The Films of the Eighties: A Social HistorySouthern Illinois University Press, 1993 - 335 pages In this remarkable sequel to his Films of the Seventies: A Social History, William J. Palmer examines more than three hundred films as texts that represent, revise, parody, comment upon, and generate discussion about major events, issues, and social trends of the eighties. Palmer defines the dialectic between film art and social history, taking as his theoretical model the "holograph of history" that originated from the New Historicist theories of Hayden White and Dominick LaCapra. Combining the interests and methodologies of social history and film criticism, Palmer contends that film is a socially conscious interpreter and commentator upon the issues of contemporary social history. In the eighties, such issues included the war in Vietnam, the preservation of the American farm, terrorism, nuclear holocaust, changes in Soviet-American relations, neoconservative feminism, and yuppies. Among the films Palmer examines are Platoon, The Killing Fields, The River, Out of Africa, Little Drummer Girl, Kiss of the Spiderwoman, Silkwood, The Day After, Red Dawn, Moscow on the Hudson, Troop Beverly Hills, and Fatal Attraction. Utilizing the principles of New Historicism, Palmer demonstrates that film can analyze and critique history as well as present it. |
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... Testament from becoming sentimental , however , is the film's consistent irony , its underlining of the fragility of concepts such as " love " and " home " and " the future . " Director Lynn Littman and screen- writer John Sacret Young ...
... Testament becomes a film about man's struggle to remain human in a world that has de - evolved , gone back to the caveman , animalic , ages . In the penultimate scene of Testament , Carol sits Brad and Hiroshi in the family car , closes ...
... Testament , a film on the same topic presently making the rounds of movie houses , fails to deliver for the very reason The Day After succeeds . Unlike its television counterpart , Testament does involve itself in plot and you do care ...
Contents
The Vietnam War as Film Text | 16 |
The Coming Home Films | 61 |
The Terrorism Film Texts | 114 |
Copyright | |
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