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Ordinary people: The cinema of John Sayles

Ryan, John Edward

Abstract Details

1994, Doctor of Philosophy, Case Western Reserve University, English.
John Sayles’s name is synonymous with solid, complex screenwriting, but his talents as a director and a cinematic stylist have been overlooked. Currently, no critical analysis of Sayles’s film work exists. My study is an examination of Sayles’s growth as a filmmaker, and an argument in support of his plain visual style. The first chapter contains a brief history of his career, touching on Sayles’s work in fiction, theater, music videos, and television. Each subsequent chapter discusses in detail Sayles’s films from Return of the Secaucus Seven (1980), his first independent feature film, to Passion Fish (1992), his most recent independent release. Included in each chapter is background material about production funding, a plot sketch, an analysis of important characters, and a look at Sayles’s use of language, setting, and politics. Each chapter also traces Sayles’s technical development – his camera work, editing, musical arrangements, and mise-en-scene.
Louis Giannetti (Advisor)
313 p.

Recommended Citations

Citations

  • Ryan, J. E. (1994). Ordinary people: The cinema of John Sayles [Doctoral dissertation, Case Western Reserve University]. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=case1061572039

    APA Style (7th edition)

  • Ryan, John. Ordinary people: The cinema of John Sayles. 1994. Case Western Reserve University, Doctoral dissertation. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center, http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=case1061572039.

    MLA Style (8th edition)

  • Ryan, John. "Ordinary people: The cinema of John Sayles." Doctoral dissertation, Case Western Reserve University, 1994. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=case1061572039

    Chicago Manual of Style (17th edition)