Indicting Americana: How max ophüls exposed the american dream in caught (1949) and the reckless moment (1949)

Authors: Crossley, L.

Journal: Studies in European Cinema

Volume: 11

Issue: 2

Pages: 116-125

eISSN: 2040-0594

ISSN: 1741-1548

DOI: 10.1080/17411548.2014.955678

Abstract:

In 1949 the German-born auteur Max Ophüls made two films that addressed issues of post-war ideology and society in America. Caught engages with the commodification of the female subject and the preoccupation with capitalist success, both of which are promulgated through aspects of the media as represented in the film. The Reckless Moment examines the stultifying confines of the family unit and the hypocrisy surrounding notions of class and social standing within American society. Ophüls uses his trademark visual style to frame and interrogate the characters and themes; and in both films the British actor James Mason takes lead roles, his European 'otherness' providing the filter through which Ophüls' indictment of the dominant social order in the post-war period is viewed.

Source: Scopus