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Robin Wood (critic)

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Robert Paul Wood (23 February 1931 – 18 December 2009)

– known as Robin Wood – was a film critic and educator Robin Wood
who lived in Canada for much of his life. He wrote books on Born 23 February 1931
Alfred Hitchcock, Howard Hawks, Satyajit Ray, Ingmar Richmond, London, England
Bergman, Antonioni and Arthur Penn and was a member,
Died 18 December 2009 (aged 78)
until 2007, of the editorial collective that publishes the
magazine CineACTION!, a film theory collective founded by Toronto, Canada
Wood and other colleagues at Toronto's York University. Cause of death Leukemia[1]
Wood was York professor emeritus of film.[2] Occupation Professor, author, film critic
Partner(s) Richard Lippe

Contents
1 Biography
1.1 Early life
1.2 Early career
1.3 Recognition
2 Scholarship and analysis
3 Legacy
4 Bibliography
5 References
6 External links

Biography
Early life

Wood was born in Richmond, London, England. According to Contemporary Authors he attended Jesus
College, Cambridge, where he was influenced by F. R. Leavis and A. P. Rossiter, and graduated in 1953 with a
diploma in education. From 1954 to 1958, Wood taught in schools in both England and Sweden. After a year in
Lille, France, teaching English, Wood returned to schools in England, and again in Sweden, where he met Aline
Macdonald[3] whom he married on 17 May 1960. (They would have three children: Carin, Fiona, and Simon).

Early career

Wood began to contribute to the film journal Movie in 1962, primarily on the strength of an essay he wrote for
Cahiers du cinéma on Hitchcock's Psycho. In 1965, he published his first book, Hitchcock's Films (New York:
A. S. Barnes, 1965). From 1969 to 1972, under the aegis of Peter Harcourt, Wood was a lecturer in film at
Queen's University, Kingston, Ontario. In September 1974, Wood and his wife divorced. Around this time, he
also had a relationship with John Anderson, the dedicatee in at least one of Wood's books. Later he was to meet
Richard Lippe, with whom he lived from 1977 until his death in 2009.

From 1973 to 1977, Wood was a lecturer on film studies at the University of Warwick, Coventry, one of the first

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three such courses in Britain, which he founded with financial support from the British Film Institute.[4] Here he
met the future film scholar Andrew Britton, whose influence on Wood, by Wood's own account, was as great as
Wood's on his student.[5] Britton is said to have led him away from liberal attitudes[1] but this is a fallacy. The
development of Wood's critical thinking is indicated in 'An Interview with Robin Wood' by Elizabeth Aherene
and Jenny Norman, dated 9 May 1974 and published in the first issue of the film journal Framework by June
1975.[6] Further insight can be obtained through lectures given by Wood during February–March 1975, prior to
the arrival of Britton.

Recognition

It was Wood's initial rejection by the British journal Sight & Sound[4] and recognition by Cahiers du cinéma,
through the publication of his Hitchcock essay, which launched his career as a film critic.[7] This prompted him
to study and gradually embrace notions of the Nouvelle Vague directors: from Claude Chabrol to Jean-Luc
Godard. He wanted to understand semiology – the science of signs – which explains cultures in terms of sign
systems. This approach of breaking films down into signs leads the critic to ask "What does it mean and why is it
there?" – analyzing, for example, techniques such as camera distance/movement, etc. So, instead of purely
celebrating 'auteur theory' (which originated as 'auteur policy', from François Truffaut) – the fact that some
directors are establishabled as artists and others are not – he became captivated by the idea of relating a film to
a whole culture at a particular time, opposed to a specific director.[8][9] Through ultimately recognizing the
importance of the work done by those who had recognized him, Wood traded the hypocrisies of accepting a
'comfortable life' – by allowing one's scruples to be purchased by the highest bidder – for integrity: a quality he
valued the highest among artists and critics, alike, of significant merit.[10] In answer to a student who
complained in 1976, "I'm not interested in politics!", Wood responded with words to the effect: "The very fact
of living is a political act!"[11]

He became professor of film studies at York University, Toronto in 1977, where he taught until his retirement in
the early 1990s. In 1985, he helped form a collective with several other students and colleagues to found and
publish CineAction (originally styled CineACTION!).

Wood's books include Ingmar Bergman (Praeger, New York, 1969), Arthur Penn (Praeger, New York, 1969),
The Apu Trilogy (Praeger, New York, 1971), The American Nightmare: Essays on the Horror Film, edited by
Robin Wood and Richard Lippe (Festival of Festivals, Toronto, 1979), Hollywood from Vietnam to Reagan
(Columbia University Press, New York, 1986), Sexual Politics and Narrative Film: Hollywood and Beyond
(Columbia University Press, New York, 1998), The Wings of the Dove: Henry James in the 1990s (British Film
Institute Publishing, London, 1999), and Rio Bravo (BFI Publishing, London, 2003). His novel Trammel up the
Consequence was published posthumously by his estate in 2011.[12]

Wood died of leukaemia[1] on 18 December 2009 in Toronto.

Scholarship and analysis

Changes in Wood's critical thinking divide his career into two parts. Wood's early books are still prized by film
students for their close readings in the auteur theory tradition and their elegant prose style. Wood brought
psychological insight into the motivations of characters in movies such as Psycho and Marnie, and Wood was
admired for his tendency to champion under-recognized directors and films.

After his coming out as a gay man, Wood's writings became more – though not exclusively – political, primarily
from a stance associated with Marxist and Freudian thinking, and with gay rights. The turning point in Wood's

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views can arguably be pinpointed in his essay "Responsibilities of a Gay Film Critic", originally a speech at
London's National Film Theatre and later published in the January 1978 issue of Film Comment. It was
subsequently included in the revised edition of his book Personal Views.

Legacy
Some of Wood's students have also become notable film scholars, including Andrew Britton and Tony Williams.
His former student Bruce LaBruce is now an underground film director. Former student Daniel Nearing is
director of the experimental Chicago Heights and Hogtown.

Bibliography
Columbia University Press has reprinted and updated Wood's book on Hitchcock, and Wayne State University
Press has recently begun a series of reprints of his early books, with new introductions. The first in the series is
Howard Hawks in 2006, to be followed by Personal Views in 2006, and Ingmar Bergman.

This list is incomplete; you can help by expanding it (https://en.wikipedia.org

/w/index.php?title=Robin_Wood_(critic)&action=edit).

Hitchcock's Films, 1965

Howard Hawks, 1968
"Arthur Penn", 1968
Ingmar Bergman, 1969
Claude Chabrol, Wood and Michael Walker, 1970
The Apu Trilogy,Praeger, New York, 1971.
Antonioni, Revised Edition, Wood and Ian Cameron, 1971
Personal Views: Explorations in Film, 1976
Hollywood from Vietnam to Reagan, 1986
Sexual Politics and Narrative Film: Hollywood and Beyond, 1998
The Wings of the Dove, 1999
Rio Bravo, 2003
Hollywood from Vietnam to Reagan…and Beyond, 2003

References
1. "Obituary" (http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/obituaries/article6976867.ece). The Times. 5 January 2010.
"Robin Wood, film critic and academic, was born on February 23, 1931. He died of leukaemia on December 18,
2009, aged 78."
2. Grimes, William (22 December 2009). "Robin Wood, Film Critic Who Wrote on Hitchcock, Dies at 78"
(http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/22/arts/22wood.html). The New York Times. Retrieved 1 January 2010.
3. Charles Barr Obituary, (http://www.guardian.co.uk/theguardian/2010/jan/04/robin-wood-obituary) The Guardian, 4
January 2010
4. Williams, Tony. "Robin Wood – A Personal View" (http://www.wetdryvac.net/November3rdClub/2010/02-2010
/nonfiction/williams2.html). The November 3rd Club. Wetdryvac.net. Retrieved 17 May 2012.
5. Wood, Robin (1986). Hollywood from Vietnam to Reagan. Columbia University Press. p. ix. ISBN 0-231-05777-6.
6. Elizabeth Aherene & Jenny Norman (1974–75). An Interview with Robin Wood. Framework, Warwick University
Arts Federation, issue number one.
7. Robin Wood (http://www.cupblog.org/?p=1184) Columbia University Press blog, Retrieved 2012-17-05
8. Lecture by Robin Wood on 21 November 1975, Critical approaches to Hollywood, Introduction to Film Studies
course (1975–76), University of Warwick.

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Robin Wood (critic) - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robin_Wood_(critic)

9. Joe McElhaney, Hitchcock's Films Revisited by Robin Wood, Revised Edition (http://sensesofcinema.com
/2003/book-reviews/hitch_wood_revised/) senses of cinema – book review, Retrieved 2012-18-05
10. Armen Svadjian, An Interview with Robin Wood (2006): A Life in Film Criticism: Robin Wood at 75, published in
Your Flesh Magazine, 2006 (http://friendsofrobinwood.blogspot.co.uk/2011/08/interview-with-robin-
wood-2006.html#more) Friends of Robin Wood, Retrieved 2012-18-05
11. Witnessed by film studies student, Clive Gardener.
12. Friends of Robin Wood. "Trammel up the Consequence Published" (http://friendsofrobinwood.blogspot.com). Estate
of Robin Wood. Retrieved 27 October 2012.

External links
Official Website of CineACTION! (http://cineaction.ca/)
A Robin Wood Bibliography (http://dkholm.typepad.com/cinemonkey/2010/04/robin-wood-bibliography-
introduction.html)
An interview with Robin Wood (http://yourfleshmag.com/books/a-life-in-film-criticism-robin-
wood-at-75/)
A conversation with Robin Wood (http://www.wsws.org/articles/2009/dec2009/wood-d21.shtml)
Robin Wood (http://www.imdb.com/name/nm2072803/) at the Internet Movie Database
friendsofrobinwood.blogspot.com (http://friendsofrobinwood.blogspot.com/)

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Robin_Wood_(critic)&oldid=674123809"

Categories: Academics of the University of Warwick Alumni of Jesus College, Cambridge

British film critics British film historians Film theorists Gay writers LGBT writers from England
People from Richmond, London York University faculty 1931 births 2009 deaths
British expatriates in Canada Canadian film critics Canadian film historians Canadian male writers
LGBT writers from Canada

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