• Robin Wood: 1931–2009

    It is with great sadness that we note the passing of Robin Wood, a true lion of film criticism and a dear friend. How does one begin to describe the impact this writer and thinker had on his field? For more than four decades, from his hugely influential Hitchcock’s Films (1965) and Howard Hawks (1968) to his collection Hollywood from Vietnam to Reagan (1986) and what he told me was his favorite work, Sexual Politics & Narrative Film (1998), Robin’s voice resounded through (and helped define) the discipline of cinema studies. His writing was erudite yet inviting, lucid, incredibly engaging, sometimes provocative and personal, always thoughtful, and, of course, enormously intelligent and politically committed. There was no one else like him.

    My first encounter with his writing was his book Hitchcock’s Films Revisited (1989), a revision of the earlier work and a volume that changed the way I think about film and inspired me in many ways beyond that. I was honored to be able to meet and work with him in my years here at Criterion.

     

    Robin often made pleas for Criterion to put out his favorite films, and Leo McCarey’s Make Way for Tomorrow always topped that list. This fall, we were finally able to put that project together, and, at his suggestion, to include his chapter on the film from Sexual Politics. We are dedicating the release to his memory.

     

    Robin was a beloved Criterion contributor, and we want to share his work for us with you here. In order of appearance: his essays for The Scarlet Empress, Rebecca, The Furies, Le plaisir, and The Lady Vanishes, and his Top 10, for which he chose the portrait with cat featured below.

     

    We will all miss Robin very much. —Liz Helfgott

     

    On Five

11 comments

  • By Jeffrey E. Ford
    December 21, 2009
    05:15 PM

    I'm sad to learn of the death of Mr. Wood, whose works continue to inspire thought and reflection -- something that is sadly missing throughout much of the critical community -- and whose books remain chesrished friends. RIP.
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  • By David Poltorak
    December 21, 2009
    07:14 PM

    Farewell to a truly great writer on film, the one whose work has meant more to me through the years than any other.
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  • By Brad Fackler
    December 22, 2009
    12:09 PM

    Robin Wood and Andrew Sarris are the two people who changed me from a fan of movies to someone who appreciated the art of film. Mr. Wood's books on Hitchcock and Hawks are still influences on the way I look at the cinema. May he rest in peace.
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  • By Michael
    December 22, 2009
    04:09 PM

    The finest writer on the cinema by far. A huge and serious loss for the field of film criticism.
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  • By Chiranjit
    December 22, 2009
    05:06 PM

    Such sad news to read. His absence in the film criticism community will certainly be noticeable. Thankfully, Wood's writing and analysis provide a magnificent legacy. His perspective was definitely unique, as I always fondly remember him sitting down in front of me at a TIFF screening of Gregg Araki's "Smiley Face" a couple of years ago. Don't know if he liked it or not, but I just loved the idea that he was willing to watch it. I think I'll read a couple of chapters of "Sexual Politics & Narrative Film" when I get home tonight.
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  • By Rob Armour
    December 24, 2009
    12:32 AM

    I had the rare privileged of having Robin Wood as a teacher, and one could sit there for hours on end listening to his passionate lectures! Fondly remembered, sadly missed.
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  • By Jeff Crouse
    December 24, 2009
    04:14 PM

    His life and work have had an enormous influence on my thinking, particularly his essays which appeared in CINEACTION! during the early 1990s. Like so many others, I was privileged to know him, and count his influence on my formative thinking as a phenomenal gift. We owe it to him, ourselves, film art, and the larger culture to be as critical minded yet generous toward appreciating film of every kind as he showed himself to be.
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  • By David Hollingsworth
    December 28, 2009
    04:21 PM

    This has got to be one of the most devastating losses in the film community/world. He will be forever missed, but never forgotten. I will continue to read his essays on film as long as I shall live.
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  • By Joey Umana
    December 30, 2009
    03:21 AM

    I have to say I am saddened a great deal by the passing Robin,what he brought to criticism was the Queer Gaze after he came out of the closet and revisited his Hitchcock book in 1989. As a filmmaker I hated him as a Gay man I couldn't stand him but as critic he gave me hope and in sight reading his long worded works were a strong task as when I was 19 and just starting my undergrad work in criticism. Now while doing my masters i found out he is the reason really why i headed down that road. A great loss you will be missed.........
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  • By Justin Busch
    December 30, 2009
    04:00 PM

    There is no other writer on film from I whom I have learned so much or have so much enjoyed reading. I had the privilege of having dinner with Robin Wood a few years ago, and found him to be even more passionately committed to a progressive future based on genuine human conversation and love than even his writings had suggested. I am truly sorry to hear of his death; my heartfelt sympathies go out to Richard Lippe and Mr. Wood's family.
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  • By Steve Yuen
    November 21, 2010
    05:06 PM

    He was my film teacher when I was at York University. I just learned about his passing here. He teached me a lot and I owed so much to him. I will miss him dearly.
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