Hanson’s Perceptions

In her article “Director Curtis Hanson, Looking Beyond the Oscars” (Jan. 10), Judy Hevrdejs writes of his past experience “as a writer and photographer for a cinema magazine.” The magazine referred to wasn’t merely “a cinema magazine,” but the legendary Cinema magazine, whose combination of auteurist-influenced articles and rich pictorial style made it one of the most exciting film journals of the 1960s.

Long before Vincent Canby panned “Bonnie and Clyde” while Pauline Kael praised it, and Joseph Morgenstern first panned then praised it, it was Curtis Hanson writing in the pages of Cinema who, having viewed this film in rough cut, heralded it as a breakthrough film that would forever change the face of cinema.

It’s interesting that like “Bonnie and Clyde,” “Wonder Boys” is one of the few studio films that’s been given a second chance to grab the elusive box-office brass ring. May its potential Oscar nominations bring “Wonder Boys” the larger audience it deserves. But if not, at least Hanson has the right attitude: His labor of love will be remembered after other high-concept films are long forgotten.

JON SCHWARTZ

Santa Monica