Joseph Campbell: The Hero’s Journey

Synopsis

One of the greatest storytellers of our time, and arguably the greatest mythologist, Joseph Campbell spent most of his long, rich career explaining how ancient myths like the Hero’s Journey are relevant to modern life. ‘Joseph Campbell - The Hero’s Journey’ is a biographical portrait, filmed shortly before his death in 1987 and follows his personal quest - a pathless journey of questioning, discovery and ultimately of delight and joy in a life to which he said "Yes".

His first, full-length, book The Hero with a Thousand Faces (1949), was published to acclaim and brought him the first of numerous awards and honours — the National Institute of Arts and Letters Award for Contributions to Creative Literature. The Hero would prove to have a major influence on generations of creative artists—from the Abstract Expressionists in the 1950s to contemporary film-makers today— most notably George Lucas credits Campbell as his inspiration to make Stars Wars. He went on to write numerous books, including The Masks of God: Primitive Mythology (Vol. 1: 1959), Myths to Live By and The Inner Reaches of Outer Space: Metaphor as Myth and as Religion (1986) and was also a prolific editor. But it was arguably as a public speaker that Joe had his greatest popular impact. From the time of his first public lecture in 1940—a talk at the Ramakrishna-Vivekananda Center entitled "Sri Ramakrishna’s Message to the West"—it was apparent that he was an erudite but accessible lecturer, a gifted storyteller, and a witty raconteur.

"And so Galahad decided that it would be a disgrace to set off on a quest with other knights. Alone he would enter the dark forest where there was no path. This is the myth of the Hero’s Journey"

Language

English

Country

Great Britain

Year of production

1997

Subjects

Literature; Philosophy

Keywords

mythology

Distribution Formats

Type

DVD

Format

Region 2 PAL

Price

£12.99

Availability

Sale

Duration/Size

57 minutes

Year

2007

Distributor

Name

Acacia

Email

info@acornmedia.com

Web

http://www.acaciacatalog.com/ External site opens in new window

Phone

020 8879 7000

Fax

020 8879 1616

Address

c/o: Acorn
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Summerley Street
London
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