Others say...

"Enlightening and entertaining"
This spring along side the adventurous movie block-busters, I experienced an excellent guide to movie aesthetics and structure. The book 'Myth and the Movies' by Stuart Voytilla; Sheridan Books 1999, is an exquisite taste of film memorabilia.
From its opening paragraphs on the mythical hero's journey, to the archetypes and breakdown of over 50 block-buster movies; this book really focuses on film structure and paradigm.
All genres are covered, from the Western to the Action Adventure (the Action Adventure being the one with a golbal appeal), its all in the book.
I strongly recommend this book as a learning tool or guide to every serious film student.
Respectfully,
Mikey Jay / film student 'San Diego State University'
May 28, 2003

"Terrific book for students of the movies"
Loved this book. Great analysis of plot and structure onthe major movies by genre. Every student of writing will love this book, whether writing novels or plays.

"The Journey Continues"
Stuart Voytilla's "Myth and the Movies" is a must read for anyone interested in screenwriting, story telling, or simply enjoying movies. Standing on the broad shoulders of Joseph Campbell, Christopher Vogler, and others who have demonstrated how mythology is used, Voytilla brings fresh insight and clarity to the subject. Voytilla's effort is painstaking and enormous. "Myth and the Movies" explores the mythological structure of 50 great and familiar films. Voytilla's vision is clear and precise--demonstrating a great mastery of the art form as well as possessing a lucid and incisive writing style. Voytilla's book is better than any graduate film school curriculum. Best of all, the author wastes no time focusing on non-essential elements. He cuts straight to the chase and doesn't let up throughout this marvelously insightful tome. If you want to learn how to write a story more efficiently, or even if you simply wish to derive more pleasure from watching films at your neighborhood theater, "Myth and the Movies" should be at the top of your reading list. Stuart Voytilla has written a masterpiece for all who are interested in film--whether novice, pro, or fan.

"OK for the perceptually challenged."
The "information" contained in this book as well as its
close relative, Vogler's 'The Writer's Journey, may be of use to some readers and aspiring writers, but it should not be
mistaken for "knowledge"--the internalized recognition of
patterns and archetypes acquired as a result of experiencing the
original texts. It was only AFTER I had noticed repeated themes and
structures in The Odyssey, The Aeneid, Beowulf, The Divine Comedy,
Rhyme of the Ancient Mariner, Heart of Darkness that the similar
discoveries of great teachers like Freud, Jung, Weston, Frazer, and
Campbell confirmed a sense of the unity (despite the arguments of the
post-structuralists) of human experience and great literature. Soon
it became impossible not to see "It's a Wonderful Life" and
"The Maltese Falcon" as anything other than variations of
the same story.

And now we've got these patterns codified and
reduced to skeletal formula, empty maps practically offered as
surrogates for the actual experience itself. I seriously question if
the consumer of these reductive catalogs and outlines will, like
Coleridge's Mariner, emerge "sadder but wiser" or, like
Conrad's Marlowe, glimpse the underlying "horror" of
civilization in all its irony and mystery.

In sum: Reader's Digest
culture for the new age.


"The Ultimate Gift"
Stuart Voytilla's book "Myth and the Movies" is the ultimate gift to a writer. As a recent student of Voytilla's I can't even being to explain how helpful this book was in developing my screenwriting skills. I highly recommend this book to writers of all ages and levels.