American Cinema of the 1970s: Themes and Variations (Screen Decades: American Culture/American Cinema) [Paperback]

Lester Friedman (Editor)

Book Description

Publication Date: February 20, 2007 | Series: Screen Decades: American Culture/American Cinema

A smug glance at the seventies-the so-called "Me Decade"-unveils a kaleidoscope of big hair, blaring music, and broken politics-all easy targets for satire, cynicism, and ultimately even nostalgia. American Cinema of the 1970s, however, looks beyond the strobe lights to reveal how profoundly the seventies have influenced American life and how the films of that decade represent a peak moment in cinema history. Far from a placid era, the seventies was a decade of social upheavals. Events such as the killing of students at Kent State and Jackson State universities, the Watergate investigations, the legalization of abortion, and the end of the American involvement in Vietnam are only a few among the many landmark occurrences that challenged the foundations of American culture. The director-driven movies of this era reflect this turmoil, experimenting with narrative structures, offering a gallery of scruffy antiheroes, and revising traditional genre conventions. Bringing together ten original essays, American Cinema of the 1970s examines the range of films that marked the decade, including Jaws, Rocky, Love Story, Shaft, Dirty Harry, The Godfather, Deliverance, The Exorcist, Shampoo, Taxi Driver, Star Wars, Saturday Night Fever, Kramer vs. Kramer, and Apocalypse Now. Lester D. Friedman is the Senior Scholar-in-Residence in the Media and Society Program at Hobart and William Smith Colleges and the author of numerous books on film.

Editorial Reviews

Review

Contributors acknowledge the difficulty of characterizing a decade that birthed both the young (mostly male) auteur and the commercial blockbuster. Discussions of blaxploitation and sexploitation films and the increase in films celebrating male power and authority are particularly strong. Recommended. --Choice --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

About the Author

Lester D. Friedman is the Senior Scholar-in-Residence in the Media and Society Program at Hobart and William Smith Colleges and the author of numerous books on film.

Product Details

• Paperback: 304 pages
• Publisher: Rutgers University Press (February 20, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0813540232
• ISBN-13: 978-0813540238
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6.1 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #138,204 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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3.0 out of 5 stars Good but not Great, October 20, 2009

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This review is from: American Cinema of the 1970s: Themes and Variations (Screen Decades: American Culture/American Cinema) (Paperback)

This is not the equal of David A. Cook's "Lost Illusions," which examines 1970's American cinema for the 'History of the American Cinema' series. It is decidedly more superficial and constrained to theoretical fragmentation. The text breaks the decade up not only by year but also by concept, which is an almost impossible construct to uphold. (For example: "Jaws," which came out in 1975, is ideologically posited against Altman's "Nashville." Well, oh my. Eureka.) Despite this, the text is often illuminating about the background of the films discussed and their cultural implications. It simply tries too hard to links its narrative to the general cultural highlights of the decade. (Cinema and Hank Aaron breaking the home run record?) In all, a worthwhile text and a solid introduction to cinema in the 1970's, but not a theoretically groundbreaking work.