American Cinema of the 1990s: Themes and Variations

New York, more than any other city, has held a special fascination for filmmakers and viewers. In every decade of Hollywood filmmaking, artists of the screen have fixated upon this fascinating place for its tensions and promises, dazzling illumination and fear-some darkness. The glittering skyscrapers of such films as 'On the Town' have shadowed the characteristic seedy streets in which desperate, passionate stories have played out - as in 'Scandal Sheet' and 'The Pawnbroker'. In other films, the city is a cauldron of bright lights, technology, empire, egotism, fear, hunger, and change - the scenic epitome of America in the modern age. From 'Street Scene' and 'Breakfast at Tiffany's' to 'Rosemary's Baby', 'The Warriors', and '25th Hour', the sixteen essays in this book explore the cinematic representation of New York as a city of experience, as a locus of ideographic characters and spaces, as a city of moves and traps, and as a site of allurement and danger. The contributors consider the work of Woody Allen, Blake Edwards, Alfred Hitchcock, Gregory La Cava, Spike Lee, Sidney Lumet, Vincente Minnelli, Roman Polanski, Martin Scorsese, Andy Warhol, and numerous others.