Description
Although film noir is traditionally associated with the mean streets of the Dark City, this volume explores the genre from a new angle, focusing on non-urban settings. Through detailed readings of more than 100 films set in suburbs, small towns, on the road, in the desert, borderlands and the vast, empty West, the author investigates the alienation expressed by film noir, pinpointing its motivation in the conflict between desires for escape, autonomy and freedom--and fears of loneliness, exile and dissolution. Through such films as Out of the Past, They Live by Night and A Touch of Evil, this critical study examines how film noir reflected radical changes in the physical and social landscapes of postwar America, defining the genre's contribution to the eternal debate between the values of individualism and community.
Author: Imogen Sara Smith
Publisher: McFarland and Company, Inc.
Published: 08/01/2011
Pages: 255
Binding Type: Paperback
Weight: 1.00lbs
Size: 9.90h x 6.90w x 0.70d
ISBN13: 9780786463053
ISBN10: 0786463058
BISAC Categories:
- Performing Arts | Film | General
- Literary Criticism | General
About the Author
Imogen Sara Smith has written on topics ranging from photography and painting to the films of Buster Keaton. She is a performing arts librarian and lives in Forest Hills, New York.