Public lectures and events
Saturday Forum | "Ready for my Close Up": The Making of Sunset Boulevard
In this lecture, we will explore the dynamics behind the creation of the 1950 film noir classic Sunset Boulevard, and the highly combustible and competitive partnership between its director, Billy Wilder, and its writer/producer, Charles Brackett.
We will also examine the film’s large social impact on popular culture, in particular, the fascination with fame that saturates our contemporary social networks and the film’s prophetic nature in showing—over 60 years ago— the dangers of unbridled star-adulation and self-absorption. Some cinematic works of art have such an intuitive prescience into the human condition that they seem as fresh and insightful today as when they were produced. Sunset Boulevard is just such a film.
Lecturer
-
Donald Brackett, a culture critic, specializes in the history, theory, and practice of art, design, music, and architecture. A well-known art historian and curator, he is the author of many essays, articles, monographs, and books, among which are Fleetwood Mac: 40 Years of Creative Chaos (2007) and Dark Mirror: The Pathology of the Singer-Songwriter (2008).
Brackett studied at Rochdale College and the Marshall McCluhan Centre for Culture and Communications at the University of Toronto. He has lectured extensively at Toronto’s Centennial and George Brown Colleges, at The Institute Without Boundaries, at the Ontario College of Art and Design, and at Ryerson University. He has also frequently spoken on public radio.
He is currently writing Strange Magic: The Films of Charles Brackett and Billy Wilder, on a unique creative partnership. As Charles Brackett’s nephew, he brings a wealth of personal knowledge and insight to this topic.
Sponsors
The Free Saturday Forums are sponsored by SFU Seniors Lifelong Learners Society.
Questions?
Email: csreg@sfu.ca
Phone: 778-782-8000