Detours and Lost Highways: A Map of Neo-Noir

by Foster Hirsch

Overview

(Limelight). " Detours and Lost Highways begins with the Orson Welles film, Touch of Evil (1958), which featured Welles both behind and in front of the camera. That movie is often cited as the end of the line, noir's rococo tombstone...the film after which noir could no longer be made, or at least could no longer be made in the same way... It is my belief, Hirsch writes, that neo-noir does exist and that noir is entitled to full generic status. Over the past forty years, since noir's often-claimed expiration, it has flourished under various labels. Among the movies he discusses as evidence: Chinatown (1974), Body Heat (1981), John Woo's Hong Kong blood-ballets (e.g., The Killer , 1989) and the pulpy oeuvre of Quentin Tarantino." Washington Post Book World

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780879102883
Publisher:	Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc.
Publication date:	08/01/2004
Series:	Limelight
Edition description:	1ST LIMELI
Pages:	404
Sales rank:	474,149
Product dimensions:	5.94(w) x 8.72(h) x 0.99(d)

Table of Contents

1	Mapping the Route	1
2	The Second Time Around	23
3	The French Connection	67
4	"The Boys in the Back Room"	109
5	The Quest: Errands into the Maze	145
6	The Wounds of Desire	179
7	Melodramas of Mischance	211
8	Born to Be Bad	253
9	Black Noir	289
10	Beyond Noir: The Roads to Ruin	307
	Bibliography	325
	Filmography	329
	Illustrations	379
	Index	383

Editorial Reviews

Captures the essence of noir films of the past 40 years, focusing on films that continue the themes and the look formulated in classic noir, films that have branched off from noir into new terrain, and films that combine traditional and new patterns with varying success. Guides readers from the roots of the genre through its emergence in sexually-charged thrillers, narratives of mischances, chronicles of killers, and black cinema. Includes about 100 b&w stills and posters, plus a filmography. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

Booknews