Though often seen as one of America's native cinematic genres, the road movie has lent itself to diverse international contexts and inspired a host of filmmakers. As analyzed in this study, from its most familiar origins in Hollywood the road movie has become a global film practice, whether as a vehicle for exploring the relationship between various national contexts and American cinema, as a means of narrating different national and continental histories, or as a form of individual filmmaking expression. Beginning with key films from Depression-era Hollywood and the New Hollywood of the late 1960s and then considering its wider effect on world cinemas, this volume maps the development and adaptability of an enduring genre, studying iconic films along the way.

This astute broadening of the genre of the road movie geographically and generically is truly essential reading for both students and scholars. In moving away from the strictly American context and conception of the genre, yet without ignoring Hollywood's foundational creation of the genre in the Classical and Modern periods, this volume opens up a new vista on the endless allure of the open road. -- David Desser, University of Illinois

About the Author
Neil Archer is a lecturer in film studies at Keele University and the author of The French Road Movie: Space, Mobility, Identity.


Book Information
ISBN 9780231176477
Author Neil Archer
Format Paperback
Page Count 144
Imprint Wallflower Press
Publisher Columbia University Press