Director Paul Mazursky, who died last month, understood that looks and image set the mood of a movie. But his pictures also showed the disturbing parts that live under the surface.
Born Irwin Mazursky in Brooklyn, Paul Mazursky became the quintessential American filmmaker of the 1970’s. Benjamin Ivry remembers his life and legacy.
At 81, Brooklyn-born screenwriter and director Paul Mazursky may be most familiar to some HBO-TV viewers as Sunshine, the ill-fated poker dealer in “The Sopranos” and Norm, strictly unamused by Larry David’s antics in “Curb Your Enthusiasm.” A new book, “Paul on Mazursky,” out from Wesleyan University Press this fall, reminds us that Mazursky’s varied talents add up to a memorable legacy of filmmaking.