Product Description

The official companion to the new fall 2004 release from Fox Searchlight, written and directed by Academy Award-winner Bill Condon (Gods and Monsters, Chicago) and starring Liam Neeson (Schindler's List), explores the life of the pioneer of human sexuality research, Alfred Kinsey.

Spanning six decades from his childhood in the early 1900s to his death in 1956, the film turns the microscope on the man whose landmark studies on the sexual behaviors of the common man rocked a nation. The interviewer of tens of thousands, Kinsey subjected his own life and that of his researchers to the same type of analysis that produced his 1948 bestselling book Sexual Behavior in the Human Male. But while the Kinsey team's focus was predominantly outward, perhaps what they learned about themselves was as great as that which they taught their country.

In addition to Liam Neeson, the cast includes Laura Linney (You Can Count on Me, Love Actually, Mystic River) as Clara Kinsey, Chris O'Donnell (Scent of a Woman, Batman & Robin) as Wardell Pomeroy, Peter Sarsgaard, Timothy Hutton, John Lithgow, Oliver Platt, and Tim Curry.

The illustrated book includes the complete screenplay, an exclusive introduction by writer/director Bill Condon, extracts from histories and biographies of the period, film stills and complete cast and crew credits. 150 color photos.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #1208105 in Books
• Published on: 2004-11-12
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 356 pages

From Publishers Weekly
Beyond sex researcher Alfred Kinsey's motives—to enlighten people about sex and thereby sweep away crippling fear and ignorance about it—lay a troubled individual whose research helped him conquer his own psychological demons. In this companion book to the film on Kinsey's life currently in theaters, Kinsey biographer Gathorne-Hardy, Newsweek editor Wolfe and director/screenwriter Condon cover these facts and others with fascinating detail. Both Wolfe's biographical essay and Condon's script dramatize Kinsey's struggle with a puritanical father and his romance with graduate student Clara McMillen, who became his lifelong partner and support. Their relationship survived a difficult early sexual adjustment, as well as Kinsey's homosexual liaisons, while Kinsey's 1948 report Sexual Behavior in the Human Male made waves across the country. The book's second half is devoted to the shooting script, which offers a dramatic contrast to the precise, academic nature of Gathorne Hardy's introduction and Wolfe's essay. In a q&a, Condon talks of his affinity for portraying misfits and outsiders and his decision to adopt a classical Merchant/Ivory filmmaking approach. No biographical work—print or film—can capture all aspects of such a contradictory person, but this book certainly ranks as one of the most illuminating studies ever published about its complex, groundbreaking subject. 32 pages of color photos.
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About the Author
Screenwriter Bill Condon wrote and directed Gods and Monsters, the Oscar® winner for Best Adapted Screenplay and the National Board of Review's best film of 1998. Condon made his directing debut with Sister, Sister. Most recently he wrote Best Picture Oscar®-winner Chicago and wrote/directed the fall 2004 release Kinsey.