Home
Mike Nichols: Sex, Language, and the Reinvention of Psychological Realism

Mike Nichols: Sex, Language, and the Reinvention of Psychological Realism in Bloomington, MN
Current price: $41.99
Loading Inventory...
Size: Paperback
With iconic movies like
Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, The Graduate
, and
Carnal Knowledge
, Mike Nichols was the most prominent American director during the cultural upheavals of the 1960s.
Mike Nichols: Sex, Language, and the Reinvention of Psychological Realism
argues that he overhauled the style of psychological realism, and, in doing so, continues to shape the legacies of Hollywood cinema. It also reveals that misreadings of his films were central to foundational debates at the emergence of Cinema Studies as a discipline, inviting new reflections on critical dogma.
Focusing on Nichols' classic movies, as well as later films such as
Silkwood, The Birdcage
Angels in America
, Kyle Stevens demonstrates that Nichols' realism lies not in the plausibility of his characters but in their inherent mystery. By attending to the puzzling words and silences, breaths and laughter, that comprise these characters, Stevens uncovers new insights into the subversive potential of a range of cinematic elements, and reveals how Nichols' satirical oeuvre, and Hollywood itself, participated in several of the nation's most urgent social, political, and philosophical advances.
Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, The Graduate
, and
Carnal Knowledge
, Mike Nichols was the most prominent American director during the cultural upheavals of the 1960s.
Mike Nichols: Sex, Language, and the Reinvention of Psychological Realism
argues that he overhauled the style of psychological realism, and, in doing so, continues to shape the legacies of Hollywood cinema. It also reveals that misreadings of his films were central to foundational debates at the emergence of Cinema Studies as a discipline, inviting new reflections on critical dogma.
Focusing on Nichols' classic movies, as well as later films such as
Silkwood, The Birdcage
Angels in America
, Kyle Stevens demonstrates that Nichols' realism lies not in the plausibility of his characters but in their inherent mystery. By attending to the puzzling words and silences, breaths and laughter, that comprise these characters, Stevens uncovers new insights into the subversive potential of a range of cinematic elements, and reveals how Nichols' satirical oeuvre, and Hollywood itself, participated in several of the nation's most urgent social, political, and philosophical advances.