Emanuel "Manny" Farber (February 20, 1917 – 18 August 2008) was an American painter, film critic and writer. Often described as "iconoclastic", Farber developed a distinctive prose style and set of theoretical stances which have had a large influence on later generations of film critics; Susan Sontag considered him to be "the liveliest, smartest, most original film critic this country has ever produced."Farber's writing was distinguished by its "visceral," punchy style and inventive approach towards language; amongst other things, he is credited with coining the term "underground film," and was an early advocate of such filmmakers as Howard Hawks, Rainer Werner Fassbinder, Werner Herzog, William Wellman, Raoul Walsh, Anthony Mann, Michael Snow, Chantal Akerman, George Kuchar and Andy Warhol.Farber's painting, which was often influenced by his favorite filmmakers, is held in equally high regard; he was dubbed the greatest still life painter of his generation by The New York Times.Later in life, Farber focused more on art and teaching. He often worked in close collaboration with his wife, Patricia Patterson, also an artist.
[on Anthony Mann]: The films of this tin-can De Sade have a Germanic rigor, caterpillar intimacy, and an original dictionary of ways in which to punish the human body. Mann has done interesting work with scissors, a cigarette lighter and steam, but his most bizarre effect takes place in a taxidermist's shop. By intricate manipulation of athletes' bodies, Mann tries to ram the eyes of his combatants on the horns of a stuffed deer stuck on the wall.
2
[on William A. Wellman]: In any Bill Wellman operation, there are at least four directors - a sentimentalist, deep thinker, hooey vaudevillian and an expedient short-cut artist whose special love is for mulish toughs expressing themselves in drop-kicking heads and sombre standing around.
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Fact
1
Credited with coining the phrase "underground films.".
2
Film critic and abstract painter.
Writer
Title
Year
Status
Character
Negative Space
2000
TV Short documentary book
Thanks
Title
Year
Status
Character
The Ruling Classroom
1980
thanks
Poto and Cabengo
1980
Documentary special thanks
Self
Title
Year
Status
Character
Negative Space
2000
TV Short documentary
Himself
Archive Footage
Title
Year
Status
Character
The 81st Annual Academy Awards
2009
TV Special
Himself - Memorial Tribute
Won Awards
Year
Award
Ceremony
Nomination
Movie
2003
Mel Novikoff Award
San Francisco International Film Festival
1999
Special Award
New York Film Critics Circle Awards
For his distinguished contribution to film criticism.
$16 Million