Full Description
The twelve essays in A Critical Companion to Mel Gibson offer various interpretations of Mel Gibson's work, treating this prolific but controversial figure not only as a filmmaker but as a historian, religious thinker, and social philosopher. From The Man Without a Face and Braveheart to The Passion of the Christ, Apocalypto, and Hacksaw Ridge, this interdisciplinary collection mines Gibson's life and oeuvre for insight into existential problems, Aristotelian virtues, the politics of film, interreligious dialogue, adaptation issues, and much more.
Contents
Part I: The Religious Thinker
Chapter 1. Faith, Female Sacrifice, and the Medieval Martyr in Mel Gibson's Braveheart
Chapter 2. A Challenge to Jewish-Christian Relations: Mel Gibson and The Passion of the Christ
Chapter 3. What Apocalypto Reveals: Migratory Premonition and Religiosity in Gibson's NA Film
Chapter 4. The Power of Passion: Lessons on the Messiah from the Sacred and Secular
Part II: The Social Philosopher
Chapter 5. Mel Gibson's Visceral Vision: Exploring Recovery from the Human Condition
Chapter 6. The Arete of War: Aristotelian Virtue in Braveheart
Chapter 7. It's a Real, Real, Real Man's World: Sexy Martyrdom and Heroic Fortitude in Mel Gibson's Braveheart, The Passion of the Christ, and Hacksaw Ridge
Part III: The Filmmaker and Historian
Chapter 8. A Falling Comedy Star: The Ascent, Descent and Shift in the Comedy Film Career of Mel Gibson
Chapter 9. Mel Gibson's Apocalypto: 'Not the Maya We Know'
Chapter 10. Film Adaptation, Depoliticization and The Man Without a Face
Chapter 11. Apocalypto and the Ancient Maya: To Entertain or to Educate?
Chapter 12. Mel Gibson's Unarmed War: Hacksaw Ridge
