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Book Synopsis

Explores the figure of the detective as a pursuer of knowledge in four noir films.

Reluctant Sleuths, True Detectives examines the detective figure in four noir and neo-noir films: Out of the Past (1947), Notorious (1946), Vertigo (1958), and Chinatown (1974). Exploring the way that these characters each move from an initial state of reluctant passivity to one of passionate engagement with the world around them, it questions the cinematic forces required to motivate and move them. In its close examinations of each film, the book meditates on the detectives'' hunts and how they interact with the cinematic apparatus that captures and presents them to an audience, and it tracks the receptive experience of these films in relation to these questions of motivation and movement.

Reluctant Sleuths True Detectives

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Order before 4pm today for delivery by Tue 23 Dec 2025.

A Hardback by Jason Jacobs

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    View other formats and editions of Reluctant Sleuths True Detectives by Jason Jacobs

    Publisher: State University of New York Press
    Publication Date: 2/1/2023 12:00:00 AM
    ISBN13: 9781438492230, 978-1438492230
    ISBN10: 1438492235
    Also in:
    Action, adventure, crime and thrillers Film: styles and genres Films, cinema

    Description

    Book Synopsis

    Explores the figure of the detective as a pursuer of knowledge in four noir films.

    Reluctant Sleuths, True Detectives examines the detective figure in four noir and neo-noir films: Out of the Past (1947), Notorious (1946), Vertigo (1958), and Chinatown (1974). Exploring the way that these characters each move from an initial state of reluctant passivity to one of passionate engagement with the world around them, it questions the cinematic forces required to motivate and move them. In its close examinations of each film, the book meditates on the detectives'' hunts and how they interact with the cinematic apparatus that captures and presents them to an audience, and it tracks the receptive experience of these films in relation to these questions of motivation and movement.

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