The De Palma Decade

“A perfect treatise on one of cinema’s most original auteurs. It’s filled with fascinating insights and thoughtful analysis that will delight fans of De Palma’s work. Bouzereau proves once again that he is one of our greatest film writers.This book belongs on every cinephile’s shelf!”

“A singular voice in a generation of ‘Pure Cinema’ practitioners, De Palma remains more complex, personal, and deep a filmmaker than most. Laurent Bouzereau’s The De Palma Decade does a terrific job at parting the veil on one of De Palma’s most prodigious periods and witnessing the birth of an American auteur that managed to manipulate, enchant, and terrify audiences worldwide. Beyond genre, beyond all definition, this is an indispensable text for all those of us intent in deciphering the master.”

“Laurent Bouzereau has written an enthralling overview that’s as much a fascinating examination of the author as it is of his subject. Yet he always keeps De Palma, and the power of his work, in the center of the frame. We feel the love of cinema that connects this pair.”

“Both unabashed De Palma fan and discerning critic, Laurent Bouzereau delivers riveting detail and fresh insight into a transformative era for film and one of its most fascinating figures. The De Palma Decade is delightfully obsessive.”

“As a devotee of De Palma who has pored over every frame of the operatic cinema discussed in The De Palma Decade, I was thrilled that there was even more to learn about the Master of the Macabre. An essential book about every facet of honing these masterpieces, it’s meticulous, brilliantly structured, stylish, and endlessly fascinating, much like De Palma himself.”

“This admiring book . . .  persuasively shows readers the substance behind De Palma’s style.”
 

“As audacious as a bucket of pig's blood . . . The deliberately opaque nightmarish early work of De Palma is ripe for reappraisal, and this book gets to the dark heart of it with zeal and style.”

“A stylish and deeply personal exploration of [De Palma's] work.”

“A fantastically entertaining and essential study of an iconic director.”

“This cinematic love letter contains more than in-depth commentary: there’s biography, oral history, and personal reflection. The result is a playful, even whimsical, contribution to the effort to consolidate De Palma’s auteur status, to evaluate De Palma’s reputation as one of America’s most important, though divisive, filmmakers.”

“Laurent [Bouzereau] stands in a class all of his own. If I were teaching a film studies class, I would devote an entire semester of study to [De Palma] with The De Palma Decade as the assigned textbook.”

“Bouzereau’s passion for De Palma is infectious, and the book is breezy and fun—a nostalgic trip for fans of early De Palma.”
 

​“Bouzereau crafts an engaging and informative look at De Palma’s varied cinematic hits and misses.”

“Reading Bouzereau's intelligent, in-depth look at De Palma's diverse, daring, innovative works of one incredible decade will expand the readers' understanding and respect for the director.”