Charles Burnett: A Cinema of Symbolic Knowledge
James Naremore
Abstract
In this, the first book devoted to one of the world’s most admired independent filmmakers, James Naremore offers a close critical study of all of Charles Burnett’s important works for movies and television—among them Killer of Sheep, My Brother’s Wedding, To Sleep with Anger, The Glass Shield, Nightjohn, The Wedding, Nat Turner: A Troublesome Property, and Warming by the Devil’s Fire. Naremore shows that Burnett’s important career has developed against the odds and that his artistry, social criticism, humor, and commitment to “symbolic knowledge” have given his films enduring value.
Keywords: black American cinema, independent cinema, social criticism, film style, historical films, film as education, humor, adaptations, television films
Bibliographic Information
| Print publication date: 2017 | Print ISBN-13: 9780520285521 |
| Published to California Scholarship Online: May 2018 | DOI:10.1525/california/9780520285521.001.0001 |
