Encyclopedia of International Film 2012

The film year 2012 was a very diverse year, full of positive surprises, small disappointments and endearing homages to the magic of cinema. While "Truly Best Friends" became quite the surprise hit, Frenchman Michel Hazanavicius picked up several Oscars with his silent film homage "The Artist". In addition to many big blockbusters such as the "Avengers", James Bond's return in "Skyfall" or the reunion with Middle Earth in "The Hobbit", there were again many small film gems in 2012 that could be discovered in art house cinemas, on television or on DVD.

The "Lexicon of International Film" again offers all film enthusiasts with its 2012 volume the opportunity to discover all the big and small films, whether theatrical, TV or DVD premieres, and get to know them with the help of brief synopses and all the important information. It is simply fun to browse through the work, to see which films you have seen, which ones you actually wanted to see and which ones have completely passed you by, although they actually sound very interesting. But the interested reader is not only presented with all the films of the year in alphabetical order. The book deals right at the beginning with the complete movie year with all its peculiarities month by month. This introduction of just under 20 pages is followed by a nearly 40-page breviary on Martin Scorsese, who had presented a quite wonderful homage to the beginnings of cinema in 2012 with "Hugo Cabret". The multi-part breviary brings together articles from "Filmdienst" magazine from 1992 to 2013, thematically focusing on Scorsese's sources of inspiration, his working methods, and on his role as a film historian <x>Ampersand</x> film preservationist. Finally, three conversations with the director are offered.

On nearly 400 pages then follows the encyclopedia with the films of 2012. After that, the reader is still presented in more detail the best films of the year in the opinion of the editors of the "Filmdienst", followed by particularly worth seeing films and the cinema tip of the Catholic film criticism. And outstanding DVD and Blu-Ray editions are also honored in their own chapter.

Another 14 pages once again summarize the results of the most important film awards ceremonies in 2012, from the Prize of German Film Critics to the Berlin and Cannes Film Festivals and the Oscars. The encyclopedias of the 2012 directors and the original titles conclude the book. While one may not necessarily agree with every review or choice of the best films of the year, "Lexicon of International Film 2012" is still a must-have for any film lover. There is simply no more comprehensive and clear listing of all the film premieres and information surrounding the year's film events. The comprehensive breviary on Martin Scorsese is a wonderful and extremely readable addition, through which in the end only one rating is possible: absolutely recommendable!

An article by Frankfurt-Tipp