'In this brilliant study author Brad Stevens scrutinizes both the man and films with passion and precision. A killer-diller of a book!' (Film Review - Book of the Month)
Abel Ferrara - America's most enigmatic filmmaker
From The Driller Killer - a victim of the original 'video nasty' panic - to Bad Lieutenant and beyond, Abel Ferrara's films have attracted both controversy for their extreme subject matter and admiration for their fine acting: Harvey Keitel, Christopher Walken, Madonna, Lili Taylor, Willem Dafoe, Matthew Modine and Ice-T all gave their finest performances under Ferrara's direction. Now Brad Stevens has subjected Ferrara's output to exhaustive analysis and discovered a tender heart beating beneath the excessive imagery.
With chapters devoted to every film, television episode and music video - including accounts of the director's early shorts and his pseudonymous porn flick 9 Lives of a Wet Pussy - Abel Ferrara: The Moral Vision uses close textual readings to support Stevens's contention that Ferrara is among the most important cultural figures of our time. By invoking acknowledged masters in the fields of cinema and literature, the author establishes Ferrara's status, demonstrating how the stylistic practices of such masterpieces as Ms.45, King of New York, Snake Eyes, The Addiction, The Funeral, The Blackout and New Rose Hotel express a generous and passionate morality.
The book includes a wealth of biographical information based on interviews with Ferrara and his most important collaborators, such as Joe Delia, Francis Delia, Ken Kelsch, Anthony Redman, Mary Kane, Randall Sabusawa, Douglas Metrov and Asia Argento. It also contains a thoroughly researched filmography, notes on variant versions of Ferrara's films, a bibliography and a section dealing with unrealized projects.
Contains many rare stills and photos, including shots of Ferrara working on 9 Lives of a Wet Pussy.
Includes a foreword written by Ferrara himself.
A scholarly, informative, and insightful work. - Christ Zois (co-screenwriter of The Blackout and New Rose Hotel).
About the Author
Brad Stevens has contributed to Sight and Sound, Cineaction, Video Watchdog, Flesh & Blood, Movie Collector, The Dark Side, Video World, Simulacres, Liberation, Ad Hoc, The Movie Book of the Western and The Movie Book of Unexplored Hitchcock (forthcoming), as well as the websites Screening the Past and Senses of Cinema. He has lectured on Abel Ferrara at Paris University, and has recently completed a book about the films of Monte Hellman.
Technical Details
Size: 244mm x 171mm
Binding: Hardback
Extent: 368 pages including 16 pages in full colour
ISBN: 978-1-903254-13-4
Publication Date: May 2004
Market: Cinema
Weight: 1005g
Edition: First Edition
Cover Price: £24.99 (UK) / $39.95 (US)
