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New Hollywood Cinema: An Introduction by Geoff King

In this book, King examines the Hollywood “Renaissance” from the late 1960s to the late 1970s as well as some of the industrial factors that shape the current dominance of the corporate blockbuster. King begins by stating that there are two distinct periods when addressing “New Hollywood” including the Hollywood Renaissance and the New Hollywood. Geoff King analyses new Hollywood dynamically and accessibly in his text and discusses diverse films, film makers and film companies apart from concentrating on the interactions between the film texts, social contexts, and their producers by using examples across Hollywood and its genres. He further discusses how positions of studios within media conglomerate, and the relationship between production for big and small screens as well as the influence of television, advertising and franchising on the New Hollywood have been transformed the form of the films (King 137-140).

King has established many similarities and trends corresponding throughout all years of Hollywood and detailed the differences between the two Hollywood periods through many different lenses such as industrial and cultural factors. King describes the first period as a period that was marred with lots of social upheaval all over America that hugely influenced the audience. He further explains that Hollywood Renaissance experienced a rise of youth counterculture that tapped into a new audience for Hollywood and that it was characterized by stylistic borrowings from French New Wave cinema that contributed to Hollywood’s finest.

On the other hand, New Hollywood period was marked by the concept of the blockbuster, an aspect that dominates the Hollywood scene to date because of money as argued by the King. King considers New Hollywood period in an industrial standpoint and posits that because studios dominate distribution and are significant in huge media corporations, there are huge profits that are realized in the Hollywood (30). He asserts that current movies are based off previous material, what he terms ‘pre-sold movies’ and says that “Jaws” marked the beginning of the modern blockbuster film.

King has explored various angles of Hollywood to show how current and past Hollywood fit between culturally films that make one question and think and the giant films that do not make one think but make money. He has highlighted the cult of directors that controlled the renaissance period but their root are traceable in the studio era and argues that hybrid genres and mixing and mashing of genres is not a new idea. King disproves the concept that New Hollywood is not as different from studio Hollywood as is conventionally thought and further posits that in the middle of Hollywood productions, there are genre films that account for most of Hollywood productions. King also tackles the issue of stardom and how studios control the stars and lock them into deals by paying them for movies even if the movies does not get made. King further argues that spectacle has narrative and that Hollywood has never been married to a classical sense of narrative.

Generally, King has greatly showed Hollywood over the course of different times and from multiple perspectives. There is much to admire in King’s book especially the ability to eschew the use of large-scale theory in favor in favor of a more considered appreciation of technical issues regarded vital in the study of Hollywood. Although the book does not break a lot of fresh ground, it may remain relevant to many students because he teaches using clear language.

Works Cited

King, Geoff. New Hollywood Cinema: An Introduction. London: I.B. Tauris, 2002. Internet resource.