The New American War Film

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A look at how post-9/11 cinema captures the new face of war in the twenty-first century

While the war film has carved out a prominent space within the history of cinema, the twenty-first century has seen a significant shift in the characteristics that define it. Serving as a roadmap to the genres contemporary modes of expression, The New American War Film explores how, in the wake of 9/11, both the nature of military conflict and the symbolic frameworks that surround it have been dramatically reshaped.

Featuring in-depth analyses of contemporary films like The Hurt Locker, Zero Dark Thirty, Eye in the Sky, American Sniper, and others, The New American War Film details the genres turn away from previously foundational themes of heroic sacrifice and national glory, instead emphasizing the procedural violence of advanced military technologies and the haptic damage inflicted on individual bodies. Unfolding amid an atmosphere of profound anxiety and disillusionment, the new face of the American war film demonstrates a breakdown of the prevailing cultural narratives that had come to characterize conflict in the previous century.

With each chapter highlighting a different facet of wars cinematic representation, The New American War Film charts societys shifting attitudes toward violent conflict and what is broadly considered to be its acceptable repercussions. Drawing attention to changes in gender dynamics and the focus on wars lasting psychological effects within these recent films, Robert Burgoyne demonstrates how cinema both reflects and reveals the makeup of the national imaginary.

Author Bio

Robert Burgoyne is author of Film Nation: Hollywood Looks at U.S. History, Revised Edition (Minnesota, 2010).