Versions of Hollywood Crime Cinema : Studies in Ford, Wilder, Coppola, Scorsese, and Others

No society is without crime, prompting Nathaniel Hawthorne's narrator to make his famous statement in The Scarlet Letter that, however high its hopes are, no civilization can fail to allot a portion of its soil as the site of a prison. Crime has also been a prevailing, common theme in films that call us to consider its construction: How do we determine what is lawful and what is criminal? And how, in turn, does this often hypocritical distinction determine society? Film, argues Carl Freedman, is an especially fruitful medium for considering questions like these. With Versions of Hollywood Crime Cinema, he offers a series of critical readings spanning several genres. From among the mob movies, Freedman focuses on Francis Ford Coppola's Godfather trilogy—arguably the foremost work of crime cinema—crafting a convincing argument that the plot's action is principally driven by the shift from Sicily to America, which marks the shift to a capitalist society. Turning his attention to other genres, Freedman also looks at film noir and Westerns, in addition to films for which crime is significant but not central, from horror movies like Stanley Kubrick's The Shining to science fiction and social realist films like The Grapes of Wrath. In recent years, television has welcomed innovative works like Boardwalk Empire, The Wire, and The Sopranos, and Freedman discusses how television's increasingly congenial creative environment has allowed it to turn out productions whose ability to engage with these larger social questions rivals that of films from the height of cinema's Golden Age.| No society is without crime, prompting Nathaniel Hawthorne's narrator to make his famous statement in The Scarlet Letter that, however high its hopes are, no civilization can fail to allot a portion of its soil as the site of a prison. By establishing the category of crime – by drawing a line between the lawful and criminal, however thin, blurry or even effectively meaningless the line may in practice become – society offers its own perhaps most consequential self-definition. Film, argues Carl Freedman, is an especially fruitful medium for considering questions like these. With Versions of Hollywood Crime Cinema, he offers a series of critical readings spanning several genres, by directors Coppola, Scorsese, Ford and Wilder. From among the mob movies, Freedman focuses on Francis Ford Coppola's Godfather trilogy – arguably the foremost work of crime cinema – using it to reflect on the Marxist notion of primitive accumulation and relationship between 'gangsterism and capitalism'. The volume also includes in-depth critique of classics of film noir (including Double Indemnity and Body Heat) and, surprisingly, Western, which is not often thought of as a kind of crime film even though its setting is an entire society in which crime flourishes yet is fought against, bringing into focus films of John Wayne. For crime fans and scholars alike, the radical readings of known classics in Versions of Hollywood Crime Cinema provide an insightful critique of modern culture and high capitalism that produced, and that are reflected in, the range of films discussed. This Title Features Highly Original Readings That Shed New Light On Familiar Movies. It Is An Unifying And Largely Original Marxist Perspective That Offers A Fresh Look At Social Relations As Expressed In Hollywood Cinema. It Is A New Construction Of The Category Of The Crime Film, Supported By An Understanding Of The Importance Of Crime And Crime Cinema In Cinema And Society As A Whole. No Society Is Without Crime, Prompting Nathaniel Hawthorne's Narrator To Make His Famous Statement In 'the Scarlet Letter' That, However High Its Hopes Are, No Civilization Can Fail To Allot A Portion Of Its Soil As The Site Of A Prison. By Establishing The Category Of Crime - By Drawing A Line Between The Lawful And Criminal, However Thin, Blurry, Or Even Effectively Meaningless The Line May In Practice Become - Society Offers Its Own Perhaps Most Consequential Self-definition. Film, Argues Carl Freedman, Is An Especially Fruitful Medium For Considering Questions Like These. Section I. Gangsterism And Capitalism : The Mob Movie And After. The Supplement Of Coppola : Primitive Accumulation And The Godfather Trilogy -- Hobbes After Marx, Scorsese After Coppola : On Goodfellas -- Tony Soprano And The End(s) Of The Mob Movie -- Section Ii. Noir And Its Discontents. Marxism, Cinema, And Some Dialectics Of Film Noir And Science Fiction -- Noir, Neo-noir, And The End Of Work : From Double Indemnity To Body Heat -- Section Iii. Empire And Gender In The John Wayne Western. Versions Of The American Imperium In Three Westerns By John Ford -- Post-heterosexuality : John Wayne And The Construction Of American Masculinity. Carl Freedman. Includes Bibliographical References And Index.

No society is without crime, prompting Nathaniel Hawthorne’s narrator to make his famous statement in The Scarlet Letter that, however high its hopes are, no civilization can fail to allot a portion of its soil as the site of a prison. By establishing the category of crime – by drawing a line between the lawful and criminal, however thin, blurry or even effectively meaningless the line may in practice become – society offers its own perhaps most consequential self-definition. Film, argues Carl Freedman, is an especially fruitful medium for considering questions like these. With Versions of Hollywood Crime Cinema, he offers a series of critical readings spanning several genres, by directors Coppola, Scorsese, Ford and Wilder. From among the mob movies, Freedman focuses on Francis Ford Coppola’s Godfather trilogy – arguably the foremost work of crime cinema – using it to reflect on the Marxist notion of primitive accumulation and relationship between 'gangsterism and capitalism'. The volume also includes in-depth critique of classics of film noir (including Double Indemnity and Body Heat) and, surprisingly, Western, which is not often thought of as a kind of crime film even though its setting is an entire society in which crime flourishes yet is fought against, bringing into focus films of John Wayne. For crime fans and scholars alike, the radical readings of known classics in Versions of Hollywood Crime Cinema provide an insightful critique of modern culture and high capitalism that produced, and that are reflected in, the range of films discussed.

This book is intended as a kind of sequel to the one that published in 2002 titled The Incomplete Projects: Marxism, Modernity, and the Politics of Culture. The current volume is designed to be completely free-standing and fully intelligible on its own. In this book, Freedman focuses on Francis Ford Coppola's Godfather trilogy - arguably the foremost work of crime cinema - using it to reflect on the Marxist category of primitive accumulation and the relationship between ""gangsterism and capitalism"". The volume also includes in-depth critiques of classics of film noir (including Double Indemni