ECU Libraries Catalog

Pleading the blood : Bill Gunn's Ganja & Hess / Christopher Sieving.

Author/creator Sieving, Christopher author.
Format Book and Print
Publication Info Bloomington, Indiana : Indiana University Press, [2022]
Descriptionx, 287 pages : illustrations (chiefly color) ; 24 cm.
Subject(s)
Series Studies in the cinema of the black diaspora
Studies in the cinema of the Black diaspora. ^A1334461
Contents Ganja & Hess: credits -- Awakening: Kelly-Jordan enterprises and the black movie boom -- Vision: Bill Gunn and the black man apart -- Creation: the making of Ganja & Hess -- Judgement: the reception and revival of Ganja & Hess -- Resurrection: Ganja & Hess's life after death -- Ganja & Hess after Gunn, Gunn after Ganja & Hess.
Abstract "The definitive look at one of the most important Black art films and original filmmakers of the 1970s. Bill Gunn's Ganja & Hess (1973) has across the decades attained a sizable cult following among African American cinema devotees, art house aficionados, and horror fans, thanks to its formal complexity and rich allegory. Pleading the Blood is the first full-length study of this cult classic. Ganja & Hess was withdrawn almost immediately after its New York premiere by its distributor because Gunn's poetic re-fashioning of the vampire genre allegedly failed to satisfy the firm's desire for a by-the-numbers "blaxploitation" horror flick for quick sell-off in the urban market. Its current status as one of the classic works of African American cinema has recently been confirmed by the Blu-ray release of its restored version, by its continued success in screenings at repertory houses, museums, and universities, and by an official remake, Da Sweet Blood of Jesus (2014), directed by Spike Lee, one of the original picture's longtime champions. Pleading the Blood draws on Gunn's archived papers, screenplay drafts, and storyboards, as well as interviews with the living major creative participants to offer a comprehensive, absorbing account of the influential movie and its highly original filmmaker"-- Provided by publisher.
Bibliography noteIncludes bibliographical references and index.
Issued in other formOnline version: Sieving, Christopher. Pleading the blood Bloomington : Indiana University Press, [2022] 9780253059185
Genre/formCriticism, interpretation, etc.
Genre/formHistory.
LCCN 2021035995
ISBN9780253059208 paperback
ISBN0253059208 paperback
ISBN9780253059215 hardcover
ISBN0253059216 hardcover
ISBNelectronic book

Available Items

Library Location Call Number Status Item Actions
Joyner General Stacks PN1997 .G3145 S54 2022 ✔ Available Place Hold