The Hollywood political thriller filmconceptualization, dramatic conventions, and historical evolution

Resumen

This study on the American political thriller film genre attempts to define, characterize, and track the historical evolution of a relevant yet sometimes overlooked group of works that deal in the most direct manner with some of the core elements of US identity and culture. The structure of this thesis attempts to reflect its methodological approach to the subject matter, consisting of a preliminary conceptualization of the genre, a historical contextualization of its works in their socio-political and cultural environment, a narrative analysis based on screenwriting theory and practice as a means to connect form and content through specific categories, and a comparison between the classical political thriller film and its more contemporary manifestations. Thus, Chapter 1 is devoted to defining and describing the American political thriller genre in film, through a variety of approaches and sources, including the contributions made by literary studies to the generic label of “thriller,” and those from film studies and political science directed toward the notion of “political film” in the Hollywood tradition. The political thriller genre is subsequently defined at the intersection of those previously existing labels, and further characterized in terms of its plot, antagonist, historical currency, and iconography. With the genre properly conceptualized, the remainder of the text attempts to encompass a chronological division designed to emphasize the angle from which the subject matter is assessed. As a consequence, the larger segment of the thesis is bisected between the pre- and post-9/11 historical context of the genre. Chapters 2 and 3, therefore, deal with the American political thriller film since its formation as a genre until the year 2001, the former devoted to tracking the evolution of the genre through its milestone films with an emphasis on their themes and their relationship to their context; while the latter focuses on a sample of the most representative works of the period, which are analyzed in depth through narrative and dramatic categories. Chapters 4 and 5 are concerned with the evolution of the Hollywood political thriller film after 2001, following the same approach: chapter 4 first addresses the impact of 9/11 on the American film industry as a whole, and then proceeds to examine the works of the genre in the last fifteen years along the different phases of the US’ reaction to the attacks. Chapter 5, finally, focuses on a sample of the most relevant political thriller films of this time and applies the same method of narrative and dramatic analysis, seeking to reveal both persisting and shifting features in the genre. In this manner, each pair of chapters performs mirroring roles on both sides of the chronological divide marked by September 11, 2001. This research results in several relevant conclusions regarding the definition, characterization, and evolution of a crucial genre within the American cultural imaginary; and thus reveals useful specific links between Hollywood narrative form and meaning.