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  • Open Daily: 10am - 10pm
    Alley-side Pickup: 10am - 7pm

    3038 Hennepin Ave Minneapolis, MN
    612-822-4611

Open Daily: 10am - 10pm | Alley-side Pickup: 10am - 7pm
3038 Hennepin Ave Minneapolis, MN
612-822-4611
Big Wednesday: Lamenting Lost Youth in the New Hollywood

Big Wednesday: Lamenting Lost Youth in the New Hollywood

McKenna, Mark

Paperback

Series: Cinema and Youth Cultures

Film StudiesGeneral Sociology

ISBN10: 1032801115
ISBN13: 9781032801117
Publisher: Routledge
Published: May 22 2026
Pages: 128
Weight: 0.38
Height: 0.30 Width: 5.50 Depth: 8.50
Language: English

This book provides an examination of Big Wednesday as an unconventional film that employs a mythic sensibility in its representation of the loss of youth and young manhood.

Critically and commercially unsuccessful on its original release, the coming-of-age, surf drama Big Wednesday (1978), has undergone a significant reappraisal. It is now considered not only an important contribution to youth cinema, but also the most important film that John Milius ever made. Over six chapters, the book considers questions of authorship, commerce, genre, stardom, and myth, and explores how these ideas intersect with the film's status as a significant youth movie and collectively how these ideas have contributed to its recent critical rehabilitation. In doing so, the book also provides a much-needed reassessment of an important and overlooked entry in the New Hollywood canon.

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