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"A serious guide to some of our favorite films. . . . [T]he international lure of the open road is thoughtfully mapped out in informed, well-illustrated essays."
-"Addison Press, June 1998
-"Addison Press, June 1998
Product Description
The Road Movie Book is the first comprehensive study of an enduring but ever-changing Hollywood genre, its place in American culture, and its legacy to world cinema. The road and the cinema both flourished in the twentieth century, as technological advances brought motion pictures to a mass audience and the mass produced automobile opened up the road to the ordinary American. When Jean Baudrillard equated modern American culture with 'space, speed, cinema, technology' he could just as easily have added that the road movie is its supreme emblem.
The contributors explore how the road movie has confronted and represented issues of nationhood, sexuality, gender, class and race. They map the generic terrain of the road movie, trace its evolution on American television as well as on the big screen from the 1930s through the 1980s, and, finally, consider road movies that go off the road, departing from the US landscape or travelling on the margins of contemporary American culture.
Movies discussed include:
* Road classics such as It Happened One Night, The Grapes of Wrath, The Wizard of Oz and the Bob Hope-Bing Crosby Road to films
* 1960's reworkings of the road movie in Easy Rider and Bonnie and Clyde
* Russ Meyer's road movies: from Motorpsycho! to Faster Pussycat! Kill! Kill!
* Contemporary hits such as Paris Texas, Rain Man, Natural Born Killers and Thelma and Louise
* The road movie, Australian style, from Mad Max to the Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert.
The contributors explore how the road movie has confronted and represented issues of nationhood, sexuality, gender, class and race. They map the generic terrain of the road movie, trace its evolution on American television as well as on the big screen from the 1930s through the 1980s, and, finally, consider road movies that go off the road, departing from the US landscape or travelling on the margins of contemporary American culture.
Movies discussed include:
* Road classics such as It Happened One Night, The Grapes of Wrath, The Wizard of Oz and the Bob Hope-Bing Crosby Road to films
* 1960's reworkings of the road movie in Easy Rider and Bonnie and Clyde
* Russ Meyer's road movies: from Motorpsycho! to Faster Pussycat! Kill! Kill!
* Contemporary hits such as Paris Texas, Rain Man, Natural Born Killers and Thelma and Louise
* The road movie, Australian style, from Mad Max to the Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert.
Inside This Book
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First Sentence
In an entry from his diary for November 5, 1939, William Shirer makes the following observations, worth quoting at some length. Read the first page
Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Index
In an entry from his diary for November 5, 1939, William Shirer makes the following observations, worth quoting at some length. Read the first page
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Concordance
Browse Sample PagesConcordance
Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Index
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
What I found unusual about this book is that there seem to be very few existing titles which try to define the Road movie as this book does . Subsequently you want this book to go further than it does. You read it and wonder why so many movies have been ignored or passed over for debate. This however is not a critism as a comment on the difficulty of trying to define a film 'genre'. Steven Cohan does well to pull together a collection of diverse and engaging essays on everything from Easy rider to old Bob Hope movies. The essay on Easy Rider by Barbara Klinger is particularly interesting because it touches on the very crux of the Road Movie genre: the representation of the American phsyce. All these essays chronicle how Road movies have reflected recent American history from the Depression through the Second World War through to modern times. I am still suprised that this book is the first of its kind because movies like EASY RIDER, THELMA AND LOUISE, PARIS,TEXAS, et all touch so deeply into the American identity. Which begs the question why so little is included about the likes of American Grafitti, Dazed and Confused, Fandango etc. A fantastic read none the less. I think this book would appeal to American historians as much as Film buffs, film makers, artists or (like me) students of Architecture and landscape. Get in a car, hit the Road,read this book.
Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)
Amazon.com:
1 review
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
Literally Unique
19 Jan 1999
Format:Paperback
What I found unusual about this book is that there seem to be very few existing titles which try to define the Road movie as this book does . Subsequently you want this book to go further than it does. You read it and wonder why so many movies have been ignored or passed over for debate. This however is not a critism as a comment on the difficulty of trying to define a film 'genre'. Steven Cohan does well to pull together a collection of diverse and engaging essays on everything from Easy rider to old Bob Hope movies. The essay on Easy Rider by Barbara Klinger is particularly interesting because it touches on the very crux of the Road Movie genre: the representation of the American phsyce. All these essays chronicle how Road movies have reflected recent American history from the Depression through the Second World War through to modern times. I am still suprised that this book is the first of its kind because movies like EASY RIDER, THELMA AND LOUISE, PARIS,TEXAS, et all touch so deeply into the American identity. Which begs the question why so little is included about the likes of American Grafitti, Dazed and Confused, Fandango etc. A fantastic read none the less. I think this book would appeal to American historians as much as Film buffs, film makers, artists or (like me) students of Architecture and landscape. Get in a car, hit the Road,read this book.
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