Overview
Acknowledgements Introduction Part I: ""I'm making this up as I go"": Lawrence Kasdan and Raiders of the Lost Ark Chapter 1. Smith and Jones: Discourse Analysis of the Raiders of the Lost Ark Story Conference Chapter 2. Visual Language in the Raiders of the Lost Ark Screenplay Part II: Kasdan the Director: Developing Style(s) Chapter 3. Body Heat: Heightened Style in the Neo-Noir Chapter 4. Classical Structure in the ""Perfect Ensemble"" of The Big Chill Part III: Voice of the Largest Generation Chapter 5. Altruism and Otherness in The Big Chill, The Accidental Tourist, and Grand Canyon Chapter 6. Cowboys, Aliens, and Sixtysomethings: Age and Nostalgia in Kasdan's Later Films Part IV: Influences, Without and Within Chapter 7. From Noir to Kurosawa: Allusion and Homage in Lawrence Kasdan's Films Chapter 8. Kasdan's Collaborations: Creation and Performance Part V: A Long Time in a Galaxy Far, Far Away Chapter 9. From Star Wars to Saga: Lawrence Kasdan and The Empire Strikes Back Chapter 10. Revenge of the Monomyth: Reclaiming the Hero's Journey in Return of the Jedi Chapter 11. A New Hope in The Force Awakens Chapter 12. A Changed Man: Solo and Beyond Chapter 13. An Interview with Lawrence Kasdan Lawrence Kasdan: Writing and Directing Credits Filmography Bibliography
Full Product Details
Author: Brett Davies (Associate Professor, Meiji University, Tokyo)
Publisher: Edinburgh University Press
Imprint: Edinburgh University Press
ISBN: 9781399524087
ISBN 10: 1399524089
Pages: 248
Publication Date: 31 December 2025
Audience:
Professional and scholarly
,
Professional & Vocational
Format: Paperback
Publisher's Status: Active
Availability: Not yet available
This item is yet to be released. You can pre-order this item and we will dispatch it to you upon its release.
Reviews
In this wide-ranging volume, Brett Davies offers an absorbing overview of Lawrence Kasdan's career as Hollywood screenwriter and director. As well as examining Kasdan's directorial style, worldview, influences, and collaborations, Davies' volume is also notable for revealing Kasdan's role in the formation of the Indiana Jones and Star Wars franchises. --Warren Buckland, Reader in Film Studies at Oxford Brookes University and author of Directed by Steven Spielberg. This is an important book that uses a holistic approach - drawing on primary source material, interviews and film analysis - to demonstrate why Lawrence Kasdan and his films should be taken seriously. Davies reinforces the importance of studying so-called non-auteur directors and writers, whose contributions to cinema are worthy of attention. --Claire Jenkins, University of Leicester
Author Information
Brett Davies is Associate Professor of English at Meiji University, Tokyo
