
More specifically, After Hours: Scorsese, Grief and the Grammar of Cinema is "THERE’S NO BOOK IF YOU CAN’T GET TO THE LAST LINE," which you may read here. You may also read some excerpt below. Cool? Quite so, I'd say. Medium anyway.
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"Is there truly never enough time? This question certainly applies to the things one may want to create, and then life in general, but how does it apply to a book once completed, masterpiece or not?
"In an interview with Deadline, Martin Scorsese told the story of Akira Kurosawa receiving his lifetime achievement Oscar. '[Kurosawa] said, ‘I’m only now beginning to see the possibility of what cinema could be, and it’s too late.’ He was 83. At the time, I said, ‘What does he mean?’ Now I know what he means… I’m old. I read stuff. I see things. I want to tell stories, and there’s no more time.'
"My book After Hours: Scorsese, Grief and the Grammar of Cinema is now out in the world, and out of my hands, left to the reader to decide what it’s worth to them. I saw Scorsese’s 1985 film After Hours as offering me a chance to write about two things I tend to obsess over—grief and the act of becoming a creative person. A mix of criticism and memoir, the book is about how this movie helped me to make sense of the death of my father.
"Let’s pause to note here that for those who haven’t watched After Hours—and if you haven’t, what have you been doing with your life—it’s a movie about Paul Hackett, played by Griffin Dunne, who feels trapped by his 9-to-5 office job. He chases a woman late one night to SoHo, believes himself trapped there as well and spends a manic, claustrophobic, and dread-ridden night trying to escape the neighborhood and arguably—in his mind anyway—stay alive, all of which unfolds in what feels like (near) real time.
"Lately I’ve wondered if Paul Hackett truly does all he can to escape the neighborhood. He does not, but let’s un-pause to note, I’ve done what I could do, and I released the book.
"Have I released myself?"