Although a long-established and influential genre, this is the first
comprehensive study of the European road cinema. Crossing New Europe
investigates this tradition, its relationship with the American road
movie and its aesthetic forms. This movement examines such crucial
issues as individual and national identity crises, and phenomena such as
displacement, diaspora, exile, migration, nomadism, and tourism in
postmodern, post-Berlin Wall Europe. Drawing on the work of Said, Hall,
Shields, Urry, Bauman, Deleuze and Guattari and other critical
theorists, Crossing New Europe adopts a broad interpretation of
"Europe" and discusses directors and films who have long been associated
with the road movie, such as Wim Wenders (Alice in the Cities, Lisbon
Story) and Aki Kaurismäki (Leningrad Cowboys Go America!), and other
more recent contributions such as Run Lola Run, Dear Diary and The Last
Resort.