A Critical Companion to Steven Spielberg offers a comprehensive, detailed study of the works of Steven Spielberg. Spielberg¿s early productions stand as landmarks in contemporary cinema, and his involvement with film spans all cinematic genres. Today, Spielberg enjoys an immense and enduring popularity around the globe, and his productions have attracted (and continue to attract) both public and critical attention. This book investigates several distinct areas of Spielberg¿s works and addresses the different approaches and the range of topics invited by the multidimensionality of his oeuvre. The eighteen chapters in this book use different methodologies, offering a variegated and compelling picture of Spielberg¿s films, from his earliest works such as Duel (1971) and The Sugarland Express (1974) to his most recent productions, such as The BFG (2016), The Post (2017), and Ready Player One (2018).
A Critical Companion to Steven Spielberg offers a comprehensive, detailed study of the works of Steven Spielberg. Spielberg¿s early productions stand as landmarks in contemporary cinema, and his involvement with film spans all cinematic genres. Today, Spielberg enjoys an immense and enduring popularity around the globe, and his productions have attracted (and continue to attract) both public and critical attention. This book investigates several distinct areas of Spielberg¿s works and addresses the different approaches and the range of topics invited by the multidimensionality of his oeuvre. The eighteen chapters in this book use different methodologies, offering a variegated and compelling picture of Spielberg¿s films, from his earliest works such as Duel (1971) and The Sugarland Express (1974) to his most recent productions, such as The BFG (2016), The Post (2017), and Ready Player One (2018).
Part I: The Artist and Philosopher
Chapter 1: “One of the Phenomenal Debut Films in the History of
Movies”: The Sugarland Express as Expression of Spielberg’s ‘Movie
Sense’ and as Contribution to a Genre Cycle, David LaRocca
Chapter 2: Adapting Objects: Spielberg and the Art of Making
Strange, Paul Johnson
Chapter 3: Fear and Wonder: The Lived-Body Experience of
Spielberg’s Cinema, Adam Daniel
Chapter 4: Galloping into the Jaws of Death: The Psychology of
Animal Symbolism in Jaws and War Horse, Jennifer L. McMahon
Chapter 5: A Million Light Years from Home: Spielberg’s
Extraterrestrials, Transhumanism, and Constructions of Alterity,
Elizabeth Lowry
Chapter 6: Of Children and Redrums: The Influence of Stanley
Kubrick on A.I. and Minority Report, Elsa Colombani
Part II: The Dreamer
Chapter 7: Poiesis and Miracles: From Something Evil to “The
Mission,” Fernando Gabriel Pagnoni Berns, Mariana Soledad Zárate,
and Eduardo Veteri
Chapter 8: Deus ex Machina: Spielberg’s Fantastic Visions of
Tragedy and Grace, Joshua Sikora
Chapter 9: A Modern Pythia: The Oracle in Minority Report, Sabine
Planka
Chapter 10: The Politics of Nostalgia: Reconstructing Epic Heroism
in Spielberg’s Amblin’ and Always, Christian Jimenez
Chapter 11: Piracy, Boy Heroes, and the Importance of Playing the
Game in Spielberg’s Hook and The Adventures of Tintin, Sue
Matheson
Chapter 12: Categorizing E.T., Christopher H. Ketcham
Part III: The Historian
Chapter 13: “I Thought You Were an American”: Spielberg, 1941, and
Saving Private Ryan, Sean O’Reilly
Chapter 14: Testimonies of the Past: Spielberg’s Moral Exploration
of Racial Discrimination,” Michael Versteeg
Chapter 15: Writing Postmodern Histories in Hollywood: The
Portrayal of the Male Characters in Catch Me If You Can, Bridge of
Spies, and The Post, Orsolya Karacsony
Chapter 16: Dignified Professor and Intrepid Adventurer: Two Facets
of Indiana Jones, Carl Sobocinski
Chapter 17: “We Spared No Expense”: Practical Utopias in Jurassic
Park, The Terminal, and Ready Player One,” Carl Sweeney
Chapter 18: Trivialization, Displacement, and Historical Amnesia:
The Work of Innocence and Embrace in Empire of the Sun and War of
the Worlds, Naaman K. Wood and David J. Strickler
Adam Barkman is professor of philosophy and chair of the Philosophy
Department at Redeemer University College.
Antonio Sanna teaches English language and literature in Sassari,
Italy.
No serious scholar of film should be without this important book
dealing with such a significant film maker and cultural icon as
Steven Spielberg. The book provides comprehensive and in-depth
treatment of the man and his work—both in relation to his person
and history—as well as his actual films. A must have.
*Bill Anderson, Professor of Religious Studies at Concordia
University of Edmonton*
This edited collection is of great importance to film studies. The
contributors have a wide variety of perspectives and topics and
cover the most recent film releases. They represent a young cohort
of scholars and they unite to analyze Spielberg’s cinema at the
highest level and to embed his work into the long tradition of the
civilized arts.
*Frederick Wasser, professor of television and radio, Brooklyn
College CUNY*
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