Peter Cowie
Encyclopedia
Peter Cowie is a film historian and author of more than thirty books on film. In 1963 he was the founder/publisher and general editor of the annual International Film Guide, a survey of worldwide film production. Educated at Charterhouse School
, and an Exhibitioner in History at Magdalene College, Cambridge
, he began writing about film in 1960. He has contributed to many of the world's leading newspapers and periodicals, including The New York Times
, The Sunday Times
(London), the Los Angeles Times
, Le Monde
, Expressen
, Neue Zürcher Zeitung
, Sight and Sound, and Film Comment
.
His books include definitive surveys of the Scandinavian Cinema, in particular the work of Swedish film director, Ingmar Bergman
. In fact, Cowie himself has said that he belongs to a generation whose life was changed by seeing The Seventh Seal
.
During the period 1963-1988, he published almost 100 books on film by various authors at The Tantivy Press in London, including classics like Robin Wood
's Hitchcock's Films. He also launched annual publications on sport (International Cycling Guide, International Running Guide), classical music (International Music Guide), television (International TV and Video Guide) and the Nordic area (The Scandinavian Guide).
Other aspects of his work in the area of Scandinavian cinema include his service on the “Quality Awards” Jury of the Swedish Film Institute
for 11 years from the 1970s where he was its only non-Nordic member. In 1989 he was decorated by the King of Sweden with the Royal Order of the Polar Star for his services to Swedish culture. During the 1980’s he spent several years in Finland, and in 1983 was director of the Nordic Film Festival in Hanasaari Hanaholmen.
He is also interested in the work of American film directors as different as Francis Ford Coppola
, Orson Welles
, and John Ford
. The Godfather Book (Faber, London, 1997) examined Coppola's trilogy of films, and after a visit to Monument Valley
in Utah
, he wrote an analysis of Ford's films which were shot there, John Ford and the American West (Abrams, New York, 2004), examining the importance of the location and the influences of 19th Century American painting.
Until 2000 he served as international publishing director of the daily and weekly film industry newspaper, Variety
while recently he has provided more than a dozen voice-over
audio commentaries for DVD versions of classic films which form part of The Criterion Collection
. Many of these commentaries are for the films of Bergman.
He is a sometime Visiting Professor in Film Studies at the University of California
, Santa Barbara
. Since 2003 he has been a special consultant to the Berlin International Film Festival
, working with the Berlinale Talent Campus. He has moderated panels and symposia at the Venice International Film Festival, and also on behalf of the European Film Academy.
From 2004 to 2006, he was a member of the Executive Board at The European Film College in Ebeltoft, Denmark. In November 2006, to coincide with the centenary of the actress Louise Brooks
, Cowie's Louise Brooks: Lulu Forever was published in Germany and the United States. In 2008, Cowie co-edited Projections: The European Film Academy (Faber, London), and was a contributing editor to the Taschen volume, The Ingmar Bergman Archives. His most recent work includes Joan Crawford
, the Enduring Star (Rizzoli, New York 2009). and Akira Kurosawa, Master of Cinema (Rizzoli, New York, 2010). Also in 2010, he wrote a concise history of the Berlin International Film Festival
(published by Bertz und Fischer, Berlin).
Charterhouse School
Charterhouse School, originally The Hospital of King James and Thomas Sutton in Charterhouse, or more simply Charterhouse or House, is an English collegiate independent boarding school situated at Godalming in Surrey.Founded by Thomas Sutton in London in 1611 on the site of the old Carthusian...
, and an Exhibitioner in History at Magdalene College, Cambridge
Cambridge
The city of Cambridge is a university town and the administrative centre of the county of Cambridgeshire, England. It lies in East Anglia about north of London. Cambridge is at the heart of the high-technology centre known as Silicon Fen – a play on Silicon Valley and the fens surrounding the...
, he began writing about film in 1960. He has contributed to many of the world's leading newspapers and periodicals, including The New York Times
The New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
, The Sunday Times
The Sunday Times
The Sunday Times is a British Sunday newspaper.The Sunday Times may also refer to:*The Sunday Times *The Sunday Times *The Sunday Times *The Sunday Times...
(London), the Los Angeles Times
Los Angeles Times
The Los Angeles Times is a daily newspaper published in Los Angeles, California, since 1881. It was the second-largest metropolitan newspaper in circulation in the United States in 2008 and the fourth most widely distributed newspaper in the country....
, Le Monde
Le Monde
Le Monde is a French daily evening newspaper owned by La Vie-Le Monde Group and edited in Paris. It is one of two French newspapers of record, and has generally been well respected since its first edition under founder Hubert Beuve-Méry on 19 December 1944...
, Expressen
Expressen
Expressen is one of two nationwide evening tabloid newspapers in Sweden, the other being Aftonbladet. Expressen was founded in 1944; its symbol is a wasp and slogans "it stings" or "Expressen to your rescue", always on the reader's side....
, Neue Zürcher Zeitung
Neue Zürcher Zeitung
The Neue Zürcher Zeitung is a major German language Swiss daily newspaper based in Zurich.One of the oldest newspapers still published, it originally appeared as Zürcher Zeitung, edited by Salomon Gessner, from January 12, 1780, and was renamed to Neue Zürcher Zeitung in 1821...
, Sight and Sound, and Film Comment
Film Comment
Film Comment is an arts and culture magazine published by the Film Society of Lincoln Center, of which it is the official publication. Film Comment features critical reviews and in-depth analysis of mainstream, art-house, and avant-garde filmmaking from around the world...
.
His books include definitive surveys of the Scandinavian Cinema, in particular the work of Swedish film director, Ingmar Bergman
Ingmar Bergman
Ernst Ingmar Bergman was a Swedish director, writer and producer for film, stage and television. Described by Woody Allen as "probably the greatest film artist, all things considered, since the invention of the motion picture camera", he is recognized as one of the most accomplished and...
. In fact, Cowie himself has said that he belongs to a generation whose life was changed by seeing The Seventh Seal
The Seventh Seal
The Seventh Seal is a 1957 Swedish film written and directed by Ingmar Bergman. Set during the Black Death, it tells of the journey of a medieval knight and a game of chess he plays with the personification of Death , who has come to take his life. Bergman developed the film from his own play...
.
During the period 1963-1988, he published almost 100 books on film by various authors at The Tantivy Press in London, including classics like Robin Wood
Robin Wood (critic)
Robert Paul "Robin" Wood was a Canada-based film critic and educator. He wrote books on Alfred Hitchcock, Howard Hawks, Ingmar Bergman, and Arthur Penn and was a member, until 2007, of the editorial collective that publishes the magazine CineACTION!, a film theory collective founded by Wood and...
's Hitchcock's Films. He also launched annual publications on sport (International Cycling Guide, International Running Guide), classical music (International Music Guide), television (International TV and Video Guide) and the Nordic area (The Scandinavian Guide).
Other aspects of his work in the area of Scandinavian cinema include his service on the “Quality Awards” Jury of the Swedish Film Institute
Swedish Film Institute
The Swedish Film Institute was founded in 1963 to support and develop the Swedish film industry. The institute is housed in the Filmhuset building located in Gärdet, Östermalm in Stockholm...
for 11 years from the 1970s where he was its only non-Nordic member. In 1989 he was decorated by the King of Sweden with the Royal Order of the Polar Star for his services to Swedish culture. During the 1980’s he spent several years in Finland, and in 1983 was director of the Nordic Film Festival in Hanasaari Hanaholmen.
He is also interested in the work of American film directors as different as Francis Ford Coppola
Francis Ford Coppola
Francis Ford Coppola is an American film director, producer and screenwriter. He is widely acclaimed as one of Hollywood's most innovative and influential film directors...
, Orson Welles
Orson Welles
George Orson Welles , best known as Orson Welles, was an American film director, actor, theatre director, screenwriter, and producer, who worked extensively in film, theatre, television and radio...
, and John Ford
John Ford
John Ford was an American film director. He was famous for both his westerns such as Stagecoach, The Searchers, and The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance, and adaptations of such classic 20th-century American novels as The Grapes of Wrath...
. The Godfather Book (Faber, London, 1997) examined Coppola's trilogy of films, and after a visit to Monument Valley
Monument Valley
Monument Valley is a region of the Colorado Plateau characterized by a cluster of vast sandstone buttes, the largest reaching above the valley floor. It is located on the northern border of Arizona with southern Utah , near the Four Corners area...
in Utah
Utah
Utah is a state in the Western United States. It was the 45th state to join the Union, on January 4, 1896. Approximately 80% of Utah's 2,763,885 people live along the Wasatch Front, centering on Salt Lake City. This leaves vast expanses of the state nearly uninhabited, making the population the...
, he wrote an analysis of Ford's films which were shot there, John Ford and the American West (Abrams, New York, 2004), examining the importance of the location and the influences of 19th Century American painting.
Until 2000 he served as international publishing director of the daily and weekly film industry newspaper, Variety
Variety (magazine)
Variety is an American weekly entertainment-trade magazine founded in New York City, New York, in 1905 by Sime Silverman. With the rise of the importance of the motion-picture industry, Daily Variety, a daily edition based in Los Angeles, California, was founded by Silverman in 1933. In 1998, the...
while recently he has provided more than a dozen voice-over
Voice-over
Voice-over is a production technique where a voice which is not part of the narrative is used in a radio, television production, filmmaking, theatre, or other presentations...
audio commentaries for DVD versions of classic films which form part of The Criterion Collection
The Criterion Collection
The Criterion Collection is a video-distribution company selling "important classic and contemporary films" to film aficionados. The Criterion series is noted for helping to standardize the letterbox format for home video, bonus features, and special editions...
. Many of these commentaries are for the films of Bergman.
He is a sometime Visiting Professor in Film Studies at the University of California
University of California
The University of California is a public university system in the U.S. state of California. Under the California Master Plan for Higher Education, the University of California is a part of the state's three-tier public higher education system, which also includes the California State University...
, Santa Barbara
Santa Barbara, California
Santa Barbara is the county seat of Santa Barbara County, California, United States. Situated on an east-west trending section of coastline, the longest such section on the West Coast of the United States, the city lies between the steeply-rising Santa Ynez Mountains and the Pacific Ocean...
. Since 2003 he has been a special consultant to the Berlin International Film Festival
Berlin International Film Festival
The Berlin International Film Festival , also called the Berlinale, is one of the world's leading film festivals and most reputable media events. It is held in Berlin, Germany. Founded in West Berlin in 1951, the festival has been celebrated annually in February since 1978...
, working with the Berlinale Talent Campus. He has moderated panels and symposia at the Venice International Film Festival, and also on behalf of the European Film Academy.
From 2004 to 2006, he was a member of the Executive Board at The European Film College in Ebeltoft, Denmark. In November 2006, to coincide with the centenary of the actress Louise Brooks
Louise Brooks
Mary Louise Brooks , generally known by her stage name Louise Brooks, was an American dancer, model, showgirl and silent film actress, noted for popularizing the bobbed haircut. Brooks is best known for her three feature roles including two G. W...
, Cowie's Louise Brooks: Lulu Forever was published in Germany and the United States. In 2008, Cowie co-edited Projections: The European Film Academy (Faber, London), and was a contributing editor to the Taschen volume, The Ingmar Bergman Archives. His most recent work includes Joan Crawford
Joan Crawford
Joan Crawford , born Lucille Fay LeSueur, was an American actress in film, television and theatre....
, the Enduring Star (Rizzoli, New York 2009). and Akira Kurosawa, Master of Cinema (Rizzoli, New York, 2010). Also in 2010, he wrote a concise history of the Berlin International Film Festival
Berlin International Film Festival
The Berlin International Film Festival , also called the Berlinale, is one of the world's leading film festivals and most reputable media events. It is held in Berlin, Germany. Founded in West Berlin in 1951, the festival has been celebrated annually in February since 1978...
(published by Bertz und Fischer, Berlin).
Prominent Publications
- Cowie, Peter, Ingmar Bergman: A Critical Biography, New York: Scribers, 1982
- Cowie, Peter, The Godfather Book, London: Faber and Faber, 1997
- Cowie, Peter, The Apocalypse Now Book, New York: Da Capo Press, 2001
- Cowie, Peter, John Ford and the American West, Harry Abrams Inc., New York, 2004 ISBN 0810949768
- Cowie, Peter, Revolution: The Explosion of World Cinema in the Sixties, New York: Faber and Faber, 2004
- Cowie, Peter, Louise Brooks: Lulu Forever, New York: Rizzoli, 2006
Audio Commentaries
- Autumn SonataAutumn SonataAutumn Sonata is a 1978 Swedish drama film written and directed by Ingmar Bergman. The film stars Ingrid Bergman, Liv Ullmann and Lena Nyman. It tells the story of a celebrated classical pianist who is confronted by her neglected daughter...
- Casque d'orCasque d'orCasque d'or is a 1952 French film directed by Jacques Becker. It is a Belle Époque tragedy, the story of an ill-fated love affair between characters played by Simone Signoret and Serge Reggiani.-Plot:...
- Diary of a Country PriestDiary of a Country PriestDiary of a Country Priest is a 1951 French film directed by Robert Bresson, and starring Claude Laydu. It was closely based on the novel of the same name by Georges Bernanos. Published in 1937, the novel received the Grand prix du roman de l'Académie française...
- Fanny and AlexanderFanny and AlexanderFanny and Alexander is a 1982 Swedish fantasy drama film written and directed by Ingmar Bergman. It was originally conceived as a four-part TV movie and cut in that version, spanning 312 minutes. A 188-minute version was created later for cinematic release, although this version was in fact the...
- Grand IllusionGrand Illusion (film)Grand Illusion is a 1937 French war film directed by Jean Renoir, who co-wrote the screenplay with Charles Spaak. The story concerns class relationships among a small group of French officers who are prisoners of war during World War I and are plotting an escape.The title of the film comes from a...
- Hiroshima mon amourHiroshima Mon AmourHiroshima mon amour is an acclaimed 1959 drama film directed by French film director Alain Resnais, with a screenplay by Marguerite Duras. It is the documentation of an intensely personal conversation between a French-Japanese couple about memory and forgetfulness...
- The LeopardThe Leopard (film)The Leopard is a 1963 Italian film by director Luchino Visconti, based on Giuseppe Tomasi di Lampedusa's novel of the same name.-Cast:* Burt Lancaster as Prince Don Fabrizio Salina* Claudia Cardinale as Angelica Sedara / Bertiana...
- The MagicianThe Magician (1958 film)The Magician is a 1958 film written and directed by Ingmar Bergman. Its original Swedish title is Ansiktet, which means "the face", and it was released theatrically as The Face in the United Kingdom, although video releases have used the U.S. title.The film stars Max von Sydow as a traveling...
- Salvatore GiulianoSalvatore Giuliano (film)Salvatore Giuliano is a 1962 Italian film directed by Francesco Rosi. Shot in a neo-realist documentary, non-linear style, it follows the lives of those involved with the famous Sicilian bandit, Salvatore Giuliano...
- Sawdust and TinselSawdust and Tinsel-Plot:An aging circus ringmaster visits his estranged wife to see his young sons. Meanwhile, his jealous young lover has an affair with an actor.-Cast:* Åke Grönberg – Albert Johansson* Harriet Andersson – Anne* Hasse Ekman – Frans* Anders Ek – Frost...
- The Seventh SealThe Seventh SealThe Seventh Seal is a 1957 Swedish film written and directed by Ingmar Bergman. Set during the Black Death, it tells of the journey of a medieval knight and a game of chess he plays with the personification of Death , who has come to take his life. Bergman developed the film from his own play...
- Tokyo OlympiadTokyo OlympiadTokyo Olympiad is a 1965 documentary film directed by Kon Ichikawa which documents the 1964 Summer Olympics in Tokyo. Like Leni Riefenstahl's Olympia, which documented the 1936 Summer Olympics in Berlin, Ichikawa's film was considered a milestone in documentary filmmaking...
- Wild StrawberriesWild Strawberries (film)Wild Strawberries is a 1957 Swedish film written and directed by Ingmar Bergman, about an old man recalling his past. The original Swedish title is Smultronstället, which literally means "the wild strawberry patch", but idiomatically means an underrated gem of a place...
- ZZ (film)Z is a 1969 French language political thriller directed by Costa Gavras, with a screenplay by Gavras and Jorge Semprún, based on the 1966 novel of the same name by Vassilis Vassilikos. The film presents a thinly fictionalized account of the events surrounding the assassination of democratic Greek...