Films on paper

I don't have a big library of books about movies. But I do like the ones I have.

Peter von Bagh leads the pack with three titles: Elokuvan historia (2004 edition), Rikoksen hehku (1997), and Lajien synty (2009). Agree with him or not, fully grasp everything or not, there's no denying his passion and literally encyclopedic knowledge.

Another single-author source I have is David Thomson's "Have You Seen...?": A Personal Introduction to 1,000 Films (2008). He can also be a bit highbrow, but anyone who loves Rio Bravo is okay in my book.

1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die (2004 edition) is edited by Steven Jay Schneider. It's a good general reference and includes more popular movies than either of the above gentlemen.

Video-opas 95, edited by Bello Romano, was sadly never updated. It's dated now, but still a good source, especially for Finnish translations of film names (which, incidentally, was the reason I bought it when I was translating for a local TV station).

Finally there is Film Noir (2004) by Alain Silver and James Ursini - you can guess what it's about.

I have some books on individual actors and directors, but those can wait for another time.