Mean Streets and Raging Bulls: The Legacy of Film Noir in Contemporary American Cinema [Hardcover]

Richard Martin (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 6, 1997 | ISBN-10: 0810833379 | ISBN-13: 978-0810833371

Classic film noir was Hollywood's 'dark cinema' of crime and corruption; a genre underpinned by a tone of existential cynicism which stripped bare the myth of the American Dream and offered a bleak, nightmarish vision of a fragmented society that rhymed with many of the social realities of forties and fifties America. Mean Streets and Raging Bulls explores how, since its apparent demise in the late fifties, the noir genre has been revitalized during the post-studio era. The book is divided into two sections. In the first, the evolution of film noir is contextualized in relation to both American cinema's industrial transformation and the post-Depression history of the United States. In the second, the evolution of neo-noir and its relation to classic film noir is illustrated by detailed reference to representative texts including Chinatown (Roman Polanski, 1974), Night Moves (Arthur Penn, 1975), Taxi Driver (Martin Scorsese, 1976), Blood Simple (Joel and Ethan Coen, 1984), After Hours (Martin Scorsese, 1985), Sea of Love (Harold Becker, 1989), Resevoir Dogs (Quentin Tarantino, 1992), and Romeo is Bleeding (Peter Medak, 1994).

Editorial Reviews

Review

Martin's book is admirably thorough and readable, offering a précis of the dual background--industrial imperatives, stylistic influences?to modern-day noir.....

...a provocative analysis, and Martin makes an important contribution to our understanding of film noir and the movies.

...offers an astute reading of contemporary noir...recommended for all libraries and all readers.....

About the Author

Richard Martin (Ph.D., Film Studies, University of Newcastle upon Tyne) is a freelance writer and editor.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 208 pages
• Publisher: Scarecrow Press (November 6, 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0810833379
• ISBN-13: 978-0810833371
• Product Dimensions: 8.6 x 5.6 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #4,897,524 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

0 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars WEALTH OF INFO ON HOLLYWOODS 2ND GOLDEN AGE, March 31, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Mean Streets and Raging Bulls: The Legacy of Film Noir in Contemporary American Cinema (Hardcover)

I really like this book!!! I have about 50 pages to go and dread finishing it. I love the great films of the late sixties and seventies- Coppola, Scorcese, Ashby, Kubrick, and this book looks behind the scenes of the machine that produced them and the creative people who made them. Check it out. Only reason for 4 stars is that I would have liked more photos.