Acclaimed Danish filmmaker Nicolas Winding Refn (Bronson, Drive) has announced the release of his debut book The Act of Seeing. Coauthored by FrighFest curator and renowned horror expert Alan Jones and trawls through Refn’s unique collection of rare American film posters as it explores his which shows us Refn’s earliest visual connection with movies, stemming from a childhood spent wondering the streets of Manhattan, obsessing over art house posters that decorated the outside walls of the elusive movie theatres he was too young to go in to.
From the vintage visuals of ‘SPIKED HEELS AND BLACK NYLONS’, ‘OBSCENE HOUSE’ and ‘ALICE IN ACIDLAND’ to ‘THE TWISTED SEX’, ‘TORTURE ME KISS ME’ and ‘ZERO IN AND SCREAM’ – to name just a few of the tantalizing film titles showcased – the controversial Danish icon constructs a whole new way of looking at the key artwork and shameless hyperbole thought up in the back alley gutters of the exploitation industry.
From the vintage visuals of ‘SPIKED HEELS AND BLACK NYLONS’, ‘OBSCENE HOUSE’ and ‘ALICE IN ACIDLAND’ to ‘THE TWISTED SEX’, ‘TORTURE ME KISS ME’ and ‘ZERO IN AND SCREAM’ – to name just a few of the tantalizing film titles showcased – the controversial Danish icon constructs a whole new way of looking at the key artwork and shameless hyperbole thought up in the back alley gutters of the exploitation industry.
Now the celebrated filmmaker makes complicit voyeurs of us all by editing his exceptional collection of little-seen and vivid front-of-house displays into an extraordinary multi-dimensional creation to match the observation sensations explored in his own pioneering screen work.
With comprehensive historical context provided for each poster, and every single production detail meticulously overseen by Winding Refn himself, this lavish volume encapsulates everything he has learned about direct eyewitness confrontation on a heart-felt individual journey into the art and act of seeing.
https://youtu.be/IWWtOQOZSTI?list=PL18yMRIfoszEaHYNDTy5C-cH9Oa2gN5ng
Originally published July 31, 2015. Updated April 14, 2018.
