Pauline Kael Audio & Video

A portrait of the work and life of controversial film critic Pauline Kael, and her battle to achieve success and influence in the 20th century movie business.

In 1968, film critic Pauline Kael weighed in on the state of the movie business in this interview with Studs Terkel. Kael had just published her second collection of reviews with Kiss Kiss Bang Bang and discussed many of the opinions that she put forth in that book.

Pauline Kael sits down with Studs Terkel for an hour-long conversation about movies in the year 1972. She pans many beloved films of the time including Stanley Kubrick's 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968) and A Clockwork Orange (1971), which she denounces for their coldness.

Pauline Kael weighs in on many films from the 1980s in this interview from Fresh Air. At the time she was championing smaller films and genre pictures that she felt were better than the big blockbuster movies of the 1980s.

Pauline Kael is one of the country's most preeminent film critics. She came to the profession in her mid 40s after working in radio and owning a movie theater. She has written for New York Magazine since 1968, and her reviews have been collected in published books since 1965.