Cinematic Quests for Identity (eBook)

The Hero's Encounter with the Beast

Maria Garcia (Autor)

eBook Download: EPUB

2015
284 Seiten
Rowman & Littlefield Publishers (Verlag)
978-1-4422-4698-0 (ISBN)

Infos

This book examines the narrative and cinematic conventions of movies that are about the quest for identity and individuation. Chapters are devoted to individual films, such as La Belle et la Bête, The Silence of the Lambs, The Searchers, The Deer Hunter, and The Picture of Dorian Gray, as well as considerations of films directed by Catherine Breillat and Robert Bresson.

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Whether embodied in literature, theater, or film, an enduring theme of many artistic works has been the protagonist's search for identity. Such quests are typically psychological or spiritual journeys and depicted on the screen in a variety of manifestationsendeavors embarked upon to address an emotional trauma or to overcome an obstacle in the hero's life. Using Jean Cocteau's La Belle et La Bte as a leitmotif, these pursuits are discussed by author Maria Garcia as encounters with the ';Beast.' At the end of their quests, heroes are reborn into their new identities, while the Beast disappears, transforms, or dies.In Cinematic Quests for Identity: The Hero's Encounter with the Beast, Garcia examines the cinematic conventions of the male and female search for individuation across several genres. After discussing La Belle et La Bte, the author looks at a number of films including three iconic male journeysThe Picture of Dorian Gray, The Searchers, and The Deer Hunter. Additional chapters focus on The Silence of the Lambs, Bringing Up Baby, The Lady Eve, The Secret of Roan Inish, The Natural, and Moneyball. The book concludes with a consideration of the three fairy tale films by Catherine BreillatFat Girl, Bluebeard, and The Sleeping Beautyand the female characters in several Robert Bresson films, including The Trial of Joan of Arc. Providing a unique and original perspective on films throughout the world, this provocative book draws upon Jungian thought, as well as several literary traditions including fairy tales, epic poetry, and Greek and Celtic mythology. Aimed at scholars of film and film theory, Cinematic Quests for Identity will also appeal to movie fans interested in a deeper understanding of films that explore a character's struggle to live a conscious life.

Autor

Maria Garcia is a film critic, feature writer, and an adjunct lecturer in the English Department at CUNY Baruch College. Her reviews and filmmaker interviews appear regularly in Cineaste and Film Journal International.

Inhalt

AcknowledgmentsIntroduction 1. Framing the Beast of Individuation2. A Woman’s Beast: The Silence of the Lambs3. The Male Quest: When the Hero Doesn’t Get “The Girl”4. Love Affairs with the Beast: Two Women of Screwball Comedy5. The Beast of the Diamond6. The Child’s Quest: A First Glimpse of Mortality7. Catherine Breillat and the Fairy Tale Quest as “Passage”8. Robert Bresson and the Feminine Face of GodFilmographyBibliographyIndexAbout the Author

Produkt-Details

• Erscheint lt. Verlag: 2.4.2015
• Zusatzinfo: 45 Illustrations including: - 45 Halftones, Black & White including Black & White Photographs.
• Sprache: englisch
• Themenwelt: Kunst / Musik / Theater ► Film / TV
• Themenwelt: Kunst / Musik / Theater ► Theater / Ballett
• Themenwelt: Sozialwissenschaften ► Kommunikation / Medien ► Medienwissenschaft
• Themenwelt: Sozialwissenschaften ► Soziologie ► Gender Studies
• ISBN-10: 1-4422-4698-7 / 1442246987
• ISBN-13: 978-1-4422-4698-0 / 9781442246980