A critical companion to Steven Spielberg

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Bibliographic Information

A critical companion to Steven Spielberg

edited by Adam Barkman and Antonio Sanna

(Critical companions to contemporary directors)

Lexington Books, c2019

Available at  / 2 libraries

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Includes bibliographical references and index

Description and Table of Contents

Description

This book offers a comprehensive, detailed study of the works of Steven Spielberg, whose numerous and heterogeneous films include extremely successful productions such as Jaws (1975), Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977), E.T. the Extraterrestrial (1982), the Indiana Jones saga (1981-2008), Jurassic Park (1993), Schindler's List (1993), and Saving Private Ryan (1999), as well as less-known films such as 1941 (1979), Always (1989), War Horse (2011), and The Adventures of Tintin (2011). Spielberg's early productions stand as landmarks in contemporary cinema and his involvement with film has been spanning 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 volume investigates several distinct areas of Spielberg's works and addresses the different approaches and the range of topics invited by the multidimensionality of his oeuvre. The eighteen chapters use different methodologies, offering a variegated and compelling picture of Spielberg's 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).

Table of Contents

Part I: The Artist and Philosopher Chapter 1: "One of the Phenomenal Debut Films in the History of Movies": The Sugarland Express as Expression of Spielberg's 'Movie Sense' and as Contribution to a Genre Cycle, David LaRocca Chapter 2: Adapting Objects: Spielberg and the Art of Making Strange, Paul Johnson Chapter 3: Fear and Wonder: The Lived-Body Experience of Spielberg's Cinema, Adam Daniel Chapter 4: Galloping into the Jaws of Death: The Psychology of Animal Symbolism in Jaws and War Horse, Jennifer L. McMahon Chapter 5: A Million Light Years from Home: Spielberg's Extraterrestrials, Transhumanism, and Constructions of Alterity, Elizabeth Lowry Chapter 6: Of Children and Redrums: The Influence of Stanley Kubrick on A.I. and Minority Report, Elsa Colombani Part II: The Dreamer Chapter 7: Poiesis and Miracles: From Something Evil to "The Mission," Fernando Gabriel Pagnoni Berns, Mariana Soledad Zarate, and Eduardo Veteri Chapter 8: Deus ex Machina: Spielberg's Fantastic Visions of Tragedy and Grace, Joshua Sikora Chapter 9: A Modern Pythia: The Oracle in Minority Report, Sabine Planka Chapter 10: The Politics of Nostalgia: Reconstructing Epic Heroism in Spielberg's Amblin' and Always, Christian Jimenez Chapter 11: Piracy, Boy Heroes, and the Importance of Playing the Game in Spielberg's Hook and The Adventures of Tintin, Sue Matheson Chapter 12: Categorizing E.T., Christopher H. Ketcham Part III: The Historian Chapter 13: "I Thought You Were an American": Spielberg, 1941, and Saving Private Ryan, Sean O'Reilly Chapter 14: Testimonies of the Past: Spielberg's Moral Exploration of Racial Discrimination," Michael Versteeg Chapter 15: Writing Postmodern Histories in Hollywood: The Portrayal of the Male Characters in Catch Me If You Can, Bridge of Spies, and The Post, Orsolya Karacsony Chapter 16: Dignified Professor and Intrepid Adventurer: Two Facets of Indiana Jones, Carl Sobocinski Chapter 17: "We Spared No Expense": Practical Utopias in Jurassic Park, The Terminal, and Ready Player One," Carl Sweeney Chapter 18: Trivialization, Displacement, and Historical Amnesia: The Work of Innocence and Embrace in Empire of the Sun and War of the Worlds, Naaman K. Wood and David J. Strickler

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