"I saw a different life. I can't stop seeing it": Perfectionist visions in Revolutionary Road

Paul Deb

doi:10.3366/film.2021.0175

"I saw a different life. I can't stop seeing it": Perfectionist visions in Revolutionary Road

Paul Deb

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1 Citation (Scopus)

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Abstract

In this article, I claim that Sam Mendes’ Revolutionary Road (2008) is a recent version of the film genre that Stanley Cavell calls the “melodrama of the unknown woman”. Accordingly, my discussion focuses on two key elements of that identification: the film’s overriding dramatic and thematic emphasis on conversation, and the central characters’ relation to the wider social and political concerns of America.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	251-271
Number of pages	21
Journal	Film-Philosophy
Volume	25
Issue number	3
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.3366/film.2021.0175
Publication status	Published - 2 Nov 2021

Keywords

Stanley Cavell
Sam Mendes
Leonardo DiCaprio
Kate Winslet
melodrama
unknown woman
moral perfectionism
Hollywood

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10.3366/film.2021.0175Licence: CC BY-NC

film.2021.0175Final published version, 170 KBLicence: CC BY-NC

Cite this

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"I saw a different life. I can't stop seeing it": Perfectionist visions in Revolutionary Road

Abstract

Keywords

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