, 1939) *'' Shoah'' (France, 1985) In the 2022 ''Sight & Sound'' critics' poll, half of the films selected remained the same: * ''King Lear'' ''(US, 1987)'' * ''Shoah'' ''(France, 1985)'' * ''The Last Laugh'' ''(Germany, 1924)'' * '' The Gold Rush'' (US, 1925) * '' The Story of the Last Chrysanthemums'' (Japan, 1939) * ''

Citizen Kane ''Citizen Kane'' is a 1941 American Drama (film and television), drama film directed by, produced by and starring Orson Welles and co-written by Welles and Herman J. Mankiewicz. It was Welles's List of directorial debuts, first feature film. ...

'' (US, 1941) * ''

'' ''(France, 1967)'' * '' Jeanne Dielman, 23 quai du Commerce, 1080 Bruxelles'' (Belgium-France, 1975) * ''Faces'' (US, 1968) * '' Daughters of the Dust'' (US, 1991)

Best films of the year

*2007: '' The Darjeeling Limited'' *2008: ''

Still Life A still life (: still lifes) is a work of art depicting mostly wikt:inanimate, inanimate subject matter, typically commonplace objects which are either natural (food, flowers, dead animals, plants, rocks, shells, etc.) or artificiality, human-m ...

'' *2009: '' Fantastic Mr. Fox'' *2010: '' Shutter Island'' *2011: '' The Future'' *2012: '' Holy Motors'' and '' Moonrise Kingdom'' *2013: '' To the Wonder and The Wolf of Wall Street'' *2014: '' The Grand Budapest Hotel'' *2015: '' Chi-Raq'' *2016: '' Little Sister'' *2017: '' Get Out'' *2018: '' Madeline's Madeline'' *2019: '' The Irishman'' *2020: '' Kajillionaire'' *2021: '' The French Dispatch'' *2022: ''

Benediction A benediction (, 'well' + , 'to speak') is a short invocation for divine help, blessing and guidance, usually at the end of worship service. It can also refer to a specific Christian religious service including the exposition of the eucharisti ...

'' *2023: '' Killers of the Flower Moon'' *2024: '' Nickel Boys''

Bibliography

References

External links

''New Yorker'' page
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Brody, Richard 1958 births 20th-century American Jews 20th-century American male writers 20th-century American non-fiction writers 21st-century American Jews 21st-century American male writers 21st-century American non-fiction writers American expatriates in France American film critics American male non-fiction writers Chevaliers of the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres Jewish American atheists American atheists Living people National Society of Film Critics Members People from Roslyn, New York Place of birth missing (living people) Princeton University alumni The New Yorker critics