A01=Bran Nicol
Author_Bran Nicol
big sleep
Category=ATFN
chaos
chinatown
concealment
deception
desire
eq_art-fashion-photography
eq_bestseller
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eq_nobargain
eq_non-fiction
film
gender
gritty
hardboiled
investigation
isolation
jake gittes
literature
lone wolf
long goodbye
love
maltese falcon
masculinity
neonoir
noir
nonfiction
observation
outlaw
philip marlowe
policing
popular culture
private detective
relationships
sam spade
secrets
sexuality
space
strength
suspicion
violence
work
Product details
- ISBN 9781780231020
- Dimensions: 120 x 198mm
- Publication Date: 01 Apr 2013
- Publisher: Reaktion Books
- Publication City/Country: GB
- Product Form: Paperback
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Since the early days of cinema, the private eye has been one of its most memorable characters, often viewed as a romantic hero, a ‘lone wolf’ who confronts and tries to make sense of a violent and chaotic modern world. In The Private Eye Bran Nicol challenges this stereotype, offering a fresh take on iconic figures such as Sam Spade, Philip Marlowe and Jake Gittes, and a cogent reappraisal of film noir.
Analysing a wide range of films, including classics such as The Maltese Falcon, The Big Sleep, Chinatown, and The Long Goodbye, Nicol traces the history of the private eye movie from the influential film noirs of the 1940s, through innovative 1970s neo-noir cinema, to the presence of the private eye in movie mythology today. He reveals that although these films are exciting thrillers, they are nevertheless preoccupied by ‘domestic’ issues: work, home and love. Rather than fearless investigation, Nicol argues, the private eye’s job is really about unveiling the private lives and private spaces of others, an achievement which comes at the expense of his own private life.
Combining a lucid introduction to an under-explored tradition in movie history with a novel approach to the detective in film, this book casts new light on the private worlds of the private eye.
Bran Nicol is Professor of English Literature at the University of Surrey, and the author of Iris Murdoch: The Retrospective Fiction (1999), Postmodernism and the Contemporary Novel (2002), Stalking (Reaktion, 2006) and The Private Eye: Detectives in the Movies (Reaktion Books, 2013).
