Film history, theory or criticism Books
Liverpool University Press Dawn of the Dead
Book SynopsisGeorge A. Romero’s Dawn of the Dead (1978) is celebrated both as a ‘splatter’ movie and as a satire of 1970s consumerism. One of the most financially successful independent films ever produced, Dawn of the Dead presented a strong vision to audiences of the time in terms of its excessive, often shocking violence. It challenged censorship internationally and caused controversy in the United States and the UK. The film created problems with distributors because of its length and its graphic content; with the MPAA who awarded it an ‘X’ in America (a rating usually reserved for pornography); with the BBFC in the UK who completely recut it; and in various European territories where it was released in several versions. Arguably, excess is at the heart of Dawn of the Dead, integral to its meaning: not only in its scenes of gore, its in-your-face social satire and its gaudy pop-kitsch style but in the production history of the film itself. This Devil’s Advocate explores the various ways in which Romero took Dawn of the Dead into areas of extremity during its scripting, production and distribution; and the responses of industry, censorship bodies, reviewers and audiences of the time to the film’s excesses. Taking the approach of a micro-historical study, Jon Towlson offers a close analysis of the film’s production context to explore the cultural significance of Dawn of the Dead as a ‘rebel text’ and an example of oppositional cinema.
£78.38
Liverpool University Press Dawn of the Dead
Book SynopsisGeorge A. Romero’s Dawn of the Dead (1978) is celebrated both as a ‘splatter’ movie and as a satire of 1970s consumerism. One of the most financially successful independent films ever produced, Dawn of the Dead presented a strong vision to audiences of the time in terms of its excessive, often shocking violence. It challenged censorship internationally and caused controversy in the United States and the UK. The film created problems with distributors because of its length and its graphic content; with the MPAA who awarded it an ‘X’ in America (a rating usually reserved for pornography); with the BBFC in the UK who completely recut it; and in various European territories where it was released in several versions. Arguably, excess is at the heart of Dawn of the Dead, integral to its meaning: not only in its scenes of gore, its in-your-face social satire and its gaudy pop-kitsch style but in the production history of the film itself. This Devil’s Advocate explores the various ways in which Romero took Dawn of the Dead into areas of extremity during its scripting, production and distribution; and the responses of industry, censorship bodies, reviewers and audiences of the time to the film’s excesses. Taking the approach of a micro-historical study, Jon Towlson offers a close analysis of the film’s production context to explore the cultural significance of Dawn of the Dead as a ‘rebel text’ and an example of oppositional cinema.
£21.84
Liverpool University Press Nosferatu in the 21st Century: A Critical Study
Book Synopsis‘Nosferatu’ in the 21st Century is a celebration and a critical study of F. W. Murnau’s seminal vampire film Nosferatu, eine Symphonie des Grauens on the 100th anniversary of its release in 1922. The movie remains a dark mirror to the troubled world we live in seeing it as striking and important in the 2020s as it was a century ago. The unmistakable image of Count Orlok has traveled from his dilapidated castle in old world Transylvania into the futuristic depths of outerspace in Star Trek and beyond as the all-consuming shadow of the vampire spreads ever wider throughout contemporary popular culture. This innovative collection of essays, with a foreword by renowned Dracula expert Gary D. Rhodes, brings together experts in the field alongside creative artists to explore the ongoing impact of Murnau’s groundbreaking movie as it has been adapted, reinterpreted, and recreated across multiple mediums from theatre, performance and film, to gaming, music and even drag. As such, ‘Nosferatu’ in the 21st Century is not only a timely and essential book about Murnau’s film but also illuminates the times that produced it and the world it continues to influence.
£90.00
Liverpool University Press Moon
Book SynopsisOne of the most acclaimed debut features of this century, Moon (2009) tells the superficially simple story of Sam Bell (Sam Rockwell), who mines Helium-3 on the dark side and comes face to face with his doppelgänger. Out of this scenario, director and co-writer Duncan Jones explores ethical questions that can be examined for philosophical depths, calling back to such 1970s and 1980s science fiction films as Silent Running (1972), Soylent Green (1973), Logan's Run (1976), Alien (1979), and Outland (1981). Just as the moon so often visible above Earth has been interpreted in a variety of ways throughout human history, so the film Moon is open to various readings and interpretations.Brian Robb’s Constellation volume begins by covering the early filmmaking and influences of director Jones, and briefly look at past depictions of the moon in science fiction cinema. He goes on to provide a production history of the film, with a particular focus on how the constraints of British low-budget filmmaking inspire creativity, and how the creative team envisioned the future. Subsequent chapters examine questions of isolation and identity as raised in Moon – what defines a human being? How does differing experience change each of the Sam Bell clones? – and issues of theology by examining notions of curiosity and investigation. Finally, the critical reception of Moon is will be examined, with a consideration of the way film's themes were further developed and extrapolated upon in Duncan Jones' next film, Source Code (2011).
£76.00
Liverpool University Press The Cabin in the Woods
Book SynopsisThe Cabin in the Woods (2012), directed by Drew Goddard and co-authored by Goddard and Joss Whedon of Buffy-fame, was famously described by co-author Whedon as his ‘loving hate letter’ to horror. Interviews with Whedon reveal that his struggles with modern cinematic horror are not merely emotional, but intensely philosophical. This book is the first to read Cabin as a philosophical metatext that asks what horror offers audiences and why audiences accept. Like any good philosophy, the film offers no answers but raises questions: what ‘choices’ are possible in a pre-determined universe? How do we, the audience, see the victims of violence, and with what ethical consequences? And finally, the most fraught question of all: why do we keep looking?
£71.25
Liverpool University Press No Joke: Todd Phillips's Joker and American
Book SynopsisNo Joke is a detailed examination of Todd Phillips’s Joker, one of the biggest global box-office hits of 2019. While his success was no doubt partly because of the association of its title character with the Batman superhero franchise, Joker is anything but a flashy superhero romp. It does explore the pathologies of its central character and suggest ways in which his life experiences might have driven him to become a supervillain, the arch-enemy of Batman. At the same time, the film leaves open the possibility that its “Joker” is not, in fact, the same as the one conventionally associated with Batman. In fact, the film leaves open many interpretive possibilities, in keeping with the complex work of postmodern art that it turns out to be. Joker also engages in extensive dialogues with a range of works from modern American culture, especially the films of the 1970s and 1980s, the period in which the action of Joker is set. Moreover, Joker is a highly political film that comments in important ways on American political history from roughly the beginning of the presidency of Richard Nixon through the end of the Trump presidency, with a special focus on the Reagan years. It also comments in more general and fundamental ways on the very nature of American society and American capitalism. All this, and more, is covered in M. Keith Booker’s analysis of one of the most talked-about films of recent years.
£110.00
Liverpool University Press Mr Freedom
Book SynopsisWilliam Klein’s Mr. Freedom (1969) is one of the most important American satirical films ever produced, the tale of an American superhero with disastrously misguided priorities. Although it was made in France and with a largely French cast, Klein was an American expatriate, and the film’s primary topic is American culture. That it is still so largely unseen seems to have something to do with a view of it as being, in the words of critic Jonathan Rosenbaum, “conceivably the most anti-American movie ever made”.In his contribution to the Constellations series, Tyler Sage argues that to call Mr. Freedom “anti-American” is to misunderstand not only the film but the satirical tradition of American arts and letters from which it descends. The film is challenging, Sage asserts, not because it is unpatriotic but because it lays bare the ideological nature of American films themselves. By interweaving a startling range of topics, including the cultural conditions surrounding the Vietnam War, the foundations of the American obsessions with race and violence, and our contemporary superhero film cycle, Sage explores the ways Mr. Freedom compels the viewer to come to terms with the fact that the stories we tell ourselves can never be separated from the larger forces of history, culture and film tradition.
£78.38
Liverpool University Press Poltergeist
Book Synopsis'Created’ by Steven Spielberg yet officially directed by Tobe Hooper, Poltergeist (1982) can be best described as ‘family horror movie’ both in its target audience and in its narrative context, the story of an All-American suburban family, the Freelings, whose home suddenly becomes the site of a spectacular haunting, apparently summoned by their young daughter. The film is somewhat of an anachronism and this Devil's Advocate explores this in both the scope of production and narrative. The book discusses the duality of the text highlighting debates surrounding both Spielberg's somewhat saccharine portrayal of middle-class Americana and his more subversive cinematic endeavours. The duality of the text also will also be discussed in the context of the film's production – with both Spielberg and Hooper on set for much of the time, the result was a movie with the production values, effects and marketing of a high budget mainstream cinema blockbuster apparently directed by a subversive 'grindhouse' cinema auteur. Yet Poltergeist is neither nor both of those things, instead being a unique hybrid of genres and styles taking the best and worst from both aspects of family blockbuster and cult horror film, and as such can be seen as a text that is something unique – a classic modern take on the traditional haunted house story.
£21.84
Liverpool University Press Cape Fear
Book SynopsisMartin Scorsese’s Cape Fear (1991) opens with a shot of water and climaxes on a raging river. Despite, or perhaps because of, the film’s great commercial success, critical analysis of the film typically does not delve beneath the surface of Scorsese’s first major box office hit. As it reaches its 30th anniversary, Cape Fear is now ripe for a full appraisal. The remake of J. Lee Thompson’s 1962 Cape Fear was originally conceived as a straightforward thriller intended for Steven Spielberg. Author Rob Daniel investigates the fascinating ways Scorsese’s style and preoccupations transform his version into a horror epic. The director’s love of fear cinema, his Catholicism and filmmaking techniques shift Cape Fear into terrifying psychological and psychosexual waters. The analysis also examines the influence of Gothic literature and fairy tales, plus how academic approaches to genre aid an understanding of the film. Trade Review'[Daniels] attempts to weave the film into the profile of Scorsese‘s filmography, with the unique take that Cape Fear is really a horror film and that certain horror film tropes and styles have informed most of his films... Mr. Daniel makes a thorough case and the reader learns a lot about Scorsese from this slim volume... Cape Fear is a must read for any student of Martin Scorsese.' Douglas Holm, KBOO
£78.38
Liverpool University Press Possession
Book SynopsisPremiering at the 1981 Cannes Film Festival, Andrzej Żuławski’s Possession remains a distinct phenomenon. Though in competition for the illustrious Palme d’Or, its art cinema context did not rescue it from being banned as part of the United Kingdom’s ‘video nasties’ campaign, alongside unashamedly lowbrow titles such as Faces of Death and Zombie Flesh Eaters. Skirting the boundary between art and exploitation, body horror and cerebral reverie, relationship drama and political statement, Possession is a truly astonishing film. Part visceral horror, part surreal experiment, part gothic romance dressed in the iconography of a spy thriller: there is no doubt that the polarity evinced by Possession’s initial release was in part a product of its resistance to clear categorisation.With a production history almost as bizarre as the film itself, a cult following gained with its VHS release, and being re-appreciated in the decades since as a valuable work of auteur cinema, the story of how this film came to be is as fascinating as it is unfathomable. Alison Taylor’s Devil’s Advocate considers Possession’s history, stylistic achievement, and legacy as an enduring and unique work of horror cinema. Beginning with a marital breakdown and ending with an apocalypse, the film’s strangeness has not dissipated over time; its transgressive imagery, histrionic performances, and spiral staircase logic remain affective and confounding to critics and fans alike. Respecting the film’s wilfully enigmatic nature, this book helps to unpack its key threads, including the collision between the banal and the horrific, the socio-historical context of its divided Berlin setting, and the significance of its legacy, particularly with regard to the contemporary trend for extreme art horror on the festival circuit.Trade Review‘It is clear that Taylor has done her homework [on Possession], and you can tell instantly that this piece is meticulously researched, drawing on a range of first-hand sources including the original script… for those with a serious interest in horror cinema, and POSSESSION in particular, this is a worthy read.’ John Upton, FrightFest
£20.89
Liverpool University Press The Omen
Book SynopsisDirected by Richard Donner and written by David Seltzer, The Omen (1976) is perhaps the best in the devil-child cycle of movies that followed in the wake of Rosemary’s Baby and The Exorcist. Released to a highly suggestible public, The Omen became a major commercial success, in no small part due to an elaborate pre-sell campaign that played and preyed on apocalyptic fears and a renewed belief in the Devil and the supernatural. Since polarising critics and religious groups upon its release, The Omen has earned its place in the horror film canon. It’s a film that works on different levels, is imbued with nuance, ambiguity and subtext, and is open to opposing interpretations. Reflecting the film’s cultural impact and legacy, the name ‘Damien’ has since become a pop culture byword for an evil child. Adrian Schober’s Devil’s Advocate entry covers the genesis, authorship, production history, marketing and reception of The Omen, before going on to examine the overarching theme of paranoia that drives the narrative: paranoia about the 'end times'; paranoia about government and conspiracy; paranoia about child rearing (especially, if one strips away the layer of Satanism); and paranoia about imagined threats to the right-wing Establishment from liberal and post-countercultural forces of the 1970s.
£78.38
Liverpool University Press A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night
Book SynopsisThere is something weird and eerie going on in the oneiric Iranian ghost-town Bad City. A mysterious female vampire, clad in a long-black veil, imbued with occult and erotic power, has newly arrived in town and is summarily dispensing with its unsavory characters. Through a chance encounter in a night of luminal darkness, an eternally dark romance begins – baptized in love’s blood. Shot in dazzling anamorphic black and white cinematography and accompanied with an intoxicating and mesmeric soundtrack, Ana Lily Amirpour’s debut feature film A Girl Walks Home Alone At Night (2014), was an instant popular and critical success. Dubbed ‘the first Iranian vampire western’ the genre-bending film is a pastiche of genres such as vampire cinema, gothic and horror films, spaghetti westerns, graphic novels, and Iranian cinema; yet the film stands as a new vampire fairy-tale with a unique style all its own. The first full-length study dedicated to the film since its release, this book in the Devil’s Advocate series provides a unique approach to the film situated within three theoretical coordinates: the vampire genre, psychoanalytic (film) theory and German Idealism. Trade Review'This book offers a number of useful insights into the titular 2014 vampire film... Various angles facilitate a thoughtful reading of a fascinating film. Throughout the book, Kazemi complements his extensive theoretical knowledge with detailed close reading of the film... I recommend this book to students and scholars in film studies, particularly those with interests in psychoanalytic film theory and/or horror.' Max Bledstein, Abstracta Iranica
£78.38
Liverpool University Press The Conjuring
Book SynopsisIn 2013 an apparently simple, back-to-basics scary movie transformed horror cinema for the rest of the decade. Based on the allegedly true story of the Perron family haunting and subsequent investigation by ghost hunters Ed and Lorraine Warren, The Conjuring has to-date spawned six sequels and prequels, making up a Conjuring ‘universe’ that has taken over a billion dollars around the world. The New York Times called The Conjuring ‘a fantastically effective haunted-house movie’ which, following his earlier film Insidious, established director James Wan as a force in horror cinema. In this Devil’s Advocates, horror scholar Kevin Wetmore examines what elements in the film are truly terrifying, how the filmmakers’ claims of being based on a true story hold up against the actual history of the haunting and the Warrens, and the relationship between The Conjuring and the many films in its universe. Along the way this book also considers how games, toys and dolls play an important role in the series, offers a critique of gender roles in the films, and asks the question, what is actually ‘conjured’ in The Conjuring? The delightful result is an in-depth, close reading of a film that uses standard horror tropes masterfully to create a truly scary film.
£78.38
Liverpool University Press The Conjuring
Book SynopsisIn 2013 an apparently simple, back-to-basics scary movie transformed horror cinema for the rest of the decade. Based on the allegedly true story of the Perron family haunting and subsequent investigation by ghost hunters Ed and Lorraine Warren, The Conjuring has to-date spawned six sequels and prequels, making up a Conjuring ‘universe’ that has taken over a billion dollars around the world. The New York Times called The Conjuring ‘a fantastically effective haunted-house movie’ which, following his earlier film Insidious, established director James Wan as a force in horror cinema. In this Devil’s Advocates, horror scholar Kevin Wetmore examines what elements in the film are truly terrifying, how the filmmakers’ claims of being based on a true story hold up against the actual history of the haunting and the Warrens, and the relationship between The Conjuring and the many films in its universe. Along the way this book also considers how games, toys and dolls play an important role in the series, offers a critique of gender roles in the films, and asks the question, what is actually ‘conjured’ in The Conjuring? The delightful result is an in-depth, close reading of a film that uses standard horror tropes masterfully to create a truly scary film.
£21.84
Liverpool University Press Seconds
Book SynopsisSeconds (1966) is John Frankenheimer's criminally overlooked monolith of paranoia, part science fiction, part body horror, part noir thriller cum black comedy, a film found at the intersection of the post-McCarthy mindset, European art cinema, the suburban identity nightmares of The Twilight Zone and the mid-life crises of masculinity aroused by 1960s counterculture. Arguably the bleakest mainstream Hollywood film ever made, it was famously booed at its Cannes unveiling and was a box office failure upon release. And while the film’s critical reception has gradually turned to acknowledge its significance in the scheme of American cinema, throughout the wider science fiction film community, it remains surprisingly under appreciated. This Constellation sets out to shed light on the film’s many attributes, from its stylistic significance to its political commentary, countering the critical dismissal of a film suffering from ‘personality disorder’ to suggest that, instead, Seconds turned its inner identity crisis from a vice into a virtue. In the spirit of the finest science fiction, Seconds is both emblematic of the time in which it was made and perpetually relevant to new audiences as a portent of things to come – or, for that matter, a startling reveal of the hidden here and now.Trade Review'Jez Conolly and Emma Westwood have crafted an incisive and riveting study of this long-underrated mainstream oddity... You’ll come away from this compact but thorough love-letter to a once unloved piece with the urge to revisit Seconds immediately.'Steven West, Cinemacabre'[The book] is a joyously discursive journey into the making of Seconds, its influences and where it sits in the culture... [Conolly and Westwood's] analysis of the making of the film can only be described as loving and highly nuanced...Seconds is a rich, rewarding study, and another excellent monograph published by Auteur'Andrew Nette, Pulp Curry'This is one of the best books on a single film that I’ve read in a long time. For one thing, it is endless allusive and referential, shows wide learning and media understanding, constantly surprises, and makes fascinating connections.'Douglas Holm, KBOO'Co-authors, Conolly and Westwood’s writing is seamless... when you watch the film again after finishing the book you can really appreciate how closely Conolly and Westwood had to look at Seconds.'Rachel Bellwoar, Flickering Myth'Each of the nine chapters that make up Seconds is an assemblage, suturing together contextual material, theoretical discourse and film analysis... While Seconds is a short monograph, it is nevertheless rich, innovative and daring. It is an important addition to the critical discourse surrounding an often-overlooked masterpiece of twentieth-century American cinema and a critical intervention in the ongoing academic and popular reappraisal of the film.'Diabolique‘Jez Conolly and Emma Westwood do a brilliant job of summarizing the film, exploring implications, and finally giving it its proper place in the canon of science fiction cinema… They analyze everything from the overall shape of Frankenheimer’s career as a director to small but telling details about the fonts used in the opening titles… I consider Seconds to be a deeply insightful and accomplished book, which does justice to an important movie that has long been overlooked.’ Steven Shaviro, SFRA Review
£78.38
Liverpool University Press Seconds
Book SynopsisSeconds (1966) is John Frankenheimer's criminally overlooked monolith of paranoia, part science fiction, part body horror, part noir thriller cum black comedy, a film found at the intersection of the post-McCarthy mindset, European art cinema, the suburban identity nightmares of The Twilight Zone and the mid-life crises of masculinity aroused by 1960s counterculture. Arguably the bleakest mainstream Hollywood film ever made, it was famously booed at its Cannes unveiling and was a box office failure upon release. And while the film’s critical reception has gradually turned to acknowledge its significance in the scheme of American cinema, throughout the wider science fiction film community, it remains surprisingly under appreciated. This Constellation sets out to shed light on the film’s many attributes, from its stylistic significance to its political commentary, countering the critical dismissal of a film suffering from ‘personality disorder’ to suggest that, instead, Seconds turned its inner identity crisis from a vice into a virtue. In the spirit of the finest science fiction, Seconds is both emblematic of the time in which it was made and perpetually relevant to new audiences as a portent of things to come – or, for that matter, a startling reveal of the hidden here and now.Trade Review'Jez Conolly and Emma Westwood have crafted an incisive and riveting study of this long-underrated mainstream oddity... You’ll come away from this compact but thorough love-letter to a once unloved piece with the urge to revisit Seconds immediately.'Steven West, Cinemacabre'[The book] is a joyously discursive journey into the making of Seconds, its influences and where it sits in the culture... [Conolly and Westwood's] analysis of the making of the film can only be described as loving and highly nuanced...Seconds is a rich, rewarding study, and another excellent monograph published by Auteur'Andrew Nette, Pulp Curry'This is one of the best books on a single film that I’ve read in a long time. For one thing, it is endless allusive and referential, shows wide learning and media understanding, constantly surprises, and makes fascinating connections.'Douglas Holm, KBOO'Co-authors, Conolly and Westwood’s writing is seamless... when you watch the film again after finishing the book you can really appreciate how closely Conolly and Westwood had to look at Seconds.'Rachel Bellwoar, Flickering Myth'Each of the nine chapters that make up Seconds is an assemblage, suturing together contextual material, theoretical discourse and film analysis... While Seconds is a short monograph, it is nevertheless rich, innovative and daring. It is an important addition to the critical discourse surrounding an often-overlooked masterpiece of twentieth-century American cinema and a critical intervention in the ongoing academic and popular reappraisal of the film.'Diabolique‘Jez Conolly and Emma Westwood do a brilliant job of summarizing the film, exploring implications, and finally giving it its proper place in the canon of science fiction cinema… They analyze everything from the overall shape of Frankenheimer’s career as a director to small but telling details about the fonts used in the opening titles… I consider Seconds to be a deeply insightful and accomplished book, which does justice to an important movie that has long been overlooked.’ Steven Shaviro, SFRA Review
£21.84
Liverpool University Press Shadow of a Doubt
Book SynopsisShadow of a Doubt (1943) was British-born Alfred Hitchcock’s sixth American film and the one that he at various times identified as his favourite and his best. It seems likely that one of the reasons he liked Shadow so much is that is an extraordinarily well-ordered narrative system, a meticulous cause and effect chain that melds its various scenes and sequences together to form a unified narrative that is highly effective in building suspense and cultivating identification with characters. This scrupulously organized film operates as a masterclass on principles of narrative design while generating resonant commentary on the nature of family life. This book redresses the deficit of sustained critical attention paid to Shadow even in the large corpus of Hitchcock scholarship. Analysing the film’s narrative system, issues of genre, authorship, social history, homesickness and ‘family values’, Diane Negra shows how the film’s impeccable narrative structure is wedded to radical ideological content, linking the film’s terrors to the punishing effects of looking beyond conventional family and gender roles. This book understands Shadow as an unconventionally female-centred Hitchcock text and a milestone film that marks the director’s emergent engagement with the pathologies of violence in American life and opens a window into the placement of femininity in World War II consensus culture and more broadly into the politics of mid-century gender and family life. Trade Review'This is a wide-ranging book that examines Shadow of a Doubt in all sorts of perceptive ways... [It] is extremely good at teasing out the significance of Shadow of a Doubt'Carl Sweeney, The Movie Palace'Diane Negra makes a compelling case for her expansive, comprehensive scrutiny... Through her encyclopedic, exceptionally thorough interrogation... Negra prompts appreciation of the breadth and depth of Shadow of a Doubt and implicitly encourages a further questioning of what has – or hasn't – changed in the America portrayed so dramatically, accurately and ominously by Hitchcock.' Hitchcock Annual #24
£87.50
Liverpool University Press Shadow of a Doubt
Book SynopsisShadow of a Doubt (1943) was British-born Alfred Hitchcock’s sixth American film and the one that he at various times identified as his favourite and his best. It seems likely that one of the reasons he liked Shadow so much is that is an extraordinarily well-ordered narrative system, a meticulous cause and effect chain that melds its various scenes and sequences together to form a unified narrative that is highly effective in building suspense and cultivating identification with characters. This scrupulously organized film operates as a masterclass on principles of narrative design while generating resonant commentary on the nature of family life. This book redresses the deficit of sustained critical attention paid to Shadow even in the large corpus of Hitchcock scholarship. Analysing the film’s narrative system, issues of genre, authorship, social history, homesickness and ‘family values’, Diane Negra shows how the film’s impeccable narrative structure is wedded to radical ideological content, linking the film’s terrors to the punishing effects of looking beyond conventional family and gender roles. This book understands Shadow as an unconventionally female-centred Hitchcock text and a milestone film that marks the director’s emergent engagement with the pathologies of violence in American life and opens a window into the placement of femininity in World War II consensus culture and more broadly into the politics of mid-century gender and family life. Trade Review'This is a wide-ranging book that examines Shadow of a Doubt in all sorts of perceptive ways... [It] is extremely good at teasing out the significance of Shadow of a Doubt'Carl Sweeney, The Movie Palace'Diane Negra makes a compelling case for her expansive, comprehensive scrutiny... Through her encyclopedic, exceptionally thorough interrogation... Negra prompts appreciation of the breadth and depth of Shadow of a Doubt and implicitly encourages a further questioning of what has – or hasn't – changed in the America portrayed so dramatically, accurately and ominously by Hitchcock.' Hitchcock Annual #24
£27.96
Liverpool University Press The Evil Dead
Book SynopsisSam Raimi’s The Evil Dead (1981) is one of the most inventive and energetic horror movies of the last 40 years. Released during a period in which the stalk-and-slash cycle had blunted the horror genre of much of its creative edge, Raimi’s debut feature transcends its small budget and limited resources to deliver a phantasmagoric roller-coaster ride, a wildly absurd and surreal assault on the senses. Still original enough to stand on its own and be considered as a genre classic, this book will explain its long-lasting appeal and impact. After detailing the unique circumstances of its origin, Lloyd Haynes goes on to analyse key aspects of the film’s abiding success. The Evil Dead is one of a number of horror films which locate their terrors in a single setting and limited time frame. Haynes argues that it creates a ‘bad dream’ effect in which the nightmare is never-ending and increasingly horrific, and how the cabin-in-the-woods location is also a fine example of the ‘bad place’ motif which stretches back to the Gothic novels of the 18th century. The book goes on to consider what character traits Ash Williams, The Evil Dead’s ‘macho’ male hero, shares with Carol Clover’s ‘Final Girl’ model and how effective he is as a ‘Final Guy’. Finally, it explores the critical approaches to the film, in particular its notorious reputation in Britain as a ‘video nasty’. Trade Review'Film journalist Lloyd Haynes gathers the best stories and weaves them together with his own analysis of the film. He connects it to gothic literature through the theory of the ‘Bad Place’ motif, offering insight into its broader cultural significance. [...] If you are looking for a quick yet in-depth dive into the world of The Evil Dead, this latest volume in the Devil’s Advocate series is the perfect place to start.'Adrian Smith, Cinema Retro
£78.38
Liverpool University Press The Evil Dead
Book SynopsisSam Raimi’s The Evil Dead (1981) is one of the most inventive and energetic horror movies of the last 40 years. Released during a period in which the stalk-and-slash cycle had blunted the horror genre of much of its creative edge, Raimi’s debut feature transcends its small budget and limited resources to deliver a phantasmagoric roller-coaster ride, a wildly absurd and surreal assault on the senses. Still original enough to stand on its own and be considered as a genre classic, this book will explain its long-lasting appeal and impact. After detailing the unique circumstances of its origin, Lloyd Haynes goes on to analyse key aspects of the film’s abiding success. The Evil Dead is one of a number of horror films which locate their terrors in a single setting and limited time frame. Haynes argues that it creates a ‘bad dream’ effect in which the nightmare is never-ending and increasingly horrific, and how the cabin-in-the-woods location is also a fine example of the ‘bad place’ motif which stretches back to the Gothic novels of the 18th century. The book goes on to consider what character traits Ash Williams, The Evil Dead’s ‘macho’ male hero, shares with Carol Clover’s ‘Final Girl’ model and how effective he is as a ‘Final Guy’. Finally, it explores the critical approaches to the film, in particular its notorious reputation in Britain as a ‘video nasty’. Trade Review'Film journalist Lloyd Haynes gathers the best stories and weaves them together with his own analysis of the film. He connects it to gothic literature through the theory of the ‘Bad Place’ motif, offering insight into its broader cultural significance. [...] If you are looking for a quick yet in-depth dive into the world of The Evil Dead, this latest volume in the Devil’s Advocate series is the perfect place to start.'Adrian Smith, Cinema Retro
£21.84
Liverpool University Press The Stepford Wives
Book SynopsisThe Stepford Wives (1975) occupies an unusual position in cinematic history. As is often the case with cult texts, the film was both a box office flop and widely misunderstood on release. Intended as a feminist diatribe, it was derided by Betty Friedan, whose 1963 book The Feminine Mystique it literalised. Even Ira Levin, author of the novel from which the film was adapted, concedes he was less than enthused with the filmed version. Despite this, the term ‘Stepford wife’ has become idiolect for a particular kind of one-dimensional, upper-middle class woman who is figuratively, and to some extent literally, an automation. Indeed, one does not need to have seen or even heard of the film or Levin’s book to be familiar with the concept. This timely study finally gives The Stepford Wives the serious scholarly attention it deserves. In doing so, the significance of the film as a socio-cultural and socio-political document in its own right is underscored. While the intention of this book is to pay homage to Bryan Forbes’ film, it goes far beyond this, locating it in the traditions of the gothic, the histories of feminism and fictional imaginings about artificial women, and the futures of social robots and AI, both real and imagined. Trade Review‘This textbook is an excellent and informative read that provides many insights to the role of feminism in articulating and challenging the patriarchy, both in the fictional and real worlds.’ Julie Laing, Media Education Journal
£78.38
Liverpool University Press Snuff
Book SynopsisSnuff (1976) occupies a unique place in cinematic history, as the first commercially successful film to capitalise upon the myth of the ‘snuff’ movie. By blending cinema verité styling with a media moral panic, savvy producer Allan Shackleton’s blending of a long-forgotten exploitation film with a newly filmed bloody, if unconvincing conclusion, only served to consolidate the belief that somewhere, at some time, someone was killed on camera in an attack that was as much about the sexual gratification of the film’s intended audience, as it was about the commercial rewards for those producing the film. In the years since its release, the film has been routinely cited as ‘evidence’ of the snuff movie’s existence, contributing to a cultural history that exists outside of the film. This book explores the production, distribution and exhibition of the film Snuff, alongside that cultural history, considering how a scarcely seen exploitation film contributed to a popular understanding of the snuff movie. It assesses the cultural, cinematic and political legacy of the film and asks whether the established definition of what might constitute a snuff movie, that was defined 45 years ago, is sufficient in an attention economy that is based upon participatory culture.
£71.25
Liverpool University Press Re-Animator
Book SynopsisSince its release at the mid-point of the 1980s American horror boom, Stuart Gordon’s Re-Animator (1985) has endured as one of the most beloved cult horror films of that era. Greeted by enthusiastic early reviews, Re-Animator has maintained a spot at the periphery of the classic horror film canon. While Re-Animator has not entirely gone without critical attention, it has often been overshadowed in horror studies by more familiar titles from the period. Eddie Falvey’s book, which represents the first book-length study of Re-Animator, repositions it as one of the most significant American horror films of its era. For Falvey, Re-Animator sits at the intersection of various developments that were taking place within the context of 1980s American horror production. He uses Re-Animator to explore the rise and fall of Charles Band’s Empire Pictures, the revival of the mad science sub-genre, the emergent popularity of both gore aesthetics and horror-comedies, as well as a new appetite for the works of H.P. Lovecraft in adaptation. Falvey also tracks the film's legacies, observing not only how Re-Animator’s success gave rise to a new Lovecraftian cycle fronted by Stuart Gordon, but also how its cult status has continued to grow, marked by sequels, spin-offs, parodies and re-releases. As such, Falvey's book promises to be a book both about Re-Animator itself and about the various contexts that birthed it and continue to reflect its influence.Trade Review'The contextual analysis of Re-Animator in this typically thoughtful Devil’s Advocates study examines it as a pivotal product of the briefly thriving Empire Pictures... Falvey’s analysis hits just the right tone of affection, with pleasing incidental detail.' Steven West, FrightFest'Re-animator is fertile ground for thinking about the role of horror cinema in America, both aesthetically and sociologically, and even politically. That's what Eddie Falvey does with the film in the latest monograph from the Devil's advocates series... The thoroughness of his account is exemplified by the bibliography, which is a great place to start for those who want a deep dive into the significant changes in horror films from the mid -80's to the present.' Douglas Holm, KBOO
£78.38
Liverpool University Press Re-Animator
Book SynopsisSince its release at the mid-point of the 1980s American horror boom, Stuart Gordon’s Re-Animator (1985) has endured as one of the most beloved cult horror films of that era. Greeted by enthusiastic early reviews, Re-Animator has maintained a spot at the periphery of the classic horror film canon. While Re-Animator has not entirely gone without critical attention, it has often been overshadowed in horror studies by more familiar titles from the period. Eddie Falvey’s book, which represents the first book-length study of Re-Animator, repositions it as one of the most significant American horror films of its era. For Falvey, Re-Animator sits at the intersection of various developments that were taking place within the context of 1980s American horror production. He uses Re-Animator to explore the rise and fall of Charles Band’s Empire Pictures, the revival of the mad science sub-genre, the emergent popularity of both gore aesthetics and horror-comedies, as well as a new appetite for the works of H.P. Lovecraft in adaptation. Falvey also tracks the film's legacies, observing not only how Re-Animator’s success gave rise to a new Lovecraftian cycle fronted by Stuart Gordon, but also how its cult status has continued to grow, marked by sequels, spin-offs, parodies and re-releases. As such, Falvey's book promises to be a book both about Re-Animator itself and about the various contexts that birthed it and continue to reflect its influence.Trade Review'The contextual analysis of Re-Animator in this typically thoughtful Devil’s Advocates study examines it as a pivotal product of the briefly thriving Empire Pictures... Falvey’s analysis hits just the right tone of affection, with pleasing incidental detail.' Steven West, FrightFest'Re-animator is fertile ground for thinking about the role of horror cinema in America, both aesthetically and sociologically, and even politically. That's what Eddie Falvey does with the film in the latest monograph from the Devil's advocates series... The thoroughness of his account is exemplified by the bibliography, which is a great place to start for those who want a deep dive into the significant changes in horror films from the mid -80's to the present.' Douglas Holm, KBOO
£20.89
Liverpool University Press Aliens
Book SynopsisOn its release in 1986, Aliens was an immediate commercial and critical success and consolidated writer-director James Cameron's status as a major new Hollywood player. Reprising some of the features of Ridley Scott's Alien (1979) and expanding them in a number of crucial ways, Aliens managed to reinforce the audience's attraction to the still fairly new Alien franchise and insert into it the seeds of narrative and visual changes that would be further explored in subsequent instalments of the series. Aliens is an endlessly fascinating mixture of different genres: sci-fi, revenge movies, action, war filmsand more specifically Vietnam War moviesall contribute in creating a visual experience that is dynamic and emotionally enthralling. The great care devoted to set and prop design gives the film its distinctive industrial and dirty atmosphere, while the narrative and psychological evolution of the Ripley character creates a modern and engaging heroine that would have a strong impact on genre cinema. This volume in the Constellations series examines in-depth James Cameron's film within the context of genre studies, with a particular eye to Aliens' nature as an example of hybrid science fiction. It provides readers with a detailed visual analysis of the film and an overview of its major themes, from its metaphorical reading of the Vietnam War to the representation of motherhood and family.
£76.00
Liverpool University Press Contested Identities in Costa Rica: Constructions
Book SynopsisCosta Rica is a country known internationally for its eco-credentials, dazzling coastlines, and reputation as one of the happiest and most peaceful nations on earth. Beneath this façade, however, lies an exclusionary rhetoric of nationalism bound up in the concept of the tico, as many Costa Ricans refer to themselves. Beginning by considering the very idea of national identity and what this constitutes, this book explores the nature of the idealised tico identity, demonstrating the ways in which it has assumed a white supremacist, Central Valley-centric, patriarchal, heteronormative stance based on colonial ideals. Chapters two and three then go on to consider the literature and films produced that stand in opposition to this normative image of who or what is tico and their creation as vehicles of soft power which aim to question social norms. This book explores protest literature from the 1970s by Quince Duncan, Carmen Naranjo, and Alfonso Chase who narrate their experiences from the margins of society by virtue of their identity as Afro-Costa Rican, feminist, and homosexual authors. Cinema from the twenty-first century is then analysed to demonstrate the nuanced position chosen by national directors Esteban Ramírez, Paz Fábrega, Jurgen Ureña, and Patricia Velásquez to challenge the dominant nation-image as they reinscribe youth culture, a female consciousness, trans identity, and Afro-Costa Rica onto the fabric of the nation.Trade Review‘Throughout the book, Harvey-Kattou offers clear, concise readings on film and literature to articulate new models of Costa Rican belonging and national identity.’ Stephanie M. Pridgeon, Bulletin of Spanish StudiesTable of ContentsContentsIntroductionChapter One: The Creation of Tiquicidad and Theories of National IdentityChapter Two: Coded Messages: Costa Rican Protest Literature 1970–1985Chapter Three: Reflecting the Nation: Costa Rican Cinema in the Twenty–First CenturyConclusion
£29.95
Liverpool University Press The Films of Nicolas Winding Refn
Book SynopsisEbook available to libraries exclusively as part of the JSTOR Path to Open initiative. This critical study engages with the films of the Danish director Nicolas Winding Refn, from his first feature Pusher (1996) up to and including Copenhagen Cowboy (2023), Refn's TV series for Netflix, considered here as a long-form, auteur work comparable to David Lynch's mini-series Twin Peaks: The Return (2017). By focusing on the treatment of genre, gender and glamour in Refn's work, Sweeney argues that the director is often misunderstood as a purveyor of macho' films when, in fact, his representations of masculinity are much more complex and layered. 'Drawing on a range of critical theory, most prominently the work of Paul B Preciado, and building on the existing criticism of Refn's work by Justin Vicari, Susanne Kappesser and Sofia Glasl, among others, this book provides a comprehensive and accessible analysis of Refn's oeuvre.
£100.00
Liverpool University Press Sideways in Time: Critical Essays on Alternate
Book SynopsisAlternate history is a genre of fiction that, although connected to science fiction, has its own rich history and lineage. With its roots in the writings of ancient Rome, alternate history matured into something close to its current form in the essays and novels of the nineteenth century. In more recent years a number of highly acclaimed novels have been published as alternate histories, by authors ranging from bestselling science fiction writers to Pulitzer prize-winning literary icons. The popularity of the genre is reflected in its success on television, where original concepts have been developed alongside adaptations of classic texts such as Philip K. Dick’s The Man in the High Castle.This collection of essays, by both leading scholars in the field and rising stars, seeks to redress an imbalance between the importance and quality of alternate history texts and the available critical scholarship on the genre. The essays acknowledge the long and distinctive history of alternate history whilst also revelling in its vitality, adaptability, and contemporary relevance.Trade Review‘Fascinating… the authors all help us understand how the Alternate History genre itself stimulates and encourages us to think about our own history, and our place in it.’ Martin Empson, Resolute Reader‘A fine collection which is extremely well-edited… Sideways in Time is a significant addition to science fiction scholarship in general and alternate history in particular. It also raises fundamental and pressing questions about agency that we need to consider in the context of a twenty-first century which is turning out to be very different from its predecessor.’ Nick Hubble, Vector'Sideways in Time makes a rich, valuable, and timely intervention in the nascent field studying alternate history... The cumulative effect of reading Sideways in Time in its entirety is one of generic saturation and full immersion in both the richness of the field and the possibilities newly open for analysis. Particularly impressive is the collegiality evident in the volume, with virtually every chapter referencing at least one other chapter from the collection. This is a difficult feat to accomplish and depends both on editorial tenacity and on the generosity and willingness of the authors to see their contributions as part of a larger conversation. Indeed, Morgan and Palmer-Patel’s great achievement lies not only in their own incisive and instructive framing chapters, but, evidently, in their editorial leadership. Although very different from one another in scope, perspective, material, and claim, each chapter is just as valuable for stand-alone scholarship pertaining to the primary material as it is for contributing insights into the larger generic concerns of the volume. As such, Sideways in Time is a book that takes alternate history scholarship to the next level.'Keren Omry, Los Angeles Review of Books‘Readers of Sideways in Time whose predilection is for narratives that focus on the thoughts and emotions of individuals or that play with the weird and fantastic will have a different set of favorites. To paraphrase the editors, they will be drawn to the narratives that expand, stretch, subvert, and redefine the genre. For all of us, however, the collection is worth reading and consulting.’ Carl Abbott, SFRA Review‘Taken as a whole, it is a fine addition to Liverpool University Press’ own, ever-branching series of critical reflections upon SF. Despite its preoccupation with genre, it can also be enjoyed by readers for whom SF is not their primary interest. I very much hope it finds as large a readership as possible.’ Paul March-Russell, Fantastika Journal 'Future studies of the genre will turn to this collection for key scholarly definitions and inspiration for new ways to approach alternate history texts... To that end, the book draws together a thorough—possibly even comprehensive—catalog of the major scholarship and names relevant to the scholarship of alternate history texts. Ultimately, Sideways in Time is essential reading for those with any interest in the genre as a whole or texts that happen to intersect with it.'Paul Williams, Journal of the Fantastic in the Arts"A welcome addition to scholarship on alternative histories."Suparno Banerjee, Science Fiction Studies'The need for this edited collection is perhaps mirrored in the rise, popularity and circulation of alternate histories across the mass media... As alternate history continues to win audience and accolades, collections such as this one will be welcomed by scholars and fans alike.' Kathryn Heffner, FoundationTable of ContentsForeword - Stephen BaxterIntroduction - Glyn Morgan and C. Palmer-PatelI. Points of DivergenceNapoleon as Dynamite: Geoffroy’s Napoléon Apocryphe and Science Fiction as Alternate History - Adam Roberts‘It Is One Story’: Writing a Global Alternate History in Kim Stanley Robinson’s The Years of Rice and Salt - Chris Pak‘Forever Being Yamato’: Alternate Pacific War Histories in Japanese Film and Anime - Jonathan Rayner‘Her dreams receding’: Gender, Astronauts, and Alternate Space Ages in Ian Sales’ Apollo Quartet - Brian BakerTime and Affect After 9/11: Lavie Tidhar’s Osama: A Novel - Anna McFarlaneII. Manipulating the GenreThe Subjective Nature of Time and The Individual’s (In)Ability to Inflict Social Change - Molly CobbBetween the Alternate and the Apocryphal: Religion and Historic Place in Aguilera’s La locura de Dios - Derek J. ThiessWeird history / Weird knowledge: H. P. Lovecraft versus Sherlock Holmes in Shadows over Baker Street - Chloé Germaine BuckleyQuest for Love: A Cosy Uchronia? - Andrew M. ButlerAgency and Contingency in Televisual Alternate History Texts - Karen HelleksonAfterword - C. Palmer-Patel and Glyn Morgan
£29.69
Liverpool University Press IT Chapters One and Two
Book SynopsisDrawing on critical analysis of film, the horror genre, the Gothic, and Stephen King scholarship, this book considers Andy Muschietti’s IT Chapter One (2017) and IT Chapter Two (2019) on multiple levels: as film (both as individual films and through their interconnected narrative), as adaptation, and as a barometer of the horror film’s popularity among fans. Key points of consideration include the significance of the fictional town of Derry as a traditionally Gothic “bad place,” the role of 1980s nostalgia in these two films, the complex navigation of memory and trauma, gender representation, queer representation, and the return of the repressed. The terrifying figure of Pennywise the clown is central to this analysis, including consideration of performance, costuming, and significance within the larger landscape of the “scary clown” popular culture trope, and through comparison to Tim Curry’s iconic performance in Tommy Lee Wallace’s 1990 miniseries. This Devil's Advocate contextualizes Muschietti’s films within the larger landscape of King’s literary and popular culture influence, as well as the debate surrounding “elevated” horror and the “horror boom” of the late 2010s.
£71.25
Liverpool University Press Pet Sematary
Book SynopsisMost scholarship on Mary Lambert's Pet Sematary (1989) overarchingly focuses on the Stephen King novel (1983), and tends strongly towards housing the story within the Gothic literary tradition. The film itself is often absent from considerations of North American horror cinema of the 1980s, and from wider horror scholarship in general. This Devil's Advocate stands as a corrective, and provides a holistic analysis – textual, contextual, and industrial – of the film, in order to properly situate it as an important entry into the history of horror cinema. This book joins a growing body of works – both journalistic and academic – that aim to revisit older films in order to call attention to and/or redress the gendered imbalance in our written horror histories. McMurdo charges Pet Sematary with several contributions to the horror genre: as an important entry within the tradition of “grief horror”; as a horror film that both adheres to and defies the generic conventions of its historical context, one both engaged with and respondent to its time of creation; as a film that changed the fortunes of the cinematic Stephen King “brand” on the cusp of a new decade. Pet Sematary is the highest grossing horror film directed by a woman in cinematic history, and it stands as a story that we keep returning to – as seen by the 1992 sequel, the 2019 remake, and a forthcoming prequel. Pet Sematary’s modern relevance and importance to genre history then, is manifold, and this book argues it is past time for its reconsideration as a classic of horror cinema.
£71.25
Liverpool University Press Women and Migration in Contemporary Italian
Book SynopsisWomen and Migration in Contemporary Italian Cinema: Screening Hospitality puts gender at the centre of cinematic representations of contemporary transnational Italian identities. It offers an intersectional feminist analysis of the ways in which transnational migration has been represented, understood, and constructed in the contemporary cinema of Italy. Drawing on Jacques Derrida’s notion of hospitality and in dialogue with postcolonial and decolonial theory, queer studies, and feminist critiques, the six chapters of the book focus on a series of exemplary fiction films from the last twenty years, which both reflect and shape the nation’s responses to the growing presence of transnational migrants in Italian society. The book shows how questions of gender, sexual difference, and reproductivity have been central to Italian filmmakers’ approaches to stories of mobility and displacement. Gender is also enmeshed in the rhetoric and poetic of hospitality that filmmakers propose as a critical framework to condemn Italian border policies and politics. Women and Migration in Contemporary Italian Cinema: Screening Hospitality traces an arc that moves from the embrace of a humanitarian rhetoric of infinite hospitality toward migrants, apparent in films produced in the early 2000s, to a more fluid understanding of Italian identities from a transnational perspective.Table of ContentsAcknowledgementsPreface: Representing Migration in the Time of the CoronavirusChapter OneIntroduction: Screening Migrant HospitalityChapter TwoThe Limits of Hospitality: Marco Tullio Giordana’s Quando sei nato non puoi più nasconderti and Ivano De Matteo’s La bella genteChapter ThreeMaternal Hospitality and Liquid Maternity on ScreenChapter FourWomen and the City: Female Forms of Hospitality in Marina Spada’s Come l’ombra and Giulia Ciniselli and Anna Bernasconi’s Via Padova: Istruzioni per l’usoChapter FiveGuest Stars: Performing Hospitality in the Italian Film IndustryChapter SixConclusion: No Longer Guests: G2 Filmmakers and Their StoriesBibliographyFilmography
£95.00
Liverpool University Press Kubrick and Control: Authority, Order and
Book SynopsisKubrick and Control is an examination of authority, order, and independence in the films directed by Stanley Kubrick, as well as in his personal life and working habits. This study explores the ways in which these central preoccupations develop and reformulate through the course of Kubrick's career, as he moved from genre to genre and shifted stories, locations, time periods, scope, and technical facilities. Separating the productions in accordance to their wider filmic classifications, the individual chapters examine a variety of productions, allowing for a categorical as well as a developmental approach to the works. In addition, following concurrently with each individual film discussed, details about Kubrick's life and evolving directorial practice are recounted in relation to these same concerns. In studying the stylistic and narrative features of his work, examples illustrate how Kubrick took these themes and applied them consistently yet with significant variation, manifest in relation to mise-en-scène construction (how Kubrick composed his images); characterization (individuals establishing, exerting, seeking, and/or abusing their authority); narrative (stories about characters and situations dependent upon order and control); and the actual filmmaking processes of the director (Kubrick was both praised and damned for his authorial management and obsession with order and perfection).
£110.00
Liverpool University Press Reimagining the Italian South
Book Synopsis
£29.69
Liverpool University Press Archive Histories
Book SynopsisEbook available to libraries exclusively as part of the JSTOR Path to Open initiative. The Stanley Kubrick Archive is a collection held at the University of the Arts London that contains material related to the life and work of Stanley Kubrick.
£100.00
Liverpool University Press Republican Citizens, Precarious Subjects:
Book SynopsisOver recent decades concerns at the increased scarcity and precarity of salaried employment have dominated political struggles, theoretical debates and cultural representations in France. This study argues that such concerns are evidence of a profound shift in contemporary French economy, culture and society. Engaging with work in political economy and sociology, the book sketches a new interpretative framework, the better to understand the nature and implications of these profound changes. It examines the challenges such changes have posed to fundamental French republican values, arguing they have opened up a rift between older notions of French republican citizenship and the precarious forms of subjectivity characteristic of post-Fordist labour. The book traces the symptoms of this rift in a range of cinematic and literary representations of the contemporary workplace, as these depict the dilemmas faced, the trajectories followed, and the geographical regions inhabited by French workers of different ages, sexes, social classes, and ethnicities.Trade Review“This is a well-written and clearly argued treatment of the implications of a post-Fordist regime of economic management on employment in France, as seen through literary and filmic representations."Nick Parsons, Cardiff UniversityTable of ContentsIntroductionPART ONE: THEORETICAL PRELIMINARIESChapter One: The Crisis of Fordism. Symptoms and DiagnosesChapter Two: Modulating Work and WelfarePART TWO: CHARACTER TYPES, TRAJECTORIES, UNEVEN GEOGRAPHIESChapter Three: Modulated masculinitiesChapter Four: Femmes FortesChapter Five: Doomed YouthChapter Six: Sans PapiersConclusionBibliography
£29.99
Liverpool University Press Revolution in Paradise: Veiled Representations of
Book SynopsisThe era of the German Occupation of France constituted, surprisingly, a golden age for the arts: literature, theater, popular music and cinema. These works of art seem to be devoid of political impact. The widespread trend of unrealistic and fantastic art during this period is explained by some scholars as the artists escape from the omnipotent eye of German censorship. The purpose of the book is to show that, contrary to the accepted view, some of these films were intimately linked to the political situation. They convey the demonization of characters that, while not specifically presented as Jews nevertheless manifested anti-Semitic stereotypes of the Jew as ugly, rootless, low, hypocritical, immoral, cruel and power hungry. All five movies analysed (Les Inconnus dans la maison, dir. Henri Decoin, 1942; Les Visiteurs du Soir, dir. Marcel Carne, 1942; L'Eternel retour, dir. Jean Delannoy, 1943; Les Enfants du Paradis, dir. Marcel Carne, 1943) present characters not identified as Jews but who exhibit negative Jewish traits, in contrast to the aristocratic characters whom they aspire to emulate. They demonstrate, implicitly, central themes of explicit anti-Semitic propaganda. Yehuda Moraly addresses two current major misconceptions regarding the Cinema of Occupied France: (1) that the accepted view that there were almost no explicitly Jewish characters in the cinema of that time and place is patently incorrect; and (2) that the feature films of Occupied France were not as it is commonly thought free of the propaganda messages that permeated the press, the radio and documentary films. Analysis of these films brings out the contradictory nature of European anti-Semitism. On one hand, the Jew is the anti-Christ, throttling the world with disgusting materialism while on the other hand, he is representative of an ancestral stifling morality, which it is time to abolish.Trade Review'An in-depth look at the world of French filmmaking during the German Occupation (1940–44), this study seeks to demonstrate how extensively anti-Semitic prejudice permeated not only French society as a whole at the time of the Nazi takeover but also the mentalities and actions of film producers, directors, screenwriters, and actors.'James P. Gilroy, University of Denver'The golden age of French cinema which paradoxically sees its peak during years of occupation takes on a whole new meaning in Moraly’s study. In this, she deserves attention. Indeed, in a very well-documented work, Moraly puts profoundly question the assumption that the golden age of French cinema has constituted a space of freedom.' Translated from French: 'L’âge d’or du cinéma français qui voit paradoxalement son apogée durant les années d’occupation prend dans l’étude de Moraly un tout autre sens. En cela, elle mérite l’attention. En effet, dans un ouvrage très bien documenté, Moraly remet profondément en question l’hypothèse selon laquelle l’âge d’or du cinéma français a constitué un espace de liberté.' Éric Touya, Dalhousie French Studies'This high-minded book gives scholars of French artistic activity during the German Occupation much to consider and debate, especially regarding the methodological issue of how the slippery relations of perceived context, text, and subtext feed into our ability to proffer retrospective ethical assessments.'Edward Baron Turk, Holocaust and Genocide Studies'The book is rich in information on the films of the time (some of which are only accessible in the archives or have been destroyed), on the biography and testimonies of the authors and actors, and on the reception of the works ... Jean Paul Sartre said in 1946 that the playwright's task was to "forge myths". This imperative is also valid for the filmmaker. However, there are myths that bring life and myths that kill. Moraly's book teaches us this tragic and terrifying truth that these two categories of myths are often mixed up.' Thierry Alcoloumbre, Journal of Religion and Film'Revolution in Paradise performs an important task.' Sara Jo Ben Zvi, Segula: The Jewish History Magazine'This brilliant academic study includes an outstanding index and will be invaluable to students and researchers. [...] All concerned in today’s culture clashes should note its far-reaching conclusion.' David Isaacson, The Jerusalem Post‘This audacious and engaging study has the potential to revolutionize our thinking about the invisible antisemitic underpinnings of the much-celebrated films of Occupation France… Moraly’s extraordinary prism of awareness… does not succumb to finger-pointing and challenging; rather he demonstrates an extremely nuanced understanding of the history of cultural symbolism and how it works cinematically. Avoiding Manicheanism while maintaining his deep love of the cinema and its histories, he performs a textual reading of great subtlety and imagination that brings to light a subject that has been hidden for years… its conclusions expand over social history and across time.’ Sandy Flitterman-Lewis, Cineaste
£27.99
Liverpool University Press The Wicker Man
Book SynopsisMany fans of Robin Hardy’s The Wicker Man (1973) may know that this classic is considered a fine sample of folk horror. Few will consider that it’s also a prime example of holiday horror. Holiday horror draws its energy from the featured festive day, here May Day. Sergeant Neil Howie (Edward Woodward), a “Christian copper,” is lured to the remote Scottish island Summerisle where, hidden from the eyes of all, a thriving Celtic, pagan religion holds sway. His arrival at the start of the May Day celebration is no accident. The clash between religions, fought on the landscape of the holiday, drives the story to its famous conclusion. In this Devil’s Advocate, Steve A. Wiggins delineates what holiday horror is and surveys various aspects of “the Citizen Kane of horror movies” that utilize the holiday. Beginning with a brief overview of Beltane and how May Day has been celebrated, this study considers the role of sexuality and fertility in the film. Conflicting with Howie’s Christian principles, this leads to an exploration of his theology as contrasted with that of Lord Summerisle (Christopher Lee) and his tenants. Such differences in belief make the fiery ending practically inevitable.Trade Review‘Wiggins proves an engaging, erudite commentator on assorted interlinked elements, with the recurring holiday horror themes (notably, sacrifice) running parallel to an examination of the origins of what we know as “holidays” / “vacations” and a consideration of religion’s transformation through the centuries… Wiggins’ highly perceptive and refreshing study will provide yet another excuse to revisit and celebrate one of Britain’s greatest achievements in the genre.’ Steven West, FrightFestTable of ContentsIntroduction Chapter 1: Holiday Horror Chapter 2: May Day Chapter 3: Scary Sex Chapter 4: The Horror of Theology Conclusion: Conflict and Legacy
£71.25
Liverpool University Press The Films of Apichatpong Weerasethakul
Book SynopsisDelving into Apichatpong Weerasethakul’s films, this book uncovers a plethora of conceptual paradigms. Apichatpong's films frequently utilize rural Thailand as a backdrop, showcasing daily life, interactions, rituals, and customs, all infused with a Southeast Asian essence. This utilization of local imagery provides a national quality to his works, allowing a global audience to explore both urban and rural aspects of Thai society, along with discourses on history, culture, politics, and practices. Beyond the surface, the films also address universal and intricate themes, transcending cultural boundaries. The book delves into a range of lesser-explored aspects regarding the films and filmmaking of Apichatpong, developing fresh perspectives on the representation of nonhumans, hybrid forms, transmedia plot, technique, production among others. With meticulous analyses of his key works this interdisciplinary study unveils the threads that bind Apichatpong’s creative practice, innovative techniques, and philosophical insights. An essential read for cinephiles, scholars, and seekers of cinematic depth, this book uncovers the vibrant tapestry of meaning within Apichatpong’s enigmatic film-worlds.Table of ContentsAcknowledgements Introduction Open Cinema: The Films and Installations of Apichatpong Weerasethakul Anik Sarkar and Jayjit Sarkar Time 1.Time, Social Reproduction and the Precarious Body in the Films of Apichatpong Weerasethakul Patricia Sequeira Brás 2.Representing Memory through Slowness: the Time-Images of Apichatpong Weerasethakul’s Syndromes and a Century and Cemetery of Splendour Francesco Quario Non-human 3.Stray Dogs and Strange Beasts: Apichatpong Weerasethakul’s Queer Animal Ethics Duncan Caillard 4.Imagining the Nonhuman in the cinema of Apichatpong Weerasethakul Çağatay Emre Doğan Mind 5.The Stillness Wandering Within: Notes on the Caesura of the Cinematic Image in Apichatpong Weerasethakul’s Primitive Project Elizabeth Sikes 6.Dreams, Abstractions and Spectatorship in Apichatpong Weerasethakul’s Films and Videos Alessandro Ferraro 7.EFFULGENCES Particles in Motion: Cycling the Mindscapes of Apichatpong Weerasethakul Jeffner Allen Forms and Representations 8.Transmedia Plot in Apichatpong Weerasethakul’s Primitive Jade de Cock de Rameyen 9.Home Away From Home: Apichatpong Weerasethakul’s Filmed Images of Home and Homeland Envisioned Palita Chunsaengchan 10.Between an Erased Past and an Uncertain Future: Hybrid Forms in the Films of Apichatpong Weerasethakul Sivaranjini 11.Post-Interstitial Authorship in Apichatpong Weerasethakul’s Cinema Anchalee Chaiworaporn Note on the Contributors Index
£115.00
Liverpool University Press Eyes Wide Shut: Behind Stanley Kubrick's
Book SynopsisTwenty years after its release, Stanley Kubrick's Eyes Wide Shut remains a complex, visually arresting film about marriage, jealousy, domesticity, adultery, sexual disturbance, and dreams. This was the final enigmatic work from its equally enigmatic creator. It has left an indelible mark on our popular culture and remains as relevant as ever. Much maligned and much misunderstood when it first came out, Eyes Wide Shut has since been the subject of an animated debate and discussion among critics, fans and academics. It has been explored from a wide variety of disciplines and methodological perspectives. This collection brings scholars from diverse disciplinary backgrounds together with those who worked on the film to explore Eyes Wide Shut’s legacy, discuss its impact, and consider its position within Kubrick’s oeuvre and the wider visual and socio-political culture.Table of ContentsList of illustrations Notes on contributors Acknowledgements Introduction, Nathan Abrams and Georgina Orgill PART ONE: PRODUCTION ‘Infidelity troubled him deeply’: A journey to the root of Eyes Wide Shut, Filippo Ulivieri A Choreographic Liaison: Collaborating with Stanley Kubrick on the Masked Ball for Eyes Wide Shut, Yolande Snaith Stanley Kubrick’s last film and the question of authorship, Manca Perko PART TWO: THE FILM ‘If You Men Only Knew’: Stanley Kubrick’s Failed Attempt to Explore Female Sexuality in Eyes Wide Shut, Catriona M. McAvoy and Karen A. Ritzenhoff What about the daughters? Parenthood in Eyes Wide Shut, Joy McEntee ‘Lucky to Be Alive’: Clockwork Models and the Logic of the Inanimate in Stanley Kubrick’s Eyes Wide Shut, Ohad Landesman Eyes Re-opened: Elucidation and Enlightenment Through Music in Eyes Wide Shut, Marie Bennett PART THREE: RECEPTION Framing Eye Wide Shut as a Late-90s ‘Quality’ Blockbuster: Authorship and Stardom in Kubrick’s Final Film, Eddie Falvey A cloaked and masked film: some things Eyes Wide Shut may (really) be about, Jeremi Szaniawski Eyes Wide Shut: A Cult Film?, Matt Melia Afterword, Robert P. Kolker Index
£110.00
Boydell & Brewer Ltd German Romance V: Erec
Book SynopsisNew edition, with facing English translation, of one of the most important Arthurian works from the middle ages. Erec is the earliest extant German Arthurian romance, freely adapted and translated into Middle High German by the Swabian knight, Hartmann von Aue, from the first Old French Arthurian romance, Chrétien de Troyes' Erec et Enide. Hartmann's work dates from c. 1180, but the only (almost) complete manuscript dates from the early sixteenth century, copied into the huge two-volume Ambraser Heldenbuch, now housed in Vienna - the most comprehensive extant compilation of medieval German romances and epics, commissioned by Emperor Maximilian I. Otherwise, only a few earlier medieval fragments survive. Erec tells the story of a young knight at King Arthur's court, whose early prowess wins him high repute, and a beautiful wife, Enite. He falls into disrepute because of his excessively zealous devotion of his time to her. Alerted to his notoriety, he embarks on a series of symbolic adventures, which eventually lead to his achieving a new balance between the claims of love and those of society. Far more than a simple translation, Hartmann's first attempt at an Arthurian romance is notable for its zest and gusto. This is the first edition with a parallel text translation into English; it is presented with explanatory notes and variant readings. Cyril Edwards is a Senior Research Fellow of Oxford University's Faculty of Medieval and Modern Languages, and an Honorary Research Fellow of University College London.Trade ReviewThe translation reads smoothly and can easily be recommended to someone new to Hartmann. * FABULA *[A] very impressive achievement. . . . Scholars, teachers, and students alike can make use of this wellbound tome, with its select bibliography and index of persons and places. Highly recommended. * CHOICE *[T]he edition is complete, the translation effective for analysis in English or comparison with the original text, and the notes illuminating at a basic level for those delving into editions of medieval texts. As the first parallel edition with an English translation, it is a welcome addition to the available resources for MHG texts in anglophone settings. * SPECULUM *Table of ContentsIntroduction The stranger knight and his dwarf Coralus and Enite The combat for the sparrow-hawk King Arthur's justice after the killing of the white stag and Iders' arrival in Cardigan Erec's last night in his father-in-law's house Enite's reception at King Arthur's court Erec and Enite marry The tournament between Tarebron and Prurin Erec's return home; his sloth Erec's fight with robbers; his harshness to Enite Lady Enite's ruse Guivreiz li Pitiz Erec's encounter with Kay Erec's encounter with Gawein; Morgan le Fay Erec fights with two giants Erec's collapse and Enite's despair Count Oringles in Limors; Erec and Enite reconciled Erec encounters Guivreiz; his sojourn in Penefrec Enite's palfrey Castle Brandigan Joie de la curt and the Red Knight Mabonagrin's tale The eighty widows; return to Arthur's court Erec's homecoming Select Bibliography
£95.00
Liverpool University Press Visions of Aging: Images of the Elderly in Film
Book SynopsisThe interface of old age and cinema provides a fascinating yet uncharted territory in the humanities and social sciences. Two central perspectives are explored: movies on old age by old filmmakers; and movies on old age by younger artists. The first perspective focuses on the cinematic representation of ageing from within, whereas the second examines the ways ageing is viewed from the outside. The distinction is based on the schism between the phenomenology of ageing and its social representation: The one hinges on intrinsic qualities of 'old age style' or 'late style'; the second addresses attitudes towards old age in general as well as towards ageing artists and the reception (or rejection) of their late films. The author combines these general perspectives as it shifts between text and context, beginning with ageing from the outside in order to introduce the semantics and pragmatics of the context (reception and filmmaking stylistic change, midlife images of old age), and continuing into the world of ageing as cinematically represented from within, by old filmmakers, an often idiosyncratic, metaphysical and sometimes unapproachable world. By providing a roadmap that charts previous scholarly paths of inquiry, this book offers a panoramic view of the direction of this new field of cinematic gerontology, and is essential reading for students and scholars of cinema, humanistic gerontology, psychology of art, and the sociology of old age and popular culture.
£31.87
Liverpool University Press Revolution in Paradise: Veiled Representations of
Book SynopsisThe era of the German Occupation of France constituted, surprisingly, a golden age for the arts: literature, theater, popular music and cinema. These works of art seem to be devoid of political impact. The widespread trend of unrealistic and fantastic art during this period is explained by some scholars as the artists escape from the omnipotent eye of German censorship. The purpose of the book is to show that, contrary to the accepted view, some of these films were intimately linked to the political situation. They convey the demonization of characters that, while not specifically presented as Jews nevertheless manifested anti-Semitic stereotypes of the Jew as ugly, rootless, low, hypocritical, immoral, cruel and power hungry. All five movies analysed (Les Inconnus dans la maison, dir. Henri Decoin, 1942; Les Visiteurs du Soir, dir. Marcel Carne, 1942; L'Eternel retour, dir. Jean Delannoy, 1943; Les Enfants du Paradis, dir. Marcel Carne, 1943) present characters not identified as Jews but who exhibit negative Jewish traits, in contrast to the aristocratic characters whom they aspire to emulate. They demonstrate, implicitly, central themes of explicit anti-Semitic propaganda. Yehuda Moraly addresses two current major misconceptions regarding the Cinema of Occupied France: (1) that the accepted view that there were almost no explicitly Jewish characters in the cinema of that time and place is patently incorrect; and (2) that the feature films of Occupied France were not as it is commonly thought free of the propaganda messages that permeated the press, the radio and documentary films. Analysis of these films brings out the contradictory nature of European anti-Semitism. On one hand, the Jew is the anti-Christ, throttling the world with disgusting materialism while on the other hand, he is representative of an ancestral stifling morality, which it is time to abolish.Trade Review'An in-depth look at the world of French filmmaking during the German Occupation (1940–44), this study seeks to demonstrate how extensively anti-Semitic prejudice permeated not only French society as a whole at the time of the Nazi takeover but also the mentalities and actions of film producers, directors, screenwriters, and actors.'James P. Gilroy, University of Denver'The golden age of French cinema which paradoxically sees its peak during years of occupation takes on a whole new meaning in Moraly’s study. In this, she deserves attention. Indeed, in a very well-documented work, Moraly puts profoundly question the assumption that the golden age of French cinema has constituted a space of freedom.' Translated from French: 'L’âge d’or du cinéma français qui voit paradoxalement son apogée durant les années d’occupation prend dans l’étude de Moraly un tout autre sens. En cela, elle mérite l’attention. En effet, dans un ouvrage très bien documenté, Moraly remet profondément en question l’hypothèse selon laquelle l’âge d’or du cinéma français a constitué un espace de liberté.' Éric Touya, Dalhousie French Studies'This high-minded book gives scholars of French artistic activity during the German Occupation much to consider and debate, especially regarding the methodological issue of how the slippery relations of perceived context, text, and subtext feed into our ability to proffer retrospective ethical assessments.'Edward Baron Turk, Holocaust and Genocide Studies'The book is rich in information on the films of the time (some of which are only accessible in the archives or have been destroyed), on the biography and testimonies of the authors and actors, and on the reception of the works ... Jean Paul Sartre said in 1946 that the playwright's task was to "forge myths". This imperative is also valid for the filmmaker. However, there are myths that bring life and myths that kill. Moraly's book teaches us this tragic and terrifying truth that these two categories of myths are often mixed up.' Thierry Alcoloumbre, Journal of Religion and Film'Revolution in Paradise performs an important task.' Sara Jo Ben Zvi, Segula: The Jewish History Magazine'This brilliant academic study includes an outstanding index and will be invaluable to students and researchers. [...] All concerned in today’s culture clashes should note its far-reaching conclusion.' David Isaacson, The Jerusalem Post‘This audacious and engaging study has the potential to revolutionize our thinking about the invisible antisemitic underpinnings of the much-celebrated films of Occupation France… Moraly’s extraordinary prism of awareness… does not succumb to finger-pointing and challenging; rather he demonstrates an extremely nuanced understanding of the history of cultural symbolism and how it works cinematically. Avoiding Manicheanism while maintaining his deep love of the cinema and its histories, he performs a textual reading of great subtlety and imagination that brings to light a subject that has been hidden for years… its conclusions expand over social history and across time.’ Sandy Flitterman-Lewis, Cineaste
£100.00
Liverpool University Press Direk: Essays on Filipino Filmmakers
Book SynopsisDirek, a collection of essays on Filipino filmmakers, presents an accessible and provocative introduction to Philippine cinema. Notable Filipino critics write on the canonical Filipino film directors: Ronald Baytan on Ishmael Bernal; Patrick F Campos on Kidlat Tahimik; Clodualdo Del Mundo, Jr. on Manuel Silos, Eddie Romero, and Lamberto Avellana; Vicente Garcia Groyon on Peque Gallaga; Shirley O. Lua on Fernando Poe, Jr; Gil Quito on Marilou Diaz-Abaya and Lav Diaz; Anne Frances N Sangil on Mike de Leon; Agustin Sotto on Gerardo de Leon; Nicanor G Tiongson on Manuel Conde; Rolando B Tolentino on Lino Brocka; Noel Vera on Mario OHara; and Lito B Zulueta on Brillante Ma Mendoza. A compelling work, the first of its kind, it is filled with insight and critical provocation. The work is essential reading for all who are interested in film making in all its multiple aspects, and provides hitherto unavailable information on Philippine filmmakers and cinema.Trade ReviewDireks are the most mysterious creatures who walk the land of film. This book will take you down that secret garden path that opens the door to unknown memories, secret information and long-held insights of the direks who made, and make Philippine cinema so great today!Philip Cheah, Film Critic, Advisory Board Member of NETPAC (Network for the Promotion of Asian Cinemas)Both intimate and informative, Direk paints the portraits of our greatest Filipino filmmakers that helped shape Philippine cinema to what it is today with such heart and respect. This is definitely a must-have for film enthusiasts!Mary Liza B. Dino-Seguerra, Chairperson and CEO, Film Development Council of the Philippines
£40.00
Liverpool University Press Cinematic Fictions: The Impact of the Cinema on
Book SynopsisThe phrase ‘cinematic fiction’ has now been generally accepted into critical discourse, but is usually applied to post-war novels. This book asks a simple question: given their fascination with the new medium of film, did American novelists attempt to apply cinematic methods in their own writings? From its very beginnings the cinema has played a special role in defining American culture. Covering the period from the 1910s up to the Second World War, Cinematic Fictions offers new insights into classics like The Great Gatsby and The Grapes of Wrath discussing major writers’ critical writings on film and active participation in film-making. Cinematic Fictions is also careful not to portray ‘cinema’ as a single or stable entity. Some novelists drew on silent film; others looked to the Russian theorists for inspiration; and yet others turned to continental film-makers rather than to Hollywood. Film itself was constantly evolving during the first decades of the twentieth century and the writers discussed here engaged in a kind of dialogue with the new medium, selectively pursuing strategies of montage, limited point of view and scenic composition towards their different ends. Contrasting a diverse range of cinematic and literary movements, this will be compulsory reading for scholars of American literature and film.Trade ReviewCinematic Fictions is superbly written throughout, and carries a distinct passion for its subject. This is an extremely valuable contribution to the scholarship of early twentieth-century American literature, early cinema, and American literary modernism. * Modern Language Review, Volume 106, Part 4 *Cinematic Fictions is a well-researched study which shows that film, far from heralding the imminent death of the novel, in fact contributed considerably to the narrative techniques employed by American authors of the period. For most readers it will be particularly valuable for the light it sheds on lesser-known authors and their connection to film, a quality which clearly outweighs the book’s neglect of film outside of Hollywood. * English Studies, Vol. 94, No. 2 *Table of Contents Introduction 1. Beginnings 2. Modernist Experiments: Gertrude Stein and Others 3. H.D. and the Limits of Vision 4. Ernest Hemingway: The Observer’s Visual Field 5. Success and Stardom in F. Scott Fitzgerald 6. William Faulkner: Perspective Experiments 7. John Dos Passos and the Art of Montage 8. Dreiser, Eisenstein and Upton Sinclair 9. Documentary of the 1930s 10. John Steinbeck: Extensions of Documentary 11. Taking Possession of the Images: African American Writers and the Cinema 12. Into the Night Life: Henry Miller and Anaïs Nin 13. Nathanael West and the Hollywood Novel Bibliography Index
£29.99
Liverpool University Press Spanish Spaces: Landscape, Space and Place in
Book SynopsisAn Open Access edition of this book is available on the Liverpool University Press website and the OAPEN library.Spanish Spaces is a pioneering study that marries contemporary cultural geography with contemporary Spanish culture. The field of cultural geography has grown both extensively and rapidly, as has the field of cultural analysis and debate on Spanish cultural texts; yet despite a convergence in study between cultural geography (and cultural studies more widely) and cultural texts themselves, this has made little impact to date within the area of contemporary Spanish cultural studies. Yet Spain’s varied terrain, with complex negotiations between rural, urban and coastal (negotiations that have on occasion spilled over into political and violent conflict), and perhaps its very lack of a contemporary landscape tradition familiar to British and German cultural studies, offer the opportunity for fresh insights into questions of landscape, space and place. Drawing on case studies from contemporary Spanish film and literature, Davies explores the themes of memory and forgetting, nationalism and terrorism, crime and detection, gender, tourism and immigration, investigating what it means to think of space and places in specifically Spanish terms.Trade ReviewSpanish Places is an interesting reading around the notion of Spain and its currency as a concept and a national structure. While the selection of works can be debated or a more expanded discussion of regional identities desired, this study offers an innovative look into the discipline of Spanish cultural studies. The multiple works that are discussed to formulate this argument are informative and ultimately an invitation to take into account the role which landscape, geography, place and location play in the imaginary construction of the nation.Bulletin of Spanish Studies, Volume XCITable of Contents Acknowledgements List of illustrations 1. Introduction 2. Memory: landscapes of the past in Guillermo del Toro's Spanish films 3. Forgetting: the landscapes of Gonzalo Torrente Ballester 4. Landscape and identities in the Basque County 5. Crime scene: landscape and the law of the land 6. Crime, scene: investigation: women, detection and the city 7. Coasting: tourism and landscape 8. Immigration: north (of) Africa 9. Conclusion Filmography Bibliography Index
£39.73
James Currey Cinemas of the Mozambican Revolution:
Book SynopsisA timely analysis that provides a pre-history to current debates on decolonisation, the politics of the moving image, and artistic engagements with anti-colonial archives. In one of the first cultural acts to follow independence in 1975, Frelimo's new socialist government of Mozambique set up a National Institute of Cinema (the INC). In a country where many people had little previous experience of cinema, the INC was tasked to "deliver to the people an image of the people". This book explores how this unique culture of revolutionary filmmaking began during the armed struggle against Portuguese colonialism. Following independence, the INC began the task of decolonising the film industry, building on networks of solidarity with other socialist and non-aligned struggles. Mozambique became an epicentre for militant filmmakers from around the world and cinema played an essential role in building the new nation. Crucially, the book examines how filmmaking became a resource for resistance against Apartheid as the Cold War played out across Southern Africa during the late 1970s and 1980s. Drawing on detailed film analysis, production histories and testimonies of key participants, Cinemas of the Mozambican Revolution provides a compelling account of this radical experiment in harnessing cinema to social change.Trade ReviewGray's book is far from a mere idealization of the period and is attentive to the frictions and contradictions therein, especially where the films in question's afterlives are concerned. But the main thrust of her reading is one of the revolutionary potential of the cinemas of the period. * VISIBLE PROJECT *This is a must-read book, with significant contributions to areas of African cultural and global history. Its use of numerous primary sources, and its transnational approach makes it even stronger. [...] I recommend this book to those who study histories of decolonization, the Cold War, technology, and nation-building in late-colonial and post-colonial Africa. They will find Cinemas of the Mozambican Revolution captivating. * African Studies Quarterly *Table of ContentsIntroduction We Will Win! Filming the Armed Struggle with Frelimo, 1968-1973 From the Rovuma to the Maputo: Confluences of Independence, 1974-1975 Birth (of the Image) of a Nation: Delivering Cinema to the People, 1976-1978 Who Exactly is the Party? Didacticism, the Battle of Information and the Vanguard Party, 1977-1979 A New Symphony: Cinema and Television in the "Decade of Development", 1980-1984 Let them Come! Filmmaking on the Frontline against Apartheid, 1980-1989 The Time of the Leopards: The End of Socialist Fictions and the Beginnings of the Docu-Drama, 1985-1991 Conclusion Bibliography Filmography
£76.00
James Currey Reel Resistance - The Cinema of Jean-Marie Teno
Book SynopsisWeaving together critical analysis and a filmic conversation, this book journeys through the multiple layers of Cameroonian filmmaker Jean-Marie Teno's thematically and aesthetically challenging body of work, framed here as a formof decolonial cinematic resistance. Co-winner African Literature Association Book of the Year - Scholarship Both a monograph and a critical dialogue between academic Melissa Thackway, author of Africa Shoots Back, and the Cameroonian filmmaker Jean-Marie Teno, this collaborative work takes the reader on a journey through Teno's multifaceted on-going filmic reflection on Cameroon and the wider African continent, its socio-political systems, history, memory and cultures. Presenting and contextualizing Teno's cinema, it addresses the notion of political commitment in art and of cinema as a form of resistance. It also considers Teno's filmmaking both in relation to the theoretical and aesthetic debates to have animated West and Central African filmmakers since the 1960s and 1970s, and n relation to documentary filmmaking practices on the continent and beyond. In so doing, the book offers an analysis of the predominant stylistic and thematic traits of Teno's work, examines the individual films and the collective oeuvre, and highlights the evolutions of his film language and concerns. It identifies and explores the committed socio-political and historical themes at play, such as violence, power, history, memory, gender, trauma and exile. It also considers Teno's unwavering focus, both thematically and in his filmmaking choices, on forms and instances of resistance, framing his cinema as a form of decolonial aesthetics.Trade ReviewReel Resistance is an exceptionally fruitful and reciprocally beneficial meeting of minds, a critical and aesthetic dialogue which is singular in tone; one in which the artist and his oeuvre continue to exist, fully and clearly, in themselves, rather that serving as pretexts and prime materials for scholarly investigation and performance of knowledge. Thackway's generous stance and critical analysis heightens the reader's grasp of the place and value of Teno's cinema in the international cultural arena, whilst Teno's bold and brilliant understanding of history and politics makes this work a must for readers, be they scholars or the general public. Reel Resistance is a treasure trove for understanding how the colonial past impacts the cultural present and future, in film and society, eliciting a wealth of creative resistance. * AFRICINE *The book makes an important contribution to the research of film history and the decolonization of Southern Africa. * MEDIENwissenschaft *The scope of their [Thackway and Teno's] exchange is extensive, while also focusing on specific aspects of image, sound, and the conceptualization of history. The tone is candid, with the kind of comfort and frankness that can exist between close intellectual friends. * African Studies Review *There are few monographs on an African filmmaker and even less on a documentary filmmaker, which is fundamentally what Jean-Marie Teno is apart from his only feature film, Clando. This more widely illustrated book therefore deserves to be a milestone. It is all the more so as it is fascinating from start to finish, summoning both the deep erudition of the academic Melissa Thackway in the first part and in the second the detailed answers provided by the filmmaker on his journey, its aspirations and its choices. It is through him a history of African cinema is being written, so much has his commitment never wavered. * Africultures *[I]t is a prime exemplar of solid scholarly research, a bona fide auteur study, not another eclectic digest or mishmash of festivalistic chatter and drawing-room speculations on African film and culture. [...] Reel Resistance is a timely addition to the growing body of critical studies of African filmmakers published over the last three decades. * Framework The Journal of Cinema and Media *This book is testimony to the long-standing collaborative relationship between Melissa Thackway and Jean-Marie Teno, as well as revealing a tremendous relationship even between Teno and the consistency of the message process of his cinema. The mutual assemblage of an incredibly unique text by a stellar scholar and remarkable filmmaker of global repute is a sufficiently complete book of history on documentary filmmaking on the continent. In addition, it equally shows how much further the scholarship and intellectual knowledge productions of African filmmaking can travel. -- African Studies QuarterlyTable of ContentsIntroduction Part I Documentary Filmmaking in Africa: An Introduction. Defining Documentary - Documentary in Africa - Early African Cinema and the Documentary - Early African Documentary Practices - Into the Eighties... Critical Insights: Reading the Films of Jean-Marie Teno. Committed Cinema: A Poetics of Resistance - The Cinematic I: Subjectivity, Voice - (Hi)stories, Memory: Decolonial Readings of the Past - Spanning Borders: Transnationality, Circulations and Exile Conclusion: For a Decolonial Aesthetics? Part II In Conversation Appendix 1 - The Writings of Jean-Marie Teno Appendix 2 - The Films of Jean-Marie Teno: List of Works, their Technical Details and Synopses
£71.25
James Currey Reel Resistance - The Cinema of Jean-Marie Teno
Book SynopsisWeaving together critical analysis and a filmic conversation, this book journeys through the multiple layers of Cameroonian filmmaker Jean-Marie Teno's thematically and aesthetically challenging body of work, framed here as a form of decolonial cinematic resistance. Co-winner African Literature Association Book of the Year - Scholarship Both a monograph and a critical dialogue between academic Melissa Thackway, author of Africa Shoots Back, and the Cameroonian filmmaker Jean-Marie Teno, this collaborative work takes the reader on a journey through Teno's multifaceted on-going filmic reflection on Cameroon and the wider African continent, its socio-political systems, history, memory and cultures. Presenting and contextualizing Teno's cinema, it addresses the notion of political commitment in art and of cinema as a form of resistance. It also considers Teno's filmmaking both in relation to the theoretical and aesthetic debates to have animated West and Central African filmmakers since the 1960s and 1970s, and n relation to documentary filmmaking practices on the continent and beyond. In so doing, the book offers an analysis of the predominant stylistic and thematic traits of Teno's work, examines the individual films and the collective oeuvre, and highlights the evolutions of his film language and concerns. It identifies and explores the committed socio-political and historical themes at play, such as violence, power, history, memory, gender, trauma and exile. It also considers Teno's unwavering focus, both thematically and in his filmmaking choices, on forms and instances of resistance, framing his cinema as a form of decolonial aesthetics.Trade ReviewReel Resistance is an exceptionally fruitful and reciprocally beneficial meeting of minds, a critical and aesthetic dialogue which is singular in tone; one in which the artist and his oeuvre continue to exist, fully and clearly, in themselves, rather that serving as pretexts and prime materials for scholarly investigation and performance of knowledge. Thackway's generous stance and critical analysis heightens the reader's grasp of the place and value of Teno's cinema in the international cultural arena, whilst Teno's bold and brilliant understanding of history and politics makes this work a must for readers, be they scholars or the general public. Reel Resistance is a treasure trove for understanding how the colonial past impacts the cultural present and future, in film and society, eliciting a wealth of creative resistance. * AFRICINE *The book makes an important contribution to the research of film history and the decolonization of Southern Africa. * MEDIENwissenschaft *The scope of their [Thackway and Teno's] exchange is extensive, while also focusing on specific aspects of image, sound, and the conceptualization of history. The tone is candid, with the kind of comfort and frankness that can exist between close intellectual friends. * African Studies Review *There are few monographs on an African filmmaker and even less on a documentary filmmaker, which is fundamentally what Jean-Marie Teno is apart from his only feature film, Clando. This more widely illustrated book therefore deserves to be a milestone. It is all the more so as it is fascinating from start to finish, summoning both the deep erudition of the academic Melissa Thackway in the first part and in the second the detailed answers provided by the filmmaker on his journey, its aspirations and its choices. It is through him a history of African cinema is being written, so much has his commitment never wavered. * Africultures *[I]t is a prime exemplar of solid scholarly research, a bona fide auteur study, not another eclectic digest or mishmash of festivalistic chatter and drawing-room speculations on African film and culture. [...] Reel Resistance is a timely addition to the growing body of critical studies of African filmmakers published over the last three decades. * Framework The Journal of Cinema and Media *This book is testimony to the long-standing collaborative relationship between Melissa Thackway and Jean-Marie Teno, as well as revealing a tremendous relationship even between Teno and the consistency of the message process of his cinema. The mutual assemblage of an incredibly unique text by a stellar scholar and remarkable filmmaker of global repute is a sufficiently complete book of history on documentary filmmaking on the continent. In addition, it equally shows how much further the scholarship and intellectual knowledge productions of African filmmaking can travel. -- African Studies QuarterlyModels an ethical and politically engaged partnership between filmmaker and film critic, revealing the potential such synergy produces. -- Carmela Garritano * Africa is a Country *Table of ContentsIntroduction Part I Documentary Filmmaking in Africa: An Introduction. Defining Documentary - Documentary in Africa - Early African Cinema and the Documentary - Early African Documentary Practices - Into the Eighties... Critical Insights: Reading the Films of Jean-Marie Teno. Committed Cinema: A Poetics of Resistance - The Cinematic I: Subjectivity, Voice - (Hi)stories, Memory: Decolonial Readings of the Past - Spanning Borders: Transnationality, Circulations and Exile Conclusion: For a Decolonial Aesthetics? Part II In Conversation Appendix 1 - The Writings of Jean-Marie Teno Appendix 2 - The Films of Jean-Marie Teno: List of Works, their Technical Details and Synopses
£23.74
