Jacob Leigh's Contemporary Directors' Cinema does many things at once, all brilliantly. It argues for the continuing, central role of the film director. It explores the richness of individual films. It canvasses the diversity of current production around the world. It stands up for the artistry of cinema in our 21st century, digital world. And it offers flexible but precise tools for close analysis. What more could we ask for?

Adrian Martin, Professor and film critic, Monash University, Australia

Jacob Leigh's engaging study of nine significant 21st-century films upholds a method of criticism rooted in detailed close analysis that has become sadly unfashionable in recent years. Writing proudly in the tradition of such formative figures as V.F. Perkins and Robin Wood, he convinces the reader that the careful study of “patterns, motifs, settings, performances, costumes, point of view, realism and complexity” can still produce valid and exciting film criticism.

Alexander Jacoby, Senior Lecturer in Japanese Studies, Oxford Brookes University, UK