Visions of Paradise: Images of Eden in the Cinema

"Visions of Paradise is a fantastic voyage into the social and cultural history of cinema, exploring the utopian imagination and questions of belief through a discussion of a fascinating array of European and Hollywood cinematic forms."—Marcia Landy, author of Monty Python’s Flying Circus "During this leisurely cruise through cinema's utopian dreams—its endless summers, surf cities, pajama parties, and beach blanket Babylons—Dixon unearths the paradox of paradise, the schizoid foundation beneath every vision of Eden."—Mikita Brottman, Professor of Language, Literature & Culture, Maryland Institute College of Art Depictions of sex, violence, and crime abound in many of today’s movies, sometimes making it seem that the idyllic life has vanished—even from our imaginations. But as shown in this unique book, paradise has not always been lost. For many years, depictions of heaven, earthly paradises, and utopias were common in popular films.

Illustrated throughout with intriguing, rare stills, and organized to provide historical context, Visions of Paradise surveys a huge array of films that have offered us glimpses of life free from strife, devoid of pain and privation, and full of harmony. In films such as Moana, White Shadows in the South Seas, The Green Pastures, Heaven Can Wait, The Enchanted Forest, The Bishop’s Wife, Carousel, Bikini Beach, and Elvira Madigan, characters and the audience partake in a vision of personal freedom and safety—a zone of privilege and protection that transcends the demands of daily existence.

Many of the films discussed are from the 1960s—perhaps the most "Edenic" decade in contemporary cinema, when everything seemed possible and radical change was taken for granted. As Dixon makes clear, however, these films have not disappeared with the dreams of a generation; they continue to resonate today, offering a tonic to the darker visions that have replaced them.