ReFocus: The Films of Mary Harron

Mary Harron's diverse career includes cult films such as I Shot Andy Warhol, American Psycho and The Notorious Bettie Page, as well as a range of network and cable television episodes in innovative shows including Homicide: Life on the Street and Six Feet Under. This is the first book to examine an overlooked filmmaker in relation to feminist cinema, discussing the dialectical dynamics within her wide-ranging body of work. It is argued that Harron has fostered a distinctive career through her stylistic and aesthetic choices prompted by cultural contexts, controversial subject matter and production limitations. Each chapter provides an in-depth study on Harron's creative approaches to film and television production, with essays offering close readings of her 5 narrative features, television work, and promotional films. The book offers a robust examination, with scholarly approaches from the fields of cinema, television, gender, fashion, death and celebrity studies. This is a long-awaited and crucial introduction to a ground-breaking figure in contemporary cinema.`