Richard Brody on Pauline Kael's "Notes on Heart and Mind"

When Pauline Kael joined The New Yorker’s staff as a movie critic, in January, 1968, the world of cinema was undergoing drastic change.

January 23, 1971

The previous year, much of the film establishment had reacted with bewilderment—and even condemnation—to “Bonnie and Clyde,” which mirrored sixties politics with its story of heedless youth caught in America’s web of violence. In Kael’s famous New Yorker review (which she’d written as a freelancer), she had hailed it as a sign of Hollywood’s rejuvenation. But, three years into the job, she felt that the industry was backsliding. In January, 1971, after a week in which she deemed no new releases worth reviewing, she channelled her discontent into a startling article, “Notes on Heart and Mind,” which, true to its title, is a batch of journal-style riffs rather than a conventional essay. Together, the notes form something of a manifesto and reveal why, despite Kael’s status as the foremost critic of her era, she was also sharply at odds with it.