The Film Club: A Memoir
"I loved David Gilmour's sleek, potent little memoir, The Film Club. It's so, so wise in the ways of fathers and sons, of movies and movie-goers, of love and loss."--- Richard Russo, Pulitzer Prize winning author of Empire Falls
"If all sons had dads like David Gilmour, then Oedipus would be a forgotten legend and Father's Day would be a worldwide film festival."
--Sean Wilsey, author of Oh the Glory of It All
"David Gilmour is a very unlikely moral guidance counselor: he's broke, more or less unemployed and has two children by two different women. Yet when it looks as though his teenage son is about to go off the rails, he reaches out to him through the only subject he knows anything about: the movies. The result is an object lesson in how fathers should talk to their sons." --Toby Young, author of How to Lose Friends & Alienate People
At the start of this brilliantly unconventional family memoir, David Gilmour is an unemployed movie critic trying to convince his fifteen-year-old son Jesse to do his homework. When he realizes Jesse is beginning to view learning as a loathsome chore, he offers his son an unconventional deal: Jesse could drop out of school, not work, not pay rent - but he must watch three movies a week of his father's choosing.
Week by week, side by side, father and son watched everything from True Romance to Rosemary's Baby to Showgirls, and films by Akira Kurosawa, Martin Scorsese, Brian DePalma, Billy Wilder, among others. The movies got them talking about Jesse's life and his own romantic dramas, with mercurial girlfriends, heart-wrenching breakups, and the kind of obsessive yearning usually seen only in movies.
Through their film club, father and son discussed girls, music, work, drugs, money, love, and friendship - and their own lives changed in surprising ways.
Product Details
Editorial Reviews
From Publishers Weekly
In this poignant and witty memoir, Canadian novelist Gilmour (A Perfect Night to Go to China) grapples with his decision to allow his teenage son, Jesse, to leave school in the 10th grade provided he promises to watch three movies a week with his father. Determined not to force a formal education on his son, former film critic and television host Gilmour begins the film club with Truffaut's The 400 Blows—with Basic Instinct for dessert. There are no lectures preceding the films, no quizzes on content or form: just a father and son watching movies together. Expertly tracing the trials and tribulations of teenage crushes and heartbreak, Gilmour explores not only his choice of films but also Jesse's struggles with his girlfriends and burgeoning music career. There are units on everything from undiscovered talent (Audrey Hepburn's Oscar-winning debut in Roman Holiday) to stillness, exemplified by Gary Cooper's ability in High Noon to steal a scene without moving a muscle. Gilmour expertly tackles the nostalgia not only of film but also that of parents, watching as their children grow and develop separate lives. With his unique blend of film history and personal memoir, Gilmour's latest offering will deservedly win him new American fans. (May)
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Review
"I was hooked on Gilmour's spare, limpid style, and on the tenderness, bitter sweetness, and the film education that I could feel unfolding from the first page . . . THE FILM CLUB is a deep pleasure to read, almost as much fun as - or maybe more than - going to the movies." (The Huffington Post Elizabeth Benedict )
"Wise, hilarious and sometimes screwy . . . an inspiring change of pace from the way fathers usually are depicted . . . [Gilmour's]advice to Jesse about his painful girlfriend problems is warm and wise, with just the right amount of adult bluntness. THE FILM CLUB is a highly lovable book." (The Portland Oregonian )
"Gilmour expertly tackles the nostalgia not only of film but also that of parents, watching as their children grow and develop separate lives. With his unique blend of film history and personal memoir, Gilmour's latest offering will deservedly win him new American fans." (Publishers Weekly, Starred Review )
"Both for its smart, engaging movie talk and for its touching depiction of a father-son relationship, The Film Club gets two thumbs way up." (Booklist )
"Dynamic . . .heartwarming . . . With ironic wit and self-introspection, [Gilmour] beautifully analyzes the slow but transforming effect the films had on his son . . . Perfectly balanced recollections, brimming with pathos leavened by sardonic humor." (Kirkus Reviews )
"Tender . . . a beautiful, unvarnished portrait of fathers and sons-irregular, flawed, full of heartbreak and heart." (Newsweek Peg Tyre )
About the Author
David Gilmour's sixth novel, A Perfect Night to Go to China, won the 2005 Governor-General's Award for fiction in Canada and has been translated into Russian, French, Thai, Italian, Dutch, Bulgarian, Serbian and Turkish. China and a previous book, Lost Between Houses, were both nominated for Ontario's Trillium Book Award. His novels have been praised by William Burroughs, Northrop Frye, and People magazine. Gilmour worked for the Toronto International Film Festival before moving into a broadcasting career with the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC), where he served as the national film critic for country's flagship news show, The Journal. He went on to host his own talk show on CBC's Newsworld, Gilmour on the Arts, which won a Gemini Award.
Customer Reviews
David Gilmour Lays His Parental Soul Bare
David Gilmour's portrayal of grappling with his teenage son's unconventional coming-of-age journey is a fascinating read. Gilmour lays his parental soul bare, exposing his most vulnerable moments of fear, failure and regret; each of which any parent can relate too. This narrative is in turns humerous, poignant and bewildering, if only for the fact that despite Gilmour's and Jessie's fumbles and stumbles, somehow Jessie survives, and their father-son relationship remains true.
A new style of parenting
At age 16, Jesse isn't handling school well. So Jesse's dad, David Gilmour, makes a radical decision. Let the kid stay home but they'll watch 3 movies a week together.
When reviewing memoir, separating our judgment of the protagonist from the quality of the book can be challenging. I don't have kids and I haven't studied child psychology. But I don't see why so many readers criticize David. Kids grow up when they're ready. Perhaps David could have imposed other conditions, such as insisting Jesse get a job. Perhaps he could have consulted a child psychologist.
But he didn't do any of those things and so we have the Film Club. Not being knowledgeable about film, I was intrigued by the discussion of the different films and the scenes to watch for. I was less intrigued by the ups and downs of Jesse's love life: boy gets girl, boy loses girl, boy gets depressed. David tries to walk the fine line between supporting his son and losing the father role. "Hey, I've been there too" can come across like trying too hard to be a buddy.
In the end, Jesse survives and we see him starting to thrive as a songwriter. Judging by the outcome, the Film Club was a success.
Other reviewers have dismissed the Film Club -- the 3 movies a week ritual -- as irrelevant. Most kids do a lot of growing up between ages 16 and 19.
But I'm reminded of Robert Parker's book, Early Autumn. It's in the murder mystery genre but in my opinion it's the best book on child-rearing this non-parent has ever read. At one point the hero, Spenser the one-named detective, says something more or less like, "I need to teach him something. If I knew differential equations, I would. But I don't. I have to teach him what I know." So Spenser teaches a troubled young teen how to build a house and how to get physically fit.
In my experience, Spenser is right. Mastering a skill can be empowering for kids (and adults too). We don't usually think of film criticism as a skill and Jesse didn't seem that interested. But teens are like sponges. He actually learned a lot sitting on that couch with his dad.
So sure, David could have sent Jesse to expensive military schools. They live in Canada. where mental health options vary from province to province and "hating school" might not qualify for treatment covered by the health plan. But David could have paid for mental health professionals who might label the boy with a diagnosis he'd carry for life. Both David and Jesse, and Jesse's Mom who's a friendly ex-wife, would have experienced stress, anguish and financial pain. To what end?
It would be fun to discuss this book with parents and child psych experts. As a mere reader, I enjoyed the book and found much to think about.
A Simple Review
Short book = short review
1. Gilmour turns some excellent phrases.
2.Film insights are helpful and debateable e.g. being dismissive of Singing in the Rain
3.Attitudes toward smoking and drinking, if univeralized, would lead to a godawful society.
4.High level of egocentricity is displayed in his minor considerations of his wives and his daughter as well as the random woman who bore her.
5. Watch a few Preston Sturges movies instead esp. Sullivan's Travels
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