The Department of English invites you to join us for a film screening and discussion in celebration of Professor Eric G. Wilson's new book on John Boorman's 1967 film "Point Blank" for the British Film Institute's distinguished BFI Classics Series.

A reception and book signing will follow.

About the film and book:

Boorman’s Point Blank (1967), starring Lee Marvin and Angie Dickinson, is a visionary mix of genres: neo-noir, New Wave, spaghetti western, psychodelia, and psychodrama. The film has profoundly influenced the cinema of the past twenty-five years, including John Wick (2014-2023), Baby Driver (2017), Drive (2011), Memento (2000), The Limey (1999), Heat (1995), and Reservoir Dogs (1992). On the surface a cool crime flick, the film essentially explores—through its strikingly experimental style—trauma, gender fluidity, toxic masculinity, and global capitalism. Marvin’s iconic acting renders these themes with restrained pathos and grim comedy.

This book, which will be published by Bloomsbury in September 2023, is an extension of Wilson’s earlier work on film, which focuses on dream, gender, and language, and has produced books on David Lynch, cinematic automata, and virtual reality.