The Political Thriller in Contemporary American Cinema

Hollywood, D.C.
1. Auflage 2025
ISBN: 978-1-032-88762-3
Verlag: Taylor & Francis Ltd

Buch, Englisch, 256 Seiten, Format (B × H): 156 mm x 234 mm, Gewicht: 453 g

Reihe: Routledge Advances in Film Studies

The Political Thriller in Contemporary American Cinema examines how the political thriller films (de)construct and reflect the sociopolitical realities of the second half of the twentieth, as well as the first two decades of the twenty-first century.

 

The book highlights the convergence between the cinematic narrative, its underlying political discourse, as well as the audience’s perception of it. Through a critical lens, it analyzes how contemporary films utilize characterization, narrative, and suspense to examine topics of governance, malfeasance, and power dynamics. By referring to films such as The Manchurian Candidate, Zero Dark Thirty, and Snowden, this book traces the evolution of the political thriller, questioning how its narratives mirror issues such as covert operations, erosion of democracy, and governmental surveillance. In turn, the conspiratorial and underlying paranoid nature of these films serves as a reflection of societal anxieties, as well as a metaphorization of the levers of power in America’s modern-day democracy.

 

Consequently, this book serves as a contribution to the growing body of research on political cinema, and the way it simultaneously reflects and shapes political life through its role as a sociocultural phenomenon. In doing so, it invites readers to further delve into the exploration of these films, which represent complex commentaries on the structures of corporations, media, and military that are predominant in contemporary American society and cinema.

Zielgruppe

Academic, Postgraduate, and Undergraduate Advanced

Autoren/Hrsg.

Bobas, Kresimir

Bobaš, Krešimir

Fachgebiete

• Geisteswissenschaften Theater- und Filmwissenschaft | Andere Darstellende Künste Filmwissenschaft, Fernsehen, Radio Filmgeschichte
• Sozialwissenschaften Medien- und Kommunikationswissenschaften Medienwissenschaften
• Sozialwissenschaften Soziologie | Soziale Arbeit Spezielle Soziologie Mediensoziologie

Inhaltsverzeichnis

1. Introductory Remarks

2. Typological, Semantic, Syntactic, Motivic, and Thematic Determinants of the American Political Film and Political Thriller

3. The Development of the American Political Film and The Political Thriller in the 20th Century

4. The Development of the American Political Film and Political Thriller in the 21st Century

5. Analysis of Political Thrillers in Contemporary American Cinema

6. Conclusion

List of Films and TV shows

Index

Über Autor(innen)

Krešimir Bobaš received his doctorate in from the University of Zagreb in Croatia. His research delves into the representation of politics and its influence on media, with a particular focus on film.