THE MOVIES ON YOUR MIND

by ‧ RELEASE DATE: Nov. 7, 1975

A psychoanalytic treatment of the silver screen which focuses on seven flicks--the Wizard of Oz, The Treasure of the Sierra Madre, The Maltese Falcon, Casablanca, Psycho, 8(apple), Wild Strawberries--and on a genre, horror and sci fi. Why these? Simply because they're Dr. Greenberg's best beloved (he quotes critic Raymond Durgnat: ""One's favorite films are one's unlived lives, one's hopes, fears, libido. . .""). Greenberg puts them down on his couch and pumps their subliminal lives and subterranean secrets out of auteur, actor and audience alike. He leaps at great Freudian syntheses with the elan of a Parker Tyler. There are Bad Mothers in films as diverse as Oz (a classic adolescent rite de passage dream) and 2001 (Hal is Mom). The three Bogey flicks are treated as instances of the paranoia and fear-of-success syndromes. Greenberg has a shrink's field day with Psycho and its creator; and proves--to us anyway--that 8(apple) was Fellini's last film. Thanatophobia and repressed infantile sexuality explain the creepy appeal of werewolves, vampires and oversized chimps. Eclectic bibliographies are appended to each case study. This is not as literary as, say, Sexuality in the Movies (p. 537), but designed to excite your neuroses along with your imagination, and spiked with some genuine insights.

Pub Date: Nov. 7, 1975

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: Saturday Review/Dutton

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 1975

Categories: NONFICTION