Dean Tavoularis – Book

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Conversations with Dean Tavoularis
by Jordan Mintzer

Foreword by Wes Anderson
2022 - 352 pages - 28 x 21 cm
French / English

Intended for film buffs, students and professionals of the 7th art, but also for lovers of design and architecture, this book offers a unique journey through the cinema of the last sixty years. A fascinating dive behind the scenes of cult films of the 20th century: Apocalypse Now, The Godfather, Bonnie and Clyde, Little Big Man, Zabriskie Point, Secret Conversation and many others.

Dean Tavoularis has a most illustrious filmography, his name being associated with many masterpieces of American cinema from the 1960s and 1970s. His collaborations with Francis Ford Coppola, Michelangelo Antonioni, Arthur Penn, Warren Beatty, William Friedkin and Roman Polanski are among the richest and most inventive in modern cinema.

Conversations with Dean Tavoularis retraces the incredible odyssey of the man who began his career as an animator on Lady and the Tramp under the direction of Walt Disney. After having cut his teeth in the biggest Hollywood studios, he became production designer on one of the films which contributed to the advent of the New Hollywood, Bonnie and Clyde. But it is alongside Francis Ford Coppola that Dean Tavoularis devotes most of his career. Hired to work on The Godfather, they formed a unique creative couple for more than three decades.

Entire chapters are devoted to the Godfather trilogy and Apocalypse Now, the filming of which is explored in detail. Dean Tavoularis also reveals certain Coppola projects, such as Pinocchio, thanks to conceptual drawings never before revealed and a breathtaking visual story plan.

Through all these films, Dean Tavoularis gives us his view on the profession of production designer, tackling subjects as varied as initial research, location scouting, the creation of models, the management of teams, the budget and finally the construction of the set . He explains how the settings are there to accompany the narrative of a film, its main themes and ideas, offering a universe where filmmakers and actors can create freely.

Accessible to all and full of anecdotes where we will come across, among others, Jean-Luc Godard, Marlon Brando, Gene Kelly and Tom Waits, the book is illustrated with hundreds of visuals, most of them unpublished: set photos, set plans , architectural plans, archives, concept drawings, storyboards, budgets, memos and internal notes.

A book-length preface by Wes Anderson and written by Jordan Mintzer, author of the already cult Conversations with James Gray and Conversations with Darius Khondji.

© Synecdoche

Newspaper

“Dean Tavoularis has influenced my life, my children, my family, my ideas, my aspirations, my dreams, my ambitions and my legacy. » -Francis Ford Coppola
“Dean Tavoularis' work has always been a reflection of who he is: authentic, adventurous, charming and true. » - Wes Anderson
“Dean Tavoularis was more inventive than any other production designer I have worked with. » - Vittorio Storaro

Authors biography

Jordan Mintzer is a writer, producer, and film critic from Queens, New York. Paris correspondent for The Hollywood Reporter, he also writes for Variety, So Film, Le Monde, Cahiers du Cinéma and Libération. He is the author of the books Conversations with James Gray and Conversations with Darius Khondji published by Synecdoche.
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