Cindy Sherman's Office Killer

One of the twentieth century's most significant artists, Cindy Sherman has quietly uprooted conventional understandings of portraiture and art, questioning everything from identity to feminism. Critics around the world have taken Sherman's photographs and extensively examined what lies underneath. However, little critical ink has been spilled on Sherman's only film, Office Killer, a piece that plays a significant role both in Sherman's body of work and in American art in the late twentieth century. Dahlia Schweitzer breaks the silence with her trenchant analysis of Office Killer and explores the film on a variety of levels, combating head-on the art world's reluctance to discuss the movie and arguing instead that it is only through a close reading of the film that we can begin to appreciate the messages underlying all of Sherman's work.

Autorentext

Dahlia Schweitzer is adjunct professor at the Art Institute in North Hollywood, California, as well as a critic, novelist and performer.

Inhalt

Part I: Another Kind of Introduction

Why Office Killer Deserves Your Attention (And How It First Grabbed Mine)

Character Reference Guide

Office Killer Plot Synopsis

Part II: Another Kind of Art

Conception: In Art We Trust

Direction: Sherman's March

Production: The Big Picture

Part III: Another Kind of Entertainment

How to Look at Office Killer (And What I Missed the First Time)

Part IV: Another Kind of Commentary

Considerations: Cast, Costumes, and Characters

Conversations: Noir, Horror, and Comedy

Considerations: Disease, Technology, and the Workplace

Comparisons: Working Girl, Basic Instinct, and What Ever Happened to Baby Jane?

Part V: Another Kind of Conclusion

How Office Killer was Absolutely Right about Everything (Yet Still Managed To Fail So Miserably)

Study Guides 175

*Office Killer*s: Character Crib Notes

Textual Insanity: Relationships to Other Movies

Horrific Experiences: Interviews with Christine Vachon, James Schamus, Todd Thomas, and Tom Kalin

Film Credits and Cast List