Oliver Stone's America: "Dreaming the Myth Outward" (Film Studies) [Hardcover]

Susan MacKey-Kallis (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: July 1996 | ISBN-10: 0813326621 | ISBN-13: 978-0813326627

Oliver Stone is one of America's most controversial film-makers. His films include "J.F.K.", "The Doors", "Natural Born Killers" and "Nixon". This book provides a rhetorical analysis of Stone's major films and examines American history through his powerful, partisan and controversial visions. It places him within the tradition of American film-making, revealing his use of mythological and rhetorical constructions to represent historical events and personae.

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

Mackey-Kallis (communication arts, Villanova) presents a much-needed, but flawed, full-length study of one of America's most controversial filmmakers. Following an opening chapter outlining Stone's dilemma as a left-wing director in a conservative Hollywood, she effectively organizes the text in historical fashion. The author begins with a detailed discussion of JFK, which she considers the fundamental work of Stone's career, and then addresses the Vietnam trilogy. Following is a discussion of The Doors, Salvador, and Talk Radio in terms of their portrayal of a tortured artist-visionary. The text concludes by juxtaposing readings of Wall Street and Natural Born Killers, which the author describes as America's encounter with its shadow self. Mackey-Kallis's organization of Stone's oeuvre is compelling, but her theoretical position is inadequate. She speaks from the perspective of perennial philosophy, which turns out to be a version of New Age "transconciousness." The author's lack of a materialist grounding leads her to assume an insufficiently critical perspective on Stone's frequent historical simplification. Still, the book is enjoyable reading and a beginning toward understanding an important cultural figure. Recommended for larger academic film collections.?David Seelow, SUNY Coll. at Old Westbury
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 166 pages
• Publisher: Westview Pr (Short Disc) (July 1996)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0813326621
• ISBN-13: 978-0813326627
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.3 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #5,296,522 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent book, July 25, 2005

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M. Nose - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Oliver Stone's America: "Dreaming the Myth Outward" (Film Studies) (Hardcover)

This well written, well thought out book uses the archetypes of mythology (Campbell, Jung, etc) and uses them to help us understand the importance of myths as they apply to the modern world. Stone's films are some of the best examples of modern mythology and have a heightened sense of realism. This approach contributes to a new and maybe better understanding of his movies. I highly recommend it to anyone who appreciates mythology or the films of Oliver Stone. I think he is one of our finest modern-day storytellers.

3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Combines academic and non-academic perspectives, December 12, 1997

By A Customer

This review is from: Oliver Stone's America: "Dreaming the Myth Outward" (Film Studies) (Hardcover)

Ms. Mackey-Kallis apparently comes from an academic perspective, as she weaves a variety of interdisciplinary theories (mass communication theory, film studies, etc.) while still drawing from imagery that is understandable to non-academics. If you want to understand the theory behind the creativity of Oliver Stone, you'll want to read this book.