1.

Record Nr.

UNINA9910449815003321

Autore

Leitch Thomas M.

Titolo

Crime films / / Thomas Leitch [[electronic resource]]

Pubbl/distr/stampa

Cambridge : , : Cambridge University Press, , 2002

ISBN

1-107-12806-4

0-511-04028-8

0-511-14853-4

0-511-55618-7

0-511-60645-1

0-511-05151-4

Descrizione fisica

1 online resource (xv, 383 pages) : digital, PDF file(s)

Collana

Genres in American cinema

Disciplina

791.43/655

Soggetti

Crime films - United States - History and criticism

Lingua di pubblicazione

Inglese

Formato

Materiale a stampa

Livello bibliografico

Monografia

Note generali

Title from publisher's bibliographic system (viewed on 05 Oct 2015).

Nota di bibliografia

Filmography: p. 341-357.

Includes bibliographical references (p. 331-339) and index.

Nota di contenuto

Cover; Half-title; Series-title; Title; Copyright; Dedication; Contents; Illustrations; Acknowledgments; 1 The Problem of the Crime Film; 2 Historical and Cultural Overview; 3 Critical Overview; 4 Fury and the Victim Film; 5 The Godfather and the Gangster Film; 6 Double Indemnity and the Film Noir; 7 Basic Instinct and the Erotic Thriller; 8 Murder on the Orient Express, Blue Velvet, and the Unofficial-Detective Film; 9 Chinatown and the Private-Eye Film; 10 Bullitt and the Police Film; 11 Reversal of Fortune and the Lawyer Film; 12 Fargo and the Crime Comedy

13 Conclusion: What Good Are Crime Films?Notes; Selected Bibliography; Filmography/Videography; Index

Sommario/riassunto

This book surveys the entire range of crime films, including important subgenres such as the gangster film, the private eye film, film noir, as well as the victim film, the erotic thriller, and the crime comedy. Focusing on ten films that span the range of the twentieth century, Thomas Leitch traces the transformation of the three leading figures that are common to all crime films: the criminal, the victim and the avenger. Analyzing how each of the subgenres establishes oppositions



among its ritual antagonists, he shows how the distinctions among them become blurred throughout the course of the century. This blurring, Leitch maintains, reflects and fosters a deep social ambivalence towards crime and criminals, while the criminal, victim and avenger characters effectively map the shifting relations between subgenres, such as the erotic thriller and the police film, within the larger genre of crime film that informs them all.