The Political Thriller in Contemporary American Cinema Hollywood, D.C.

1. Introductory Remarks

2. Typological, Semantic, Syntactic, Motivic, and Thematic Determinants of the American Political Film and Political Thriller

3. The Development of the American Political Film and The Political Thriller in the 20th Century

4. The Development of the American Political Film and Political Thriller in the 21st Century

5. Analysis of Political Thrillers in Contemporary American Cinema

6. Conclusion

List of Films and TV shows

Index

Biography

Krešimir Bobaš received his doctorate from the University of Zagreb in Croatia. His research delves into the representation of politics and its influence on media, with a particular focus on film.

"The Political Thriller in Contemporary American Cinema by Krešimir Bobaš provides a comprehensive overview of the current moviemaking landscape for this sub-set of films. Offering new typologies to distinguish the way this sub-genre operates, together with historical and socio-political appreciations of American exceptionalism as well as US institutional structures, Bobaš is at pains to stress the interconnectedness of events on screen with the rise of a new form of political culture in the 21^st century. From George W. Bush to Donald Trump, from 9/11 to January 6, 2021, Bobaš signals a hyper-realism at work where art and politics merge, reality and fiction fuse together and what we see on screen tells us, more than ever, something about the society we live in today. Recommended for those with interests in movies, politics and the contemporary United States."

-- Ian Scott, Professor of American Film and History, University of Manchester, UK

"Krešimir Bobaš’s study helps us sharpen our perspective on the somewhat blurry subgenre of the political thriller. With a series of discussions of classical and contemporary Hollywood films such as The Manchurian Candidate, Syriana, or Zero Dark Thirty it may be interesting to scholars in Film Studies, American Studies and Political Science alike." 

-- Julian Hanich, Professor of Film Studies, University of Groningen, The Netherlands (author of 'Cinematic Emotion in Horror Films and Thrillers: The Aesthetic Paradox of Pleasurable Fear')

"The world has long needed a current survey of cinematic political thrillers, a subgenre that came into full bloom in the 1970s but remains popular among filmmakers and audiences. Bobaš fills this need with an excellent volume that captures these films’ formal, narrative, and iconographic structures, tracing the thriller's history to the present. It will serve as an essential volume for film scholars and those interested in the contemporary cinema."

-- Mark Fenster, University of Florida, USA (author of 'Conspiracy Theories: Secrecy and Power in American Culture')

“This volume by Krešimir Bobaš makes a welcome contribution to the scholarship on the American political thriller film. His pointed taxonomy of the political, economic, and strategic themes addressed by the genre, coupled with detailed analyses of iconic 21st-century titles, provides a focused survey of how Hollywood continues to examine the complex power structures of the United States, particularly after 11 September 2001. By framing these films within their contemporary socio-political contexts, Bobaš outlook will help academics and students gain a deeper understanding of this culturally momentous strain of cinema, offering a timely thematic companion to the genre’s formal and narrative history.”

-- Pablo Castrillo Maortua, University of Navarra, Spain (author of ‘History and Story in the American Political Thriller Film: Hollywood in the Labyrinth’)