Cinema of Obsession: Erotic Fixation and Love Gone Wrong in the Movies

by James Ursini

Overview

(Limelight). Cinema of Obsession traces the history of obsessive love and erotic fixation. Seminal works of obsession, The Blue Angel , Peter Ibbetson , and Phantom of the Opera are seen as setting the groundwork for films that follow. The book defines and surveys examples of the explosive nature of amour fou , issues of male control (no matter how tenuous), and the fugitive couple love on the run in such films as Romeo and Juliet , Last Tango in Paris , Vertigo , Basic Instinct , and Wild at Heart . Male masochism is explored through film noirs, including Criss Cross , The Killers , Gilda , and The Postman Always Rings Twice . The book shifts gears in its finale and concentrates on the female gaze, films of female obsession: Jane Eyre , The Piano , The Lover , Fatal Attraction , and Vanilla Sky .

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780879103477
Publisher:	Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc.
Publication date:	10/01/2007
Series:	Limelight
Pages:	410
Product dimensions:	7.50(w) x 9.25(h) x 0.93(d)

About the Author

Dominique Mainon is an author/screenwriter/filmmaker living in Laguna Beach, California. Her book The Modern Amazons: Warrior Women On-Screen was published by Limelight Editions in 2006. Dominique is a frequent contributor to magazines and genre studies books, such as Gangster Film Reader (Limelight Editions). She is currently studying rodeo bullfighting for an upcoming Western screenplay titled Broken Saddle. For more information, latest activities, events and book signings, please visit her web site at www.dominiquemainon.com.

James Ursini is the author, co-author, and co-editor of over 20 books on film history, including The Gangster Film Reader, co-edited with Alain Silver; The Modern Amazons: Warrior Women On-Screen, also written with Dominique Mainon; The Horror Film Reader; The Vampire Film Reader; the Film Noir Reader series (which are all available from Limelight Editions); The Noir Style; and L.A. Noir. He is also a noted DVD commentator, having done over a dozen commentaries for both Fox and Warner Bros. Mr. Ursini has written for various magazines as well as film journals. He has a doctorate from UCLA and teaches in Los Angeles. He is at present writing a noir novel.