A Critical Companion to Steven Spielberg offers a comprehensive, detailed study of the works of Steven Spielberg. Spielbergs early productions stand as landmarks in contemporary cinema, and his involvement with film spans all cinematic genres. Today, Spielberg enjoys an immense and enduring popularity around the globe, and his productions have attracted (and continue to attract) both public and critical attention. This book investigates several distinct areas of Spielbergs works and addresses the different approaches and the range of topics invited by the multidimensionality of his oeuvre. The eighteen chapters in this book use different methodologies, offering a variegated and compelling picture of Spielbergs films, from his earliest works such as Duel (1971) and The Sugarland Express (1974) to his most recent productions, such as The BFG (2016), The Post (2017), and Ready Player One (2018).
Arvustused
No serious scholar of film should be without this important book dealing with such a significant film maker and cultural icon as Steven Spielberg. The book provides comprehensive and in-depth treatment of the man and his workboth in relation to his person and historyas well as his actual films. A must have. -- Bill Anderson, Professor of Religious Studies at Concordia University of Edmonton This edited collection is of great importance to film studies. The contributors have a wide variety of perspectives and topics and cover the most recent film releases. They represent a young cohort of scholars and they unite to analyze Spielbergs cinema at the highest level and to embed his work into the long tradition of the civilized arts. -- Frederick Wasser, professor of television and radio, Brooklyn College CUNY
Part I: The Artist and Philosopher
Chapter 1: One of the Phenomenal Debut Films in the History of Movies: The
Sugarland Express as Expression of Spielbergs Movie Sense and as
Contribution to a Genre Cycle, David LaRocca
Chapter 2: Adapting Objects: Spielberg and the Art of Making Strange, Paul
Johnson
Chapter 3: Fear and Wonder: The Lived-Body Experience of Spielbergs Cinema,
Adam Daniel
Chapter 4: Galloping into the Jaws of Death: The Psychology of Animal
Symbolism in Jaws and War Horse, Jennifer L. McMahon
Chapter 5: A Million Light Years from Home: Spielbergs Extraterrestrials,
Transhumanism, and Constructions of Alterity, Elizabeth Lowry
Chapter 6: Of Children and Redrums: The Influence of Stanley Kubrick on A.I.
and Minority Report, Elsa Colombani
Part II: The Dreamer
Chapter 7: Poiesis and Miracles: From Something Evil to The Mission,
Fernando Gabriel Pagnoni Berns, Mariana Soledad Zárate, and Eduardo Veteri
Chapter 8: Deus ex Machina: Spielbergs Fantastic Visions of Tragedy and
Grace, Joshua Sikora
Chapter 9: A Modern Pythia: The Oracle in Minority Report, Sabine Planka
Chapter 10: The Politics of Nostalgia: Reconstructing Epic Heroism in
Spielbergs Amblin and Always, Christian Jimenez
Chapter 11: Piracy, Boy Heroes, and the Importance of Playing the Game in
Spielbergs Hook and The Adventures of Tintin, Sue Matheson
Chapter 12: Categorizing E.T., Christopher H. Ketcham
Part III: The Historian
Chapter 13: I Thought You Were an American: Spielberg, 1941, and Saving
Private Ryan, Sean OReilly
Chapter 14: Testimonies of the Past: Spielbergs Moral Exploration of Racial
Discrimination, Michael Versteeg
Chapter 15: Writing Postmodern Histories in Hollywood: The Portrayal of the
Male Characters in Catch Me If You Can, Bridge of Spies, and The Post,
Orsolya Karacsony
Chapter 16: Dignified Professor and Intrepid Adventurer: Two Facets of
Indiana Jones, Carl Sobocinski
Chapter 17: We Spared No Expense: Practical Utopias in Jurassic Park, The
Terminal, and Ready Player One, Carl Sweeney
Chapter 18: Trivialization, Displacement, and Historical Amnesia: The Work of
Innocence and Embrace in Empire of the Sun and War of the Worlds, Naaman K.
Wood and David J. Strickler
Adam Barkman is professor of philosophy and chair of the Philosophy Department at Redeemer University College.
Antonio Sanna teaches English language and literature in Sassari, Italy.
