Studying American independent cinema
By: by Rona Murray
Publisher: Auteur
Published: 2011
Place of publication: Leighton Buzzard [England]
Language: eng
Number of pages: 327
ISBN-13: 9781906733179; 9781906733186
Subjects: Independent filmmakers; Case studies; Independent films; Motion picture industry; History and criticism; History
Other titles: American independent cinema
Description: This student-focused guide explores modern US independent cinema in depth and places it in context of its more general history. Starting with John Cassavetes and Shadows, it focuses on case studies of key films, blending detailed textual analysis with an exploration of each text's wider theoretical and historical contexts. In particular, it explores the defining period from 1989, when the creative talent met the moneymen the commercial potential of independent cinema was fully recognized and exploited. Discussions of Miramax and the Sundance Film Festival are paired with case studies of the work of Steven Soderbergh (Sex, lies and videotape), Quentin Tarantino (Pulp fiction), Todd Haynes (I'm not there), Gus Van Sant (Last days), David Lynch (Mulholland Drive), John Sayles (The return of the Secaucus Seven), Kimberly Peirce (Boys don't cry), Spike Lee (Do the right thing) and PT Anderson (There will be blood).
Notes: Includes bibliographical references (p. 305-322) and index.
Table of contents: title: American independent cinema : an overview; title: Adopting an approach : tools for reading a film; title: Keeping the 'hair in the gate' : authenticity and Shadows; title: Making independence into cult : Romero and Night of the living dead; title: Staying radical : Sayles' social realism in Return of the Secaucus seven; title: 'It's all downhill from here' : how Soderbergh, Sundance and Miramax broke through; title: Doing the only thing : the politics and aesthetics of race for Spike Lee; title: 'How come the bad guys always win?' : polemical faction from the margins vs. corporate America; title: Gangsters and ghost dogs : stardom and purity in independent cinema; title: 'Everyone knows I'm not a folksinger' : Haynes, Dylan and the remastering of modern identity; title: 'Someplace beautiful' : alternative realities in smalltown America; title: Mulholland Dr. : Hollywood, Hollywood, fabulous Hollywood; title: Doors of perception : Gus Van Sant's Last days; title: Minnesota nice : the Coens and the comedy of menace; title: 'Stupid Americans' : why Happiness could only be an independent film; title: The American wilderness and ecstatic truth : adapting independent voices; title: Marketing originality and Indiewood : Eternal sunshine of the spotless mind; title: making an epic and staying independent : There will be blood; title: Future directions : time to press the panic button?