Author: Lester D. Friedman
Publisher: University of Illinois Press
ISBN: 0252091299
Category : Performing Arts
Languages : en
Pages : 378
Book Description
Steven Spielberg is the director or producer of over one third of the thirty highest grossing films of all time, yet most film scholars dismiss him as little more than a modern P. T. Barnum--a technically gifted and intellectually shallow showman who substitutes spectacle for substance. To date, no book has attempted to analyze the components of his worldview, the issues which animate his most significant works, the roots of his immense acceptance, and the influence his vast spectrum of imaginative products exerts on the public consciousness. In Citizen Spielberg, Lester D. Friedman fills that void with a systematic analysis of the various genres in which the director has worked, including science fiction (E.T.), adventure (Raiders trilogy), race films (The Color Purple, Amistad), and war films (Saving Private Ryan, Schindler’s List). Friedman concludes that Spielberg’s films present a sustained artistic vision combined with a technical flair matched by few other filmmakers, and makes a compelling case for Spielberg to be considered as a major film artist.
Citizen Spielberg
Author: Lester D. Friedman
Publisher: University of Illinois Press
ISBN: 0252053079
Category : Performing Arts
Languages : en
Pages : 637
Book Description
Steven Spielberg's extraordinary career redefined Hollywood, but his achievement goes far beyond shattered box office records. Rejecting the view of Spielberg as a Barnumesque purveyor of spectacle, Lester D. Friedman presents the filmmaker as a major artist who pairs an ongoing willingness to challenge himself with a widely recognized technical mastery. This new edition of Citizen Spielberg expands Friedman’s original analysis to include films of the 2010s like Lincoln and Ready Player One. Breaking down the works by genre, Friedman looks at essential aspects of Spielberg’s art, from his storytelling concerns and worldview to the uncanny connection with audiences that has powered his longtime influence as a cultural force. Friedman's examination reveals a sustained artistic vision--a vision that shows no sign of exhausting itself or audiences after Spielberg's nearly fifty years as a high-profile filmmaker. Incisive and discerning, Citizen Spielberg offers a career-spanning appraisal of a moviemaking icon.
Publisher: University of Illinois Press
ISBN: 0252053079
Category : Performing Arts
Languages : en
Pages : 637
Book Description
Steven Spielberg's extraordinary career redefined Hollywood, but his achievement goes far beyond shattered box office records. Rejecting the view of Spielberg as a Barnumesque purveyor of spectacle, Lester D. Friedman presents the filmmaker as a major artist who pairs an ongoing willingness to challenge himself with a widely recognized technical mastery. This new edition of Citizen Spielberg expands Friedman’s original analysis to include films of the 2010s like Lincoln and Ready Player One. Breaking down the works by genre, Friedman looks at essential aspects of Spielberg’s art, from his storytelling concerns and worldview to the uncanny connection with audiences that has powered his longtime influence as a cultural force. Friedman's examination reveals a sustained artistic vision--a vision that shows no sign of exhausting itself or audiences after Spielberg's nearly fifty years as a high-profile filmmaker. Incisive and discerning, Citizen Spielberg offers a career-spanning appraisal of a moviemaking icon.
Citizen Spielberg
Author: Lester D. Friedman
Publisher: University of Illinois Press
ISBN: 0252091299
Category : Performing Arts
Languages : en
Pages : 378
Book Description
Steven Spielberg is the director or producer of over one third of the thirty highest grossing films of all time, yet most film scholars dismiss him as little more than a modern P. T. Barnum--a technically gifted and intellectually shallow showman who substitutes spectacle for substance. To date, no book has attempted to analyze the components of his worldview, the issues which animate his most significant works, the roots of his immense acceptance, and the influence his vast spectrum of imaginative products exerts on the public consciousness. In Citizen Spielberg, Lester D. Friedman fills that void with a systematic analysis of the various genres in which the director has worked, including science fiction (E.T.), adventure (Raiders trilogy), race films (The Color Purple, Amistad), and war films (Saving Private Ryan, Schindler’s List). Friedman concludes that Spielberg’s films present a sustained artistic vision combined with a technical flair matched by few other filmmakers, and makes a compelling case for Spielberg to be considered as a major film artist.
Publisher: University of Illinois Press
ISBN: 0252091299
Category : Performing Arts
Languages : en
Pages : 378
Book Description
Steven Spielberg is the director or producer of over one third of the thirty highest grossing films of all time, yet most film scholars dismiss him as little more than a modern P. T. Barnum--a technically gifted and intellectually shallow showman who substitutes spectacle for substance. To date, no book has attempted to analyze the components of his worldview, the issues which animate his most significant works, the roots of his immense acceptance, and the influence his vast spectrum of imaginative products exerts on the public consciousness. In Citizen Spielberg, Lester D. Friedman fills that void with a systematic analysis of the various genres in which the director has worked, including science fiction (E.T.), adventure (Raiders trilogy), race films (The Color Purple, Amistad), and war films (Saving Private Ryan, Schindler’s List). Friedman concludes that Spielberg’s films present a sustained artistic vision combined with a technical flair matched by few other filmmakers, and makes a compelling case for Spielberg to be considered as a major film artist.
Steven Spielberg's America
Author: Frederick Wasser
Publisher: John Wiley & Sons
ISBN: 074565827X
Category : Performing Arts
Languages : en
Pages : 194
Book Description
Steven Spielberg is known as the most powerful man in New Hollywood and a pioneer of the contemporary blockbuster, America’s most successful export. His career began a new chapter in mass culture. At the same time, American post war liberalism was breaking down. This fascinating new book explains the complex relationship between film and politics through the prism of an iconic filmmaker. Spielberg’s early films were a triumphant emergence of the Sunbelt aesthetic that valued visceral kicks and basic emotions over the ambiguities of history. Such blockbusters have inspired much debate about their negative effect on politics and have been charged as being an expression of the corporatization of life. Here Frederick Wasser argues that the older Spielberg has not fully gone this way, suggesting that the filmmaker recycles the populist vision of older Hollywood because he sincerely believes in both big time moviemaking and liberal democracy. Nonetheless, his stories are burdened by his generation’s hostility to public life, and the book shows how he uses filmmaking tricks to keep his audience with him and to smooth over the ideological contradictions. His audiences have become more global, as his films engage history. This fresh and provocative take on Spielberg in the context of globalization, rampant market capitalism and the hardening socio-political landscape of the United States will be fascinating reading for students of film and for anyone interested in contemporary America and its culture.
Publisher: John Wiley & Sons
ISBN: 074565827X
Category : Performing Arts
Languages : en
Pages : 194
Book Description
Steven Spielberg is known as the most powerful man in New Hollywood and a pioneer of the contemporary blockbuster, America’s most successful export. His career began a new chapter in mass culture. At the same time, American post war liberalism was breaking down. This fascinating new book explains the complex relationship between film and politics through the prism of an iconic filmmaker. Spielberg’s early films were a triumphant emergence of the Sunbelt aesthetic that valued visceral kicks and basic emotions over the ambiguities of history. Such blockbusters have inspired much debate about their negative effect on politics and have been charged as being an expression of the corporatization of life. Here Frederick Wasser argues that the older Spielberg has not fully gone this way, suggesting that the filmmaker recycles the populist vision of older Hollywood because he sincerely believes in both big time moviemaking and liberal democracy. Nonetheless, his stories are burdened by his generation’s hostility to public life, and the book shows how he uses filmmaking tricks to keep his audience with him and to smooth over the ideological contradictions. His audiences have become more global, as his films engage history. This fresh and provocative take on Spielberg in the context of globalization, rampant market capitalism and the hardening socio-political landscape of the United States will be fascinating reading for students of film and for anyone interested in contemporary America and its culture.
Understanding Steven Spielberg
Author: Beatriz Peña-Acuña
Publisher: Cambridge Scholars Publishing
ISBN: 1527523373
Category : Performing Arts
Languages : en
Pages : 142
Book Description
This volume presents an in-depth discussion of the work of Steven Spielberg, an American director of Jewish origin. It offers a careful study of the audiovisual and documentary material in Spielberg’s filmography, exploring both the biographical and sociological parameters that influence his cinematographic work and his values, and the director’s own personal testimony and critics’ comments on the value of dignity and other subjects prevalent in his work. The book then goes on to analyse the formal elements used by the filmmaker in his work, and his maturity in relation to anthropological matters.
Publisher: Cambridge Scholars Publishing
ISBN: 1527523373
Category : Performing Arts
Languages : en
Pages : 142
Book Description
This volume presents an in-depth discussion of the work of Steven Spielberg, an American director of Jewish origin. It offers a careful study of the audiovisual and documentary material in Spielberg’s filmography, exploring both the biographical and sociological parameters that influence his cinematographic work and his values, and the director’s own personal testimony and critics’ comments on the value of dignity and other subjects prevalent in his work. The book then goes on to analyse the formal elements used by the filmmaker in his work, and his maturity in relation to anthropological matters.
Steven Spielberg and Philosophy
Author: Dean A. Kowalski
Publisher: University Press of Kentucky
ISBN: 0813138701
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 254
Book Description
“This lively collection of essays on the ideas underpinning his films enriches and enlarges our understanding of Spielberg’s complex body of work.” —Joseph McBride, author of Steven Spielberg: A Biography Few directors have had as powerful an influence on the film industry and the movie-going public as Steven Spielberg. Whatever the subject—dinosaurs, war, extra-terrestrials, slavery, the Holocaust, or terrorism—one clear and consistent touchstone is present in all of Spielberg’s films: an interest in the human condition. In movies ranging from Jaws to Schindler’s List to Amistad to Jurassic Park, he has brought to life some of the most popular heroes—and most despised villains—of all time. In Steven Spielberg and Philosophy, Dean A. Kowalski and some of the nation’s most respected philosophers investigate Spielberg’s art to illuminate the nature of humanity. The book explores rich themes such as cinematic realism, fictional belief, terrorism, family ethics, consciousness, virtue and moral character, human rights, and religion in Spielberg’s work. Avid moviegoers and deep thinkers will discover plenty to enjoy in this collection.
Publisher: University Press of Kentucky
ISBN: 0813138701
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 254
Book Description
“This lively collection of essays on the ideas underpinning his films enriches and enlarges our understanding of Spielberg’s complex body of work.” —Joseph McBride, author of Steven Spielberg: A Biography Few directors have had as powerful an influence on the film industry and the movie-going public as Steven Spielberg. Whatever the subject—dinosaurs, war, extra-terrestrials, slavery, the Holocaust, or terrorism—one clear and consistent touchstone is present in all of Spielberg’s films: an interest in the human condition. In movies ranging from Jaws to Schindler’s List to Amistad to Jurassic Park, he has brought to life some of the most popular heroes—and most despised villains—of all time. In Steven Spielberg and Philosophy, Dean A. Kowalski and some of the nation’s most respected philosophers investigate Spielberg’s art to illuminate the nature of humanity. The book explores rich themes such as cinematic realism, fictional belief, terrorism, family ethics, consciousness, virtue and moral character, human rights, and religion in Spielberg’s work. Avid moviegoers and deep thinkers will discover plenty to enjoy in this collection.
A Companion to Steven Spielberg
Author: Nigel Morris
Publisher: John Wiley & Sons
ISBN: 111872691X
Category : Performing Arts
Languages : en
Pages : 531
Book Description
A Companion to Steven Spielberg provides an authoritative collection of essays exploring the achievements and legacy of one of the most influential film directors of the modern era. Offers comprehensive coverage of Spielberg’s directorial output, from early works including Duel, The Sugarland Express, and Jaws, to recent films Explores Spielberg’s contribution to the development of visual effects and computer games, as well as the critical and popular reception of his films Topics include in-depth analyses of Spielberg’s themes, style, and filming techniques; commercial and cultural significance of the Spielberg ‘brand’ and his parallel career as a producer; and collaborative projects with artists and composers Brings together an international team of renowned scholars and emergent voices, balancing multiple perspectives and critical approaches Creates a timely and illuminating resource which acknowledges the ambiguity and complexity of Spielberg’s work, and reflects its increasing importance to film scholarship
Publisher: John Wiley & Sons
ISBN: 111872691X
Category : Performing Arts
Languages : en
Pages : 531
Book Description
A Companion to Steven Spielberg provides an authoritative collection of essays exploring the achievements and legacy of one of the most influential film directors of the modern era. Offers comprehensive coverage of Spielberg’s directorial output, from early works including Duel, The Sugarland Express, and Jaws, to recent films Explores Spielberg’s contribution to the development of visual effects and computer games, as well as the critical and popular reception of his films Topics include in-depth analyses of Spielberg’s themes, style, and filming techniques; commercial and cultural significance of the Spielberg ‘brand’ and his parallel career as a producer; and collaborative projects with artists and composers Brings together an international team of renowned scholars and emergent voices, balancing multiple perspectives and critical approaches Creates a timely and illuminating resource which acknowledges the ambiguity and complexity of Spielberg’s work, and reflects its increasing importance to film scholarship
Kubrick's Story, Spielberg's Film
Author: Julian Rice
Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield
ISBN: 1442278196
Category : Performing Arts
Languages : en
Pages : 309
Book Description
In 1963 Stanley Kubrick declared, “Dr. Strangelove came from my desire to do something about the nuclear nightmare.” Thirty years later, he was preparing to film another story about the human impulse for self-destruction. Unfortunately, the director passed away in 1999, before his project could be fully realized. However, fellow visionary Steven Spielberg took on the venture, and A.I. Artificial Intelligence debuted in theaters two years after Kubrick’s death. While Kubrick’s concept shares similarities with the finished film, there are significant differences between his screenplay and Spielberg's production. In Kubrick’s Story, Spielberg’s Film: A.I. Artificial Intelligence, Julian Rice examines the intellectual sources and cinematic processes that expressed the extraordinary ideas of one great artist through the distinctive vision of another. A.I. is decidedly a Kubrick film in its concern for the future of the world, and it is both a Kubrick and a Spielberg film in the alienation of its central character. However, Spielberg’s alienated characters evolve through friendships, while Kubrick’s protagonists are markedly alone. Rice explores how the directors’ disparate sensibilities aligned and where they diverged. By analyzing Kubrick’s treatment and Spielberg’s finished film, Rice compares the imaginations of two gifted but very different filmmakers and draws conclusions about their unique conceptions. Kubrick’s Story, Spielberg’s Film is a fascinating look into the creative process of two of cinema’s most profound auteurs and will appeal to scholars of film as well as to fans of both directors.
Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield
ISBN: 1442278196
Category : Performing Arts
Languages : en
Pages : 309
Book Description
In 1963 Stanley Kubrick declared, “Dr. Strangelove came from my desire to do something about the nuclear nightmare.” Thirty years later, he was preparing to film another story about the human impulse for self-destruction. Unfortunately, the director passed away in 1999, before his project could be fully realized. However, fellow visionary Steven Spielberg took on the venture, and A.I. Artificial Intelligence debuted in theaters two years after Kubrick’s death. While Kubrick’s concept shares similarities with the finished film, there are significant differences between his screenplay and Spielberg's production. In Kubrick’s Story, Spielberg’s Film: A.I. Artificial Intelligence, Julian Rice examines the intellectual sources and cinematic processes that expressed the extraordinary ideas of one great artist through the distinctive vision of another. A.I. is decidedly a Kubrick film in its concern for the future of the world, and it is both a Kubrick and a Spielberg film in the alienation of its central character. However, Spielberg’s alienated characters evolve through friendships, while Kubrick’s protagonists are markedly alone. Rice explores how the directors’ disparate sensibilities aligned and where they diverged. By analyzing Kubrick’s treatment and Spielberg’s finished film, Rice compares the imaginations of two gifted but very different filmmakers and draws conclusions about their unique conceptions. Kubrick’s Story, Spielberg’s Film is a fascinating look into the creative process of two of cinema’s most profound auteurs and will appeal to scholars of film as well as to fans of both directors.
A Critical Companion to Steven Spielberg
Author: Adam Barkman
Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield
ISBN: 1498593607
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 295
Book Description
A Critical Companion to Steven Spielberg offers a comprehensive, detailed study of the works of Steven Spielberg. Spielbergʼs early productions stand as landmarks in contemporary cinema, and his involvement with film spans all cinematic genres. Today, Spielberg enjoys an immense and enduring popularity around the globe, and his productions have attracted (and continue to attract) both public and critical attention. This book investigates several distinct areas of Spielbergʼs works and addresses the different approaches and the range of topics invited by the multidimensionality of his oeuvre. The eighteen chapters in this book use different methodologies, offering a variegated and compelling picture of Spielbergʼs films, from his earliest works such as Duel (1971) and The Sugarland Express (1974) to his most recent productions, such as The BFG (2016), The Post (2017), and Ready Player One (2018).
Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield
ISBN: 1498593607
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 295
Book Description
A Critical Companion to Steven Spielberg offers a comprehensive, detailed study of the works of Steven Spielberg. Spielbergʼs early productions stand as landmarks in contemporary cinema, and his involvement with film spans all cinematic genres. Today, Spielberg enjoys an immense and enduring popularity around the globe, and his productions have attracted (and continue to attract) both public and critical attention. This book investigates several distinct areas of Spielbergʼs works and addresses the different approaches and the range of topics invited by the multidimensionality of his oeuvre. The eighteen chapters in this book use different methodologies, offering a variegated and compelling picture of Spielbergʼs films, from his earliest works such as Duel (1971) and The Sugarland Express (1974) to his most recent productions, such as The BFG (2016), The Post (2017), and Ready Player One (2018).
Race in American Film [3 volumes]
Author: Daniel Bernardi
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing USA
ISBN: 0313398402
Category : Performing Arts
Languages : en
Pages : 1127
Book Description
This expansive three-volume set investigates racial representation in film, providing an authoritative cross-section of the most racially significant films, actors, directors, and movements in American cinematic history. Hollywood has always reflected current American cultural norms and ideas. As such, film provides a window into attitudes about race and ethnicity over the last century. This comprehensive set provides information on hundreds of films chosen based on scholarly consensus of their importance regarding the subject, examining aspects of race and ethnicity in American film through the historical context, themes, and people involved. This three-volume set highlights the most important films and artists of the era, identifying films, actors, or characterizations that were considered racist, were tremendously popular or hugely influential, attempted to be progressive, or some combination thereof. Readers will not only learn basic information about each subject but also be able to contextualize it culturally, historically, and in terms of its reception to understand what average moviegoers thought about the subject at the time of its popularity—and grasp how the subject is perceived now through the lens of history.
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing USA
ISBN: 0313398402
Category : Performing Arts
Languages : en
Pages : 1127
Book Description
This expansive three-volume set investigates racial representation in film, providing an authoritative cross-section of the most racially significant films, actors, directors, and movements in American cinematic history. Hollywood has always reflected current American cultural norms and ideas. As such, film provides a window into attitudes about race and ethnicity over the last century. This comprehensive set provides information on hundreds of films chosen based on scholarly consensus of their importance regarding the subject, examining aspects of race and ethnicity in American film through the historical context, themes, and people involved. This three-volume set highlights the most important films and artists of the era, identifying films, actors, or characterizations that were considered racist, were tremendously popular or hugely influential, attempted to be progressive, or some combination thereof. Readers will not only learn basic information about each subject but also be able to contextualize it culturally, historically, and in terms of its reception to understand what average moviegoers thought about the subject at the time of its popularity—and grasp how the subject is perceived now through the lens of history.
Darkness in the Bliss-Out
Author: James Kendrick
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing USA
ISBN: 1441146040
Category : Performing Arts
Languages : en
Pages : 244
Book Description
While there has been a significant outpouring of scholarship on Spielberg over the past decade, his films are still frequently discussed as being paternalistic, escapist, and reliant on uncomplicated emotions and complicated special features. Even those critics who are favorable toward his work still tend to view it as essentially optimistic, reassuring, and conservative. This book takes an alternate view of the director's work and proposes that his films are significantly darker and more emotionally and ideologically complex that they are routinely given credit for.
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing USA
ISBN: 1441146040
Category : Performing Arts
Languages : en
Pages : 244
Book Description
While there has been a significant outpouring of scholarship on Spielberg over the past decade, his films are still frequently discussed as being paternalistic, escapist, and reliant on uncomplicated emotions and complicated special features. Even those critics who are favorable toward his work still tend to view it as essentially optimistic, reassuring, and conservative. This book takes an alternate view of the director's work and proposes that his films are significantly darker and more emotionally and ideologically complex that they are routinely given credit for.