Outsider Features: American Independent Films of the 1980s

by Richard K. Ferncase

Overview

In the early 1980s, serious American independent films including Stranger Than Paradise, Blood Simple, and She's Gotta Have It attracted ever-widening audiences, culminating with Steven Soderbergh's award-winning sex, lies, and videotape. This film, which won the Cannes Film Festival's top award and took more than $30 million at the box office in the United States alone, capped a remarkable decade for off-Hollywood filmmakers. Outsider Features takes an in-depth look at 10 of the most successful independent feature films made during this decade, from John Sayles's seminal and groundbreaking The Returban of the Secaucus Seven to Michael Moore's wry and irreverent Roger & Me, the most lucrative non-music documentary ever made. Outsider Features offers accounts of the genesis of each film, complete synopses and critical analyses, and biographies of each filmmaker.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780313276071
Publisher:	Bloomsbury Academic
Publication date:	06/21/1996
Series:	Contributions to the Study of Popular Culture , #52
Pages:	176
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 0.56(d)
Lexile:	1370L (what's this?)

About the Author

RICHARD K. FERNCASE is Associate Professor of Film and Television at Chapman University in Southern California. He is an award-winning filmmaker and photographer and the author of two books on motion picture lighting.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments
Preface
Introduction: Intruders in the Enchanters' Domain
All Together Now: The Returban of the Secaucus Seven (1980)
Koan-undrum: Chan Is Missing (1981)
Punk's Progress: Smithereens (1982)
Deadpan Alley: Stranger Than Paradise (1984)
Neon Nior: Blood Simple (1984)
Brooklyn Broach: She's Gotta Have It (1986)
Lust's Labors Lost: Working Girls (1986)
Oddities and Odysseys: The Thin Blue Line (1988)
Louisiana Story: sex, lies, and videotape (1989)
Rust Belt Requium: Roger & Me (1989)
Bibliography

Editorial Reviews

Analyzes examples of the independent film movement of the 1980s, discussing films such as The Return of the Secaucus Seven, Smithereens, Stranger Than Paradise, She's Gotta Have It, and Roger & Me. Includes an overview of the history of American independent film. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

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