The most commercially and critically successful film of Ethan and Joel Coen, Fargo was nominated for five Academy Awards and received two, an exceptional achievement for a low budget, independently produced film. This volume explores Fargo from a variety of perspectives. Providing a detailed account of the film's production, reception and place within the career of the Coen brothers, it covers issues and themes significant to current film discourse, including genre, gender and sexuality, race, history, culture and myth.

Ozu's Tokyo Story is generally regarded as one of the finest films ever made. Universal in its appeal, it is also considered to be "particularly Japanese." Exploring its universality and cultural specificity, this collection of specially commissioned essays demonstrates the multiple planes on which the film can be appreciated. Among the topics discussed are Ozu's relationship to aspects of Japanese tradition, situating the film within artistic modes, religious systems and beliefs, and socio-cultural and familial formations; and an analysis of how Ozu has been misunderstood in Western...

Buster Keaton's "Sherlock Jr." focuses on a classic by one of America's greatest silent film geniuses, whose films still delight and amaze audiences worldwide. The essays included in this volume, written specially for this edition, examine this film within the context of Keaton's career, and also offer new perspectives on its unusual production history, Keaton's vaudeville background, and the differing views of "masculinity" that both celebrate and poke fun at cinema itself, among other topics.

Roberto Rossellini's Rome Open City instantly and permanently changed the landscape of film history. Made at the end of World War II, the film has been credited with initiating a revolution in and reinvention of modern cinema. This volume offers an original overview of the production history of Rome Open City; some of its key images, the complexity of its political dimensions, and the legacy of the film in public consciousness. It serves as an accessible introduction to one of the major achievements of filmmaking.

Spike Lee's "Do the Right Thing" brings together essays, freshly written for this edition, that analyze this controversial film from a variety of methodological perspectives. Collectively these essays connect the interracial strife of New York as treated in Do the Right Thing with the contemporary social climate and racism in America. Also included are reviews of the film by influential critics, a large selection of production stills, and a complete bibliography.

Alfred Hitchcock's Rear Window is one of the icons of American filmmaking. A perfect example of Hollywood cinema at its best, it is an engaging piece of entertainment as well as a fascinating meditation on the nature of the film itself. A suspense thriller about a chair-bound observer who suspects his neighbor of murdering his wife, the narrative becomes the vehicle for Hitchcock's exploration of the basic ingredients of cinema, from voyeurism and dreamlike fantasy, to the process of narration itself. This volume provides a fresh analysis of Rear Window, which is examined from a variety of...

Alfred Hitchcock's Rear Window is one of the icons of American filmmaking. A perfect example of Hollywood cinema at its best, it is an engaging piece of entertainment as well as a fascinating meditation on the nature of the film itself. A suspense thriller about a chair-bound observer who suspects his neighbor of murdering his wife, the narrative becomes the vehicle for Hitchcock's exploration of the basic ingredients of cinema, from voyeurism and dreamlike fantasy, to the process of narration itself. This volume provides a fresh analysis of Rear Window, which is examined from a variety of...

The first collection of critical essays on Luis Bunuel's 1972 Oscar-winning masterpiece, The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie, this anthology brings fresh perspectives to the most sophisticated film of this director whose narrative experimentation was always ahead of its time. Combining some of the world's most distinguished scholars on Bunuel and Spanish cinema with new voices in cultural theory, this volume helps us to rethink not only The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie, but also Bunuel's entire body of work.

Bringing together new and critically informed essays about one of the most controversial films ever made, this collection of writings examines the literary origins of the work, the nature of cinematic violence, questions of gender and the film's treatment of sexuality, as well as the difficulties of adapting an invented language ("nadsat") for the screen. The volume also includes two contemporary and conflicting reviews by Roger Hughes and Pauline Kael, a detailed glossary of "nadsat" and reproductions of stills from the film.

Bringing together new and critically informed essays about one of the most controversial films ever made, this collection of writings examines the literary origins of the work, the nature of cinematic violence, questions of gender and the film's treatment of sexuality, as well as the difficulties of adapting an invented language ("nadsat") for the screen. The volume also includes two contemporary and conflicting reviews by Roger Hughes and Pauline Kael, a detailed glossary of "nadsat" and reproductions of stills from the film.