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The Conversations: Walter Murch and the Art of Editing Film

michael ondaatje

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The Conversations is a treasure, essential for any lover or student of film, and a rare, intimate glimpse into the worlds of two accomplished artists who share a great passion for film and storytelling, and whose knowledge and love of the crafts of writing and film shine through.

It was on the set of the movie adaptation of his Booker Prize-winning novel, The English Patient, that Michael Ondaatje met the master film and sound editor Walter Murch, and the two began a remarkable personal conversation about the making of films and books in our time that continued over two years. From those conversations stemmed this enlightened, affectionate book -- a mine of wonderful, surprising observations and information about editing, writing and literature, music and sound, the I-Ching, dreams, art and history.

The Conversations is filled with stories about how some of the most important movies of the last thirty years were made and about the people who brought them to the screen. It traces the artistic growth of Murch, as well as his friends and contemporaries -- including directors such as Francis Ford Coppola, George Lucas, Fred Zinneman and Anthony Minghella -- from the creation of the independent, anti-Hollywood Zoetrope by a handful of brilliant, bearded young men to the recent triumph of Apocalypse Now Redux.

Among the films Murch has worked on are American Graffiti, The Conversation, the remake of A Touch of Evil, Julia, Apocalypse Now, The Godfather (all three), The Talented Mr. Ripley, and The English Patient.

"Walter Murch is a true oddity in Hollywood. A genuine intellectual and renaissance man who appears wise and private at the centre of various temporary storms to do with film making and his whole generation of filmmakers. He knows, probably, where a lot of the bodies are buried."

368 pages, Paperback

First published January 1,2002

This edition

Format
368 pages, Paperback
Published
October 5, 2002 by Knopf
ISBN
9780375709821
ASIN
0375709827
Language
English
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About the author

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michael ondaatje

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Philip Michael Ondaatje is a Sri Lankan-born Canadian poet, fiction writer, and essayist, renowned for his contributions to both poetry and prose. He was born in Colombo in 1943, to a family of Tamil and Burgher descent. Ondaatje emigrated to Canada in 1962, where he pursued his education, obtaining a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Toronto and a Master of Arts from Queen's University.
Ondaatje's literary career began in 1967 with his poetry collection The Dainty Monsters, followed by his celebrated The Collected Works of Billy the Kid in 1970. His poetry earned him numerous accolades, including the Governor General's Award for his collection There's a Trick with a Knife I'm Learning to Do: Poems 1973–1978 in 1979. He published 13 books of poetry, exploring diverse themes and poetic forms.
In 1992, Ondaatje gained international fame with the publication of his novel The English Patient, which won the Booker Prize and was later adapted into an Academy Award-winning film. His other notable works include In the Skin of a Lion (1987), Anil's Ghost (2000), and Divisadero (2007), which won the Governor General's Award. Ondaatje's novel Warlight (2018) was longlisted for the Booker Prize.
Aside from his writing, Ondaatje has been influential in fostering Canadian literature. He served as an editor at Coach House Books, contributing to the promotion of new Canadian voices. He also co-edited Brick, A Literary Journal, and worked as a founding trustee of the Griffin Trust for Excellence in Poetry.
Ondaatje's work spans various forms, including plays, documentaries, and essays. His 2002 book The Conversations: Walter Murch and the Art of Editing Film earned him critical acclaim and won several awards. His plays have been adapted from his novels, including The Collected Works of Billy the Kid and Coming Through Slaughter.
Over his career, Ondaatje has been honored with several prestigious awards. He was named an Officer of the Order of Canada in 1988, upgraded to Companion in 2016, and received the Sri Lanka Ratna in 2005. In 2016, a new species of spider, Brignolia ondaatjei, was named in his honor.
Ondaatje's personal life is also intertwined with his literary pursuits. He has been married to novelist Linda Spalding, and the couple co-edits Brick. He has two children from his first marriage and is the brother of philanthropist Sir Christopher Ondaatje. He was also involved in a public stand against the PEN American Center's decision to honor Charlie Hebdo in 2015, citing concerns about the publication's anti-Islamic content.
Ondaatje's enduring influence on literature and his ability to blend personal history with universal themes in his writing continue to shape Canadian and world literature.

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erena_xo
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
April 17,2025
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Michael Ondaatje, scrittore de Il Paziente Inglese, intervista Walter Murch, montatore tra gli altri proprio de Il Paziente inglese, La Conversazione, Il padrino III e Apocalypse Now.
Il libro è basato su alcune conversazioni avvenute a distanza di tempo, con argomenti che spaziano dagli aspetti più tecnici del fare cinema, del montaggio e del modo geniale di Murch utilizzare il suono, a quelli invece più personali come le ispirazioni e la vita di entrambi.
La trovo una lettura importante per chiunque ami il cinema in quanto fornisce tantissime informazioni utili che aiutano a vedere i film in modo più consapevole, oltre che a regalare molti spunti su scrittura e creatività in generale.
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Sauchel
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
April 17,2025
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A fantastic book-length interview that finds the pulse beneath the art of film and sound editing. I reread it every time I'm editing a project, and Walter Murch always gives me fresh insights and inspiration.
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104021
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
April 17,2025
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اغراق نکرده‌ام اگر بگویم خواندن این کتاب در چه‌گونگی فهم یک فیلم و نیز در چه‌گونگی به کار بردن تمهیدات سینمایی برای انتقال مفاهیم، به من کمک کرد. از خواندنش خوشحالم و افسوس که در میان کتاب‌های سینمایی از این قبیل آثار را به ندرت می‌توان یافت. شاید علتش همان باشد که خود والتر مرچ می‌گوید (نقل به مضمون): سینما هنر جوانی‌ست و هنوز زبان آن به شکل مدون جمع‌آوری نشده است.
ترجمه‌ی کتاب قابل قبول است اما شلخته و پر از اشتباهات ساده‌ای که به نظر می‌رسد با یک بار خواندن دقیق قابل حل بوده است. این اشتباهات آدم را نسبت به صحت متن دچار شک می‌کند. نمونه‌ی ساده‌اش این است که والتر مرچ و مایکل انداچ (مصاحبه‌شونده و مصاحبه‌کننده) یکی در میان همدیگر را تو و شما خطاب می‌کنند! این نمونه را ببینید
کی می‌توانید بگویی قسمت‌های اضافه شده با کلیت فیلم هماهنگ است یا نه؟
عجیب آن که کتاب نام دو مترجم را روی جلد دارد. یعنی این‌دو کار همدیگر را نمی‌خوانده‌اند؟
نکته‌ی دیگر ترجمه‌ی نامأنوس برخی اصطلاحات است. مثلاً کتاب و فیلم «سبکی تحمل ناپذیر هستی» که به فارسی «بار هستی» ترجمه شده است، در چند جای کتاب با هر دو عنوان ثبت شده است. یا اصطلاح
The Decisive Moment
که توسط هانری کارتیه برسون ابداع شده و بین عکاسان ایرانی به «لحظه‌ی قطعی» شناخته می‌شود، در کتاب «لحظه‌ی سرنوشت‌ساز» ترجمه شده است. همچنین اصطلاح «اسمبل کردن» که بین تدوینگران به یک فرآیند مشخص فنی اشاره دارد، ردیف کردن ترجمه شده است که می‌تواند درست باشد اما گمراه کننده است چون اصطلاحی جا نیفتاده است و ممکن است خواننده‌ی کتاب منظور را درک نکند.
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rudra_senpai
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
April 17,2025
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o formato de entrevista - e o fato de serem várias, feitas ao longo dos anos e sem medo de retomar assuntos já abordados - faz do livro uma das coisas mais interessantes que já li sobre cinema. e a melhor sobre edição, montagem e som. inspirador para ter idéias e pensar no ofício, em soluções e inovações. e ao mesmo tempo muito mais leve do que textos escritos como teses ou manuais práticos. supera até mesmo o livro do próprio Walter Murch, In the blink of an eye.
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Roseblush
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
April 17,2025
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"Let's say the dramatic slope seems to be going up too fast. Your tendency will be to do things editorially to compensate. Then when you think it's going too slow, you will shorten things or boost the intensity.
If you let that impulse completely loose out of its cage, what you'll find is that you may have pushed down a bulge at point A, but unbeknownst to you, later, at point C, there's going to be a compensating lift that you don't know about yet - no one may know about it since films are usually shot out of sequence. So by pushing down on A you will have an overreaction at C.
It's a stage in the process I call "editing with eyes half closed." You can't open your eyes completely, which is to say, you can't express your opinion unreservedly. You don't know enough yet."

"If you think of the audience's focus of attention as a dot moving around the screen, the editor's job is to carry that dot around in an interesting way. If the dot is moving from left got right and then up to the right-hand corner of the frame, when there's a cut, make sure there's something top look at in the right-hand corner of the next shot to receive that focus of interest."
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GhostF1sh
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
April 17,2025
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Easily worth $100 for anyone doing any sound design or editing in any medium. The gems and tricks he doles out are fantastic and true. Great tidbits from all the films he worked on. Changed my understanding of what a film editor is capable of. He’s funny, inspiring, modest, and bold- highly recommend.
Now i have to read his, “In the Blink of an Eye” book!
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Rebillion12
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
April 17,2025
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Film/sound editor extraordinaire Walter Murch supplies the stories, acclaimed author Michael Ondaatje asks the questions in this fine book chock-full of behind-the-scenes knowledge and technique. Murch already shared ideas that are now part and parcel of the art of film editing in his book 'In the Blink of an Eye,' but this book gets more personal and delves into the relationships WM shared with other LA luminaries of the late 60s/early 70s like Coppola and Lucas. It's fascinating to learn more about the genesis of great works like 'Apocalypse Now,' 'The Godfather,' 'The Conversation,' and more. A fine and breezy read.
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BigPPFumiya
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
April 17,2025
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A most remarkable book on film editing and other aspects of film, especially sound design. I like the conversational flow of it as well. It was so dense in matter that I think I'll have to buy my own copy so I can review it further. (It wasn't even in BYU the library, and I had to get it from inter library loan.)
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