Invented lives, imagined communities :: the biopic and American national identity /

Biopics--films that chronicle the lives of famous and notorious figures from our national history--have long been one of Hollywood's most popular and important genres, offering viewers various understandings of American national identity. Invented Lives, Imagined Communities provides the first...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Other Authors: Epstein, William H. (Editor), Palmer, R. Barton, 1946- (Editor)
Format: Electronic eBook
Language:English
Published: Albany : State University of New York Press, [2016]
Series:SUNY series, horizons of cinema.
Subjects:
Online Access:DE-862
DE-863
Summary:Biopics--films that chronicle the lives of famous and notorious figures from our national history--have long been one of Hollywood's most popular and important genres, offering viewers various understandings of American national identity. Invented Lives, Imagined Communities provides the first full-length examination of US biopics, focusing on key releases in American cinema while treating recent developments in three fields: cinema studies, particularly the history of Hollywood; national identity studies dealing with the American experience; and scholarship devoted to modernity and postmodernity. Films discussed include Houdini, Patton, The Great White Hope, Bound for Glory, Ed Wood, Basquiat, Pollock, Sylvia, Kinsey, Fur, Milk, J. Edgar, and Lincoln, and the book pays special attention to the crucial generic plot along which biopics traverse and showcase American lives, even as they modify the various notions of the national character.
Physical Description:1 online resource (vii, 344 pages)
Bibliography:Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN:9781438460819
1438460813