Harvey Keitel: The Art of Darkness

The most useful way to describe this unauthorized bio is to list all the things it is not: lurid, cheap, gratuitous, laden with half-baked psychobabble. Instead, Fine (a film critic and occasional writer for this magazine) brings to his respectful yet thorough investigation of indie eminence Keitel a purpose, restraint, and polished prose style very unusual for the genre. At the same time, however, the author's evident admiration for Keitel occasionally leads him to let his subject off too easily on issues regarding his personal life. So here's another thing this book is not: a titillating tell-all. It's a well-crafted profile that an intelligent film lover can respect.