Rollerball, Nette Andrew

Drawing on numerous sources, including little examined documents in the archive of the films screenwriter William Harrison, Andrew Nette examines the many dimensions of Rollerballs making and reception: the way it simultaneously exhibits the aesthetics and narrative tropes of mainstream action and art-house cinema; the elaborate and painstaking process of world creation undertaken by Jewison and Harrison; and the cultural forces and debates that influenced them, including the increasing corporate power and growing violence in Western society in late 1960s and early 1970s. Nette shows how a film that was derided by many critics for its violence works as a sophisticated and disturbing portrayal of a dystopian future that anticipates numerous contemporary concerns, including fake news and declining literary and historical memory. The book includes an interview with Jewison on Rollerballs influences, making, and reception.