The Lost Decade - by Chris Horn (Hardcover)

About the Book

"The history of 1980s American cinema from an unconventional perspective that explores the diverse fortunes and unheralded films of globally renowned directors - Altman, Coppola, Friedkin and others - who have typically been seen as being in decline during the decade"--

Book Synopsis

Provides an analysis of Hollywood from a fresh viewpoint that shows the careers of Robert Altman, Francis Coppola, William Friedkin, and others in the 1980s as far from conforming to a monolithic pattern of decline, but rather as diverse and complex responses to political and industrial changes.

The 1980s are routinely seen as the era of the blockbuster and of 'Reaganite entertainment, ' whereas the dominant view of late 1960s and early 1970s American film history is that of a 'Hollywood Renaissance', a relatively brief window of artistry based around a select group of directors. Yet key directors associated with the Renaissance period remained active throughout the 1980s and their work has been obscured or dismissed by a narrow, singular model of American film history.

This book deals with industrial contexts that conditioned these directors' ability to work creatively, but it is also very much about the analysis of individual films, bringing to light a range of unheralded work, from the visual experimentation of One from the Heart (Coppola, 1981) to the experimental production contexts of Secret Honor (Altman, 1984) and the stylistic élan of To Live and Die in L.A. (Friedkin, 1985). Behind the homogenous picture of the decline of the auteur in 1980s American cinema are films and careers that merit greater attention, and this book offers a new way to perceive individual films, American film history, and the viability of sustained authorial creativity within post-studio era Hollywood.

Review Quotes

"The Lost Decade reappraises the oft neglected 1980s works of three of the most celebrated American filmmakers of the preceding decade. Through detailed archival research, Horn sheds new light on production and distribution histories, and champions a group of films that are primed for rediscovery." --Nicholas Godfrey, Senior Lecturer of Screen, Flinders University, Australia

"In this eminently readable book that combines a study of Hollywood business practices and a close reading of pertinent films, Chris Horn makes a compelling case for rethinking the films of the 1980s." --Robert Kolker, Emeritus Professor of English, University of Maryland, USA

"Compared to the vast academic literature on the Hollywood Renaissance auteurs of the 1970s, there is a relative paucity of material about their work in the 1980s when Hollywood embraced conglomeration and the blockbuster film. Chris Horn's exciting new book, The Lost Decade, has come to provide an incredibly detailed account of the metamorphosis of the Hollywood Renaissance in the 1980s, as filmmakers like Robert Altman, Francis Ford Coppola and William Friedkin continued to work under very different circumstances. Combining rich archival research with impeccable textual analysis, The Lost Decade rewrites important aspects of Hollywood history in the 1980s." --Yannis Tzioumakis, Reader in Film and Media Industries, University of Liverpool, UK, and co-editor of The Hollywood Renaissance (Bloomsbury 2018)

About the Author

Chris Horn is an independent scholar and tutor in film studies at the University of Leicester, UK. His research interests focus primarily on contemporary notions of authorship in 1970s and 1980s American cinema.