Cinema of Obsession: Erotic Fixation and Love Gone Wrong in the Movies (Limelight) [Paperback]

Dominique Mainon (Author), James Ursini (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 1, 2007

Cinema of Obsession traces the history of obsessive love and erotic fixation. Seminal works of obsession, The Blue Angel, Peter Ibbetson, and Phantom of the Opera are seen as setting the groundwork for films that follow. The book defines and surveys examples of the explosive nature of amour fou, issues of male control (no matter how tenuous), and the fugitive couple - love on the run - in such films as Romeo and Juliet, Last Tango in Paris, Vertigo, Basic Instinct, and Wild at Heart. Male masochism is explored through film noirs, including Criss Cross, The Killers, Gilda, and The Postman Always Rings Twice. The book shifts gears in its finale and concentrates on the female gaze, films of female obsession: Jane Eyre, The Piano, The Lover, Fatal Attraction, and Vanilla Sky.

Product Details

• Paperback: 408 pages
• Publisher: Limelight Editions (October 1, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0879103477
• ISBN-13: 978-0879103477
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 7.5 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,540,603 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Dominique Mainon has authored multiple books on cinema history, pop-culture, and gender-related studies. She is also a screenwriter, indie filmmaker and guerrilla artist. Her next two books in progress are:
SURBURBAN APOCALYPSE: THE DEBASEMENT OF THE AMERICAN DREAM IN CINEMA
and RISE OF THE MACHINES: ROBOTS, ANDROIDS AND CYBORGS INVADE CINEMA, with Scott Tapio.

Published work currently available:

FEMME FATALE: CINEMA'S MOST UNFORGETTABLE LETHAL LADIES (Hal Leonard/Limelight Editions)

CINEMA OF OBSESSION: EROTIC FIXATION AND LOVE GONE WRONG IN THE MOVIES (Hal Leonard/Limelight Editions)

THE MODERN AMAZONS: WARRIOR WOMEN ON-SCREEN (Hal Leonard/Limelight Editions)

TASCHEN MOVIE ICONS: MAE WEST (part of series edited by Paul Duncan).

For further information on other books that Dominique has authored, co-authored or contributed to, such as The GANGSTER FILM READER, edited by Alain Silver and James Ursini, visit DominiqueMainon.com.

Dominique's film work includes an ongoing documentary film project called AUKAI COLLINS: HAVE GUN, WILL TRAVEL about the life of former mujahideen warrior Aukai "Aqil" Collins turned FBI operative and bounty hunter. (See his controversial book, MY JIHAD)

Interact with Dominique Mainon at the following pages and networks:

facebook: http://www.facebook.com/dominiquemainon
homepage: http://www.dominiquemainon.com
blog: http://dominiquemainon.blogspot.com
twitter: http://www.twitter.com/dominiquemainon
myspace: http://www.myspace.com/dominiquemainon

All books are available on amazon.com, dominiquemainon.com or in book stores. Dominique welcomes contact and collaboration with other artists.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1.0 out of 5 stars do not waste your time, November 12, 2011

By 

E. A. Jones "movie buff" - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Cinema of Obsession: Erotic Fixation and Love Gone Wrong in the Movies (Limelight) (Paperback)

Cinema of Obsession is little more than a series of short summaries of films, padded out with obvious and unnecessary statements, extraneous information, and quotes culled from other sources. There is very little by way of original thought, and what is original often starts with weaselly qualifiers such as "it seems."

The padding is tedious and is usually found within parentheses, which makes this book unbearably tiresome to read. Nearly every person, character, and author mentioned in this book gets a parenthetical note after their name listing some extraneous information, even if it was mentioned before or has no bearing on the topic at hand. There are many qualifying phrases such as "to name only a few" that are placed in parentheses for absolutely no reason. It's already an unnecessary qualifying phrase, made more unnecessary by slapping it into a parenthetical aside.

All the descriptions of the films are basic without even a hint of insight, and the writing style is clumsy and boring. Example: "Nancy seems more attracted to Sid for his celebrity status and generosity (she uses his money to buy drugs)." The section on Broken Blossoms (1919) has another laughable example, also written in a parenthetical aside: "The title of the movie is redolent with several meanings." Unbelievable. Telling us that the title of a film has more than one meaning doesn't merit even a mention in a film book that promises analysis and critique as this one does. The section on Lolita, which should have been one of the most in-depth sections in a book on sexual obsession, is nothing but a shallow checklist comparison between the Kubrick and Adrian Lyne versions.

Even when information is important, it's placed in those horrible parentheses. In the section on Mizoguchi's Dolls, 50 of the 400 words are in parenthetical asides. That's 12% of the entire content, and that is not including the parenthetical additions of translations or years of release.

The book is organized (their word, not mine) into five sections, the first being the "seminal films" on obsessive love. The second chapter is on "amour fou" in post-war cinema, the third on fugitive couples, and the fourth and fifth on male and female gaze respectively. Each chapter begins with a very brief introduction then immediately goes into the summaries. The summaries begin with the title and a quote from the film, and each section is anywhere from three to eight paragraphs long. The summaries in each chapter are placed mostly chronologically.

The photos are sub-par. In the previously-mentioned Lolita section, a photo of Sue Lyons has lines through the bottom third. The full-page photo of Dominique Swain was blown up so much that the lines of her hair and the blades of grass are all jagged and pixelated. The iconic Sue Lyons heart-shaped sunglasses photo was cropped so poorly that the left side has a black border while the other sides do not. Oh, and for a laugh, check out the author's photo on the back. It's one of those horrible self-portraits used on tacky MySpace pages.

This book is only helpful if you happen to need something with summaries to refresh your memory, or if you want to wade through nearly 400 pages of uselessness just to find the references they quoted so you can read something of substance. The entire book feels all the world like a rough draft that was gussied up with some photos and a quick glance-through by a bored editor. Not only will I be avoiding these authors in the future, I will be avoiding Limelight Editions in the future.

3 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Accessible to lay readers and cinema scholars alike, December 1, 2007

By 

Midwest Book Review (Oregon, WI USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Cinema of Obsession: Erotic Fixation and Love Gone Wrong in the Movies (Limelight) (Paperback)

Filmmaker Dominique Mainon and film journalist James Ursini present Cinema of Obsession: Erotic Fixation and Love Gone Wrong in the Movies, an in-depth discussion and analysis of modern cinema that revolves around the dark side of human attraction, from erotic obsession to heartbreak and jealousy to deception and even murder in the name of love. Black-and-white photographs illustrate Cinema of Obsession throughout, and the text offers commentary on numerous specific films including "Fatal Attraction", "Basic Instinct", "The Killers", "Wild at Heart", "Last Tango in Paris", "Vertigo", and many more. Accessible to lay readers and cinema scholars alike, Cinema of Obsession lives up to its title and is indispensable for connoisseurs of movies that deconstruct human romantic bonds.