Includes bibliographical references and index.
1. Sayles between the systems : bucking "industry policy" and indie apolitical chic / Cynthia Baron -- 2. Breakups and reunions : late realism in early Sayles / Alex Woloch -- 3. The false salvation of the here and now : aliens, images, and the commodification of desire in The brother from another planet / Mark Bould -- 4. The theo-political landscape of Matewan / Martin F. Norden -- 5. Passersby and Politics : City of Hope and the Multiple protagonist film / Greg M. Smith -- 6. Of spectral mothers and lost children : war, folklore, and psychoanalysis in The secret of Roan Inish / Maureen Turim and Mika Turim-Nygren -- 7. Oedipus edits (Lone star) / Susan Felleman -- 8. Men in context : gender in Matewan and Men with guns / Klaus Rieser -- 9. Tourism and territory : constructing the nation in Men with guns (Hombres armados) / Hamilton Carroll -- 10. Psychic borders and legacies left hanging in Lone star and Men with guns / Rebecca M. Gordon -- 11. The space of ambiguity : representations of nature in Limbo / Laura Barrett.