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Jonathan Lethem

They Live: A Novel Approach to Cinema (Deep Focus) Paperback – November 1, 2010

by Jonathan Lethem (Author), Sean Howe (Editor)

24 ratings

Book 1 of 5: Deep Focus

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“One of the cleverest, most accessibly in-depth film books released this year . . . a smart-ass novelist exploring a cheesy-cheeky ‘80s sci-fi flick.”—Hartford Advocate

Deep Focus is a series of film books with a fresh approach. Take the smartest, liveliest writers in contemporary letters and let them loose on the most vital and popular corners of cinema history: midnight movies, the New Hollywood of the sixties and seventies, film noir, screwball comedies, international cult classics, and more . . . Kicking off the series is Jonathan Lethem’s take on They Live, John Carpenter’s 1988 classic amalgam of deliberate B-movie, sci-fi, horror, anti-Yuppie agitprop.

Lethem exfoliates Carpenter’s paranoid satire in a series of penetrating, free-associational forays into the context of a story that peels the human masks off the ghoulish overlords of capitalism. Taking into consideration classic Hollywood cinema and science fiction—as well as popular music and contemporary art and theory—They Live provides a wholly original perspective on Carpenter’s subversive classic.

Print length

176 pages
Language

English
Publisher

Soft Skull
Publication date

November 1, 2010
Dimensions

4.72 x 0.53 x 6.51 inches
ISBN-10

159376278X
ISBN-13

978-1593762780
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Editorial Reviews

From Booklist

“I’ve come here to chew bubblegum and kick ass. And I’m all out of bubblegum.” It doesn’t rank with “go ahead, make my day,” but that memorable line from director John Carpenter’s 1988 sf action satire They Live holds a special place in the hearts of cult-movie fans everywhere. This low-budget, poorly acted genre piece is the first specimen put under the microscope in a new series of long-form film criticism books called Deep Focus. The series takes a hip, contemporary writer and lets him or her loose on a classic (or not so classic) movie. They Live is lovingly picked apart, scene by scene, by Jonathan Lethem, the best-selling author of The Fortress of Solitude (2003) and a highly respected essayist. He finds hidden subtext in the smallest of details, while jovially debating the intentionality of Carpenter’s views on television, consumerism, race, misogyny, and so forth. In Lethem’s opinion, They Live “is probably the stupidest film ever to take ideology as its explicit subject. It’s also probably the most fun.” He is convincing. --Chris Keech

Review

Praise for They Live

"Apparently, author Lethem was the only other person than me to take They Live as brilliant, stinging social commentary. He explains why in this great book."―Sam Stowe, California Literary Review

"Who would have thought that one of the cleverest, most accessibly in-depth film books released this year would be a smart-ass novelist exploring a cheesy-cheeky '80s sci-fi flick wherein a former wrestler combats an alien occupation via magic sunglasses? . . . [Jonathan Lethem] is able to seriously dissect the movie's message and often highbrow references, while also fully acknowledging its silliness."―Hartford Advocate

"Novelist and occasional critic Jonathan Lethem pulls apart the threads of John Carpenter's 1988 science fiction film of the same title, to entertaining and illuminating effect . . . Carpenter's film emerges from Lethem's inspection a more human and mysterious work, less coherent perhaps but fully immersed in the noisy, ceaseless traffic of cultural exchange."―The New York Times Book Review

"A fun read, packed with references to other films, literature and artists . . . one of the few books one would enjoy reading while watching a movie."―USA Today's Pop Candy

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Product details

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Soft Skull; Illustrated edition (November 1, 2010)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Paperback ‏ : ‎ 176 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 159376278X
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1593762780
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 4.4 ounces
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 4.72 x 0.53 x 6.51 inches

Best Sellers Rank: #1,422,861 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
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Customer Reviews:
24 ratings

About the author

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Jonathan Lethem

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Jonathan Lethem was born in New York and attended Bennington College.

He is the author of seven novels including Fortress of Solitude and Motherless Brooklyn, which was named Novel of the Year by Esquire and won the National Book Critics Circle Award and the Salon Book Award, as well as the Macallan Crime Writers Association Gold Dagger.

He has also written two short story collections, a novella and a collection of essays, edited The Vintage Book of Amnesia, guest-edited The Year's Best Music Writing 2002, and was the founding fiction editor of Fence magazine.

His writings have appeared in the New Yorker, Rolling Stone, McSweeney's and many other periodicals.

He lives in Brooklyn, New York.

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Ivo Shandor

EASY READING

Reviewed in the United States on October 8, 2020

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This is a breezy little mini-book discussing the film scene by scene in a conversational, easy-to-read style. Lethem takes you through the film almost minute by minute, pointing out things you may have missed on your first few viewings but that he picked up on his… hundredth? The book reads like he has joined your circle of friends that you get together to talk about movies with, and he wants to go through the film with you and point out all the neat things he’s noticed. Think of it as a transcript of an excellent fan commentary track.

Having said that, though, there’s not a lot of background/behind-the-scenes material here, which Lethem owns up to on page 2, but it makes you wonder why this book series is called “Deep Focus” if the presentation is so lightweight? For example, there’s no cast-and-crew credits list at the end, like you find in the great BFI mini-books. Also, although he acknowledges the two source materials (Ray Nelson’s short story and Bill Wray’s comic book version), there’s no explanation of how Carpenter came across these sources, which one he found out about first, nor how Nelson and Wray felt about the finished film (if they’ve even seen it?). Without these juicy, in-depth details, it seems more like this book series should be called “Quick Pan” instead of “Deep Focus.”

Helpful

Applying the sunglasses to an underrated film

Reviewed in the United States on November 29, 2016

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Is "They Live" an awkward, clunky, cartoonish cult film? Yes -- but it's also one of the most honest & entertaining films you're likely to see. Jonathan Lethem dives into it with clear eyes & wickedly insightful prose, examining the depths of what some high-minded critics might dismiss as trash & discovering quite a lot of value in it. Yet he's no uncritical idolator, either -- where scathing dissection is deserved, he delivers it without hesitation.

The thing is, "They Live" not only tackled the Reagan era of rapacious greed & callous consumerism with ferocious glee, it was one of the few films to even approach such territory. (Check out "The Hidden" for another such film -- also a cult film, by the way.) That it did so in the form of a gonzo conspiracy-action-science fiction-horror film is actually to its advantage: its evisceration of a culture where everything & everyone is nothing but a commodity transcends its specific era. Indeed, the film is just as relevant today -- I wonder just what those sunglasses would reveal if trained on the Kardashians, or any number of hedge fund managers, or most of Congress?

Lethem romps through the film with obvious pleasure ... and if you disagree with some of his conclusions, that's all right -- I disagreed with him at times myself, but always found myself thinking about what he had said & recognizing his points. It's not a final statement about the film, but an appreciation meant to provoke further thought & discussion. In this it succeeds wonderfully, making you want to watch it again (or for the first time) as quickly as possible -- highly recommended!

2 people found this helpful

Helpful

Christopher

Not worthy of the author or the movie

Reviewed in the United States on August 10, 2017

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I love Johathan Lethem as an essayist, and I love They Live as a movie, but man do I HATE this book. Lethem makes weird connections with porno tropes he believes are being utilized in the movie, and after the second one, claims Carpenter is doing this knowingly because he wrote porn scripts in his early career--pretty sure Lethem is confusing Carpenter with Wes Craven (who did work in that industry early on--I can't find any information about Carpenter having done so). The method of examining the movie chronologically across its running time should lead to an in-depth, point-by-point examination of the film, but actually it leads to fairly trivial comments and weird slights--"'the longest fight in movie history' according to Carpenter (who also claimed that Roddy and Piper and Keith David rehearsed it for three weeks"); why "claimed"? is there some reason to disbelieve him?--of the kind you might get commenting to a friend while the movie is playing in front of you. There is some nice analysis of camera placement and connecting Carpenter's work with specific moment in Hitchcock, and he catches a few logical inconsistencies that are fun to notice, but over all the reading Lethem provides is baffling.

5 people found this helpful

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Top reviews from other countries

W. Lee

A great fun read for fans

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on December 7, 2010

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(As I write this, in Dec 2010, I'm not sure why the normal book listing has reverted to "pre-order only" (Which doesn't allow reviews), as I bought the book back at the end of Nov. So I thought I'd put my review here, for now, and hopefully it'll filter to the book proper as well)

If you're a fan of John Carpenter and/or his film 'They Live', you'll get a kick out of this fun little book that analyses the film. It's about the right length. Not so short as to be pointless, not so long that it becomes a bore. It can be read over a long afternoon or two, or picked up occasionally for a bit of interest.

It's not perfect. There are one or two obtuse and superfluous introductory notes that you can skip/skim. Occasionally the author also seems stuck on the current trend of seeing anything with a couple of masculine male characters as having homoerotic undertones. Nothing wrong with making the observation, but he does seem to dwell on it repeatedly instead of getting on with things. (Following his logic, should we also now see every chick-flick with a pair of glammed up friends, as having lesbian undertones?). Another minor annoyance (only occasional) is the author's general tone, which can seem apologetic of both They Live's science fiction elements (Which means he occasionally dismisses some things out-of-hand, and completely misses their own meanings) and its low-budget roots, as if he's almost embarrassed to be analysing such a film, despite enjoying it and finding great depth in it. The end is also a tad lacking, as he concludes with a selection of quotes from others, as though abdicating the responsibility of writing down his own final thoughts and opinions on the film.

Having said all that, they're minor complaints in comparison to the whole. This is a fascinating read for those who are fans, or just interested in film analysis. It is laid out in a roughly chronological order, as the author covers various groupings of scenes, even including their start times in the film, for reference.

It's fun to see new releases like this, taking the time to appreciate wonderful but oft-overlooked film. So I'll have to say, that overall I definitely recommend it, and will be keeping an eye out for their future releases.

7 people found this helpful

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