Description

The twelve essays in A Critical Companion to Mel Gibson offer various interpretations of Mel Gibson’s work, treating this prolific but controversial figure not only as a filmmaker but as a historian, religious thinker, and social philosopher. From The Man Without a Face and Braveheart to The Passion of the Christ, Apocalypto, and Hacksaw Ridge, this interdisciplinary collection mines Gibson’s life and oeuvre for insight into existential problems, Aristotelian virtues, the politics of film, interreligious dialogue, adaptation issues, and much more.

Table of Contents

Part I: The Religious Thinker
Chapter 1. Faith, Female Sacrifice, and the Medieval Martyr in Mel Gibson’s Braveheart
Chapter 2. A Challenge to Jewish-Christian Relations: Mel Gibson and The Passion of the Christ
Chapter 3. What Apocalypto Reveals: Migratory Premonition and Religiosity in Gibson’s NA Film
Chapter 4. The Power of Passion: Lessons on the Messiah from the Sacred and Secular
Part II: The Social Philosopher
Chapter 5. Mel Gibson’s Visceral Vision: Exploring Recovery from the Human Condition
Chapter 6. The Arete of War: Aristotelian Virtue in Braveheart
Chapter 7. It’s a Real, Real, Real Man’s World: Sexy Martyrdom and Heroic Fortitude in Mel Gibson’s Braveheart, The Passion of the Christ, and Hacksaw Ridge
Part III: The Filmmaker and Historian
Chapter 8. A Falling Comedy Star: The Ascent, Descent and Shift in the Comedy Film Career of Mel Gibson
Chapter 9. Mel Gibson’s Apocalypto: ‘Not the Maya We Know’
Chapter 10. Film Adaptation, Depoliticization and The Man Without a Face
Chapter 11. Apocalypto and the Ancient Maya: To Entertain or to Educate?
Chapter 12. Mel Gibson’s Unarmed War: Hacksaw Ridge

Product details

Published Feb 02 2024
Format Hardback
Edition 1st
Extent 266
ISBN 9781666937732
Imprint Lexington Books
Dimensions 236 x 158 mm
Series Critical Perspectives on Contemporary Directors
Publisher Bloomsbury Publishing

About the contributors

Anthology Editor

Adam Barkman

Anthology Editor

Antonio Sanna

Contributor

Yaakov Ariel

Contributor

Sarah Baker

Contributor

Adam Barkman

Contributor

Brett A. Houk

Contributor

Graham Lee

Contributor

Andrea Mancini

Contributor

Josh Morrison

Contributor

Antonio Sanna

Related Titles

Environment: Staging