"Arnold: Schwarzenegger and the Movies" is the first comprehensive, in-depth book to examine one of modern cinema's most celebrated and divisive screen presences. Tracing Schwarzenegger's entire film career and life from teenage bodybuilder to Governor of California, Saunders blends close textual readings of the major films, including "Pumping Iron", "Conan the Barbarian", The "Terminator" series, "Twins" and "True Lies", with salient historical context and biographical detail, demonstrating continually the importance of broader social and political factors in defining Arnold's unique significance. Representing far more than just a muscular spectacle, Saunders argues, Schwarzenegger found powerful ideological and spiritual relevance to his age by embarking on a quest to restore collective faith in his adopted nation - and, moreover, by exploiting his own, mythic importance to a post-war America struggling to come to terms with its own contemporary narrative.
Autorentext
Dave Saunders is a film writer and lecturer. His research interests include documentary film, mainstream America cinema, and US cultural and political history. His books include 'Direct Cinema: Observational Documentary and the Politics of the Sixties' (2007).
Inhalt
Contents
Acknowledgements
Introduction: There's Something About Arnold: Schwarzenegger's
American Dreams
Chapter 1: Machina ex Deus: Rise of the Übermensch
Chapter 2: Colossus: Arnold's Hollywood Putsch
Chapter 3: Man of Irony; Or, How Arnie Learned to
Grow and Love
Chapter 4: Fall and Rise: The Will to Power
Bibliography
Filmography
Index