Films, cinema Books

Book SynopsisDaniela Berghahn is Professor of Film Studies at Royal Holloway, University of London, UK. She is the author of Hollywood Behind the Wall: The Cinema of East Germany (2005), Far-Flung Families in Film: The Diasporic Family in Contemporary European Cinema (2013) and co-editor of European Cinema in Motion: Migrant and Diasporic Film in Contemporary Europe (2010).

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Book SynopsisThis illuminating study provides a comprehensive reassessment of Deborah Kerr's career, highlighting lesser-known aspects of her star persona. Sarah Street traces the specific qualities of Kerr's screen performances, paying close attention to facial expression, gesture, voice and costume. Covering many iconic films, including The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp, Black Narcissus, From Here to Eternity, An Affair to Remember, The Innocents and Bonjour Tristesse, this book follows Kerr’s journey from her foundational image as an 'English rose' to her performances of challenging roles in which she was cast against type. Illustrated with images from Kerr’s films, this unique case study contributes to the critical understanding of film stars and screen performance.Table of ContentsAcknowledgements.- Introduction.- The Rise to Stardom.- The Height of Deborah Kerr's Career.- Deborah Kerr's Later Years.- The Stardom and Significance of Deborah Kerr.- Notes.- Select Bibliography.- Filmography.- Index.

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Book SynopsisKaveh Askari is Associate Professor of Film Studies at Western Washington University, USA. He is the author of numerous articles on early cinema.

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Book SynopsisJ. E. Smyth is Reader in History at the University of Warwick, UK. Smyth is the author and editor of five books, including Reconstructing American Historical Cinema from Cimarron to Citizen Kane (2006) and Fred Zinnemann and the Cinema of Resistance (2014).

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Book SynopsisL'Atalante is the work of French director Jean Vigo. It is a study of romantic love, told in a style influenced by surrealism, but still Vigo's own. This text is part of the 'BFI Film Classics' series. Each volume in the series presents a personal commentary on the film, together with a brief production history and a detailed filmography, notes and bibliography.Trade Review“The core of the book is unchanged but still spot-on in its tribute to this masterpiece of French cinema and the man she calls the `Rimbaud of cinema’. The illustrations are good, the text thorough, and the background to the film’s production and subsequent restoration excellent.” (Jon Davies, The Media Education Journal, Issue 61, 2017)Table of ContentsAcknowledgements.- Prologue to the new edition.- Prologue to the first edition.- 1. The Wedding.- 2. At Close Quarters.- 3. The Barge.- 4. Dirty Washing.- 5. The Skirt of Le Pere Jules.- 6. In the Wunderkammer.- 7. Vigo and Surrealism.- 8. The Pedlar.- 9. The City of Modern Life.- 10. Love Regained.- 11. Le Bande a Vigo.- Notes.- Credits.- Bibliography.

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Book SynopsisThe American Comic Book Industry and Hollywood traces the evolving relationship between the American comic book industry and Hollywood from the launch of X-Men, Spider-Man, and Smallville in the early 2000s through the ascent of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, the Arrowverse, and the Walking Dead Universe in the 2010s. Perren and Steirer illustrate how the American comic book industry simultaneously has functioned throughout the first two decades of the twenty-first century as a relatively self-contained business characterized by its own organizational structures, business models, managerial discourses, production cultures, and professional identities even as it has remained dependent on Hollywood for revenue from IP licensing. The authors’ expansive view of the industry includes not only a discussion of the “Big Two,” Marvel/Disney and DC Comics/Time Warner, but also a survey of the larger comics ecosystem. Other key industry players, including independent publishers BOOM! Studios, IDW, and Image, digital distributor ComiXology, and management-production company Circle of Confusion, all receive attention. Drawing from interviews, fieldwork, archival research, and trade analysis, The American Comic Book Industry and Hollywood provides a road map to understanding the operations of the comic book industry while also offering new models for undertaking trans- and inter-industrial analysis.Trade ReviewThe superhero team-up of Perren and Steirer reveals how the American comic book industry intersects with the world of film and television without losing focus on the unique business and creative culture that makes comics unique. This book is essential reading for anyone interested in how the 21st century comics business has—and has not—changed through its alliance with Hollywood. Yet students of film and television will find the book equally important as it reveals how those industries, too, might be transformed in turn by their relationship to comics. A must read for anyone interested in the amazing convergences, spectacular strategies, and uncanny mutations that define media industries. -- Derek Johnson, University of Wisconsin-Madison, USAIf you are looking for an analysis about how the comic book industry works in the twenty-first century and the connection between it and Hollywood then you will be richly rewarded by Perren and Steirer’s meticulous and insightful book. -- Ian Gordon, National University of Singapore, SingaporeWhat Perren and Steirer have penned is long overdue, but arguably well-worth the wait. As the comic book industry continues to be exploited by Hollywood, the questions of impact and effect on both industries have grown ever more important. To those of us for whom comics is our passion as much as our livelihood, analysis of the relationship between the two is more important than ever. This is a relationship that will never be unmade, and understanding not just the tensions binding us together, but the dangers, isn’t simply wise; it may be vital to the very survival of our medium. This is a work that every comic creator should study, and that comics publisher should learn, and that every Hollywood exec should, at the least, pretend they’ve read. -- Greg Rucka, creator of The Old GuardAn interesting and informative read for all those tinfoil-and-Super-8 kids in ‘70s and ‘80s who grew up watching half-heartedly made TV shows and movies about their favorite comic characters, thought they could do better, and went on not just to create comics, but also modern movies and TV inspired by them. For those interested in the secret origin of how Hollywood got super-powers, Perren and Steirer reveal all. -- Amanda Conner, comic book artist and illustratorThe book can also be used in dialogue with formal or narrative studies of contemporary superhero comics and films, or as an economic counterpoint to fan studies approaches. In any case, this is an undeniable success. * La Brèche (Bloomsbury Translation) *Table of ContentsIntroduction: The More Things Change…: The American Comic Book Industry and Hollywood in the Twenty-First Century 1 Comics Pros Go to Hollywood: The Historical Evolution of the Comics-Hollywood Relationship 2 Comic Books and the Economics of Intellectual Property Production 3 Drawing Lines: The Place of Comic Book Artists and Writers in Hollywood 4 Synergy in Theory and in Practice: Comic Books and the Contemporary Media Conglomerate 5 Organizational (Dis-)Integration: Publisher-Hollywood Relationships in the Twenty-First Century 6 From Dental Floss to Dental Tape: The Strange Case of Digital Comics Distribution Afterword: Days of Future Present: The View from 2020

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Book SynopsisThe American Comic Book Industry and Hollywood traces the evolving relationship between the American comic book industry and Hollywood from the launch of X-Men, Spider-Man, and Smallville in the early 2000s through the ascent of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, the Arrowverse, and the Walking Dead Universe in the 2010s. Perren and Steirer illustrate how the American comic book industry simultaneously has functioned throughout the first two decades of the twenty-first century as a relatively self-contained business characterized by its own organizational structures, business models, managerial discourses, production cultures, and professional identities even as it has remained dependent on Hollywood for revenue from IP licensing. The authors’ expansive view of the industry includes not only a discussion of the “Big Two,” Marvel/Disney and DC Comics/Time Warner, but also a survey of the larger comics ecosystem. Other key industry players, including independent publishers BOOM! Studios, IDW, and Image, digital distributor ComiXology, and management-production company Circle of Confusion, all receive attention. Drawing from interviews, fieldwork, archival research, and trade analysis, The American Comic Book Industry and Hollywood provides a road map to understanding the operations of the comic book industry while also offering new models for undertaking trans- and inter-industrial analysis.Trade ReviewThe superhero team-up of Perren and Steirer reveals how the American comic book industry intersects with the world of film and television without losing focus on the unique business and creative culture that makes comics unique. This book is essential reading for anyone interested in how the 21st century comics business has—and has not—changed through its alliance with Hollywood. Yet students of film and television will find the book equally important as it reveals how those industries, too, might be transformed in turn by their relationship to comics. A must read for anyone interested in the amazing convergences, spectacular strategies, and uncanny mutations that define media industries. -- Derek Johnson, University of Wisconsin-Madison, USAIf you are looking for an analysis about how the comic book industry works in the twenty-first century and the connection between it and Hollywood then you will be richly rewarded by Perren and Steirer’s meticulous and insightful book. -- Ian Gordon, National University of Singapore, SingaporeWhat Perren and Steirer have penned is long overdue, but arguably well-worth the wait. As the comic book industry continues to be exploited by Hollywood, the questions of impact and effect on both industries have grown ever more important. To those of us for whom comics is our passion as much as our livelihood, analysis of the relationship between the two is more important than ever. This is a relationship that will never be unmade, and understanding not just the tensions binding us together, but the dangers, isn’t simply wise; it may be vital to the very survival of our medium. This is a work that every comic creator should study, and that comics publisher should learn, and that every Hollywood exec should, at the least, pretend they’ve read. -- Greg Rucka, creator of The Old GuardAn interesting and informative read for all those tinfoil-and-Super-8 kids in ‘70s and ‘80s who grew up watching half-heartedly made TV shows and movies about their favorite comic characters, thought they could do better, and went on not just to create comics, but also modern movies and TV inspired by them. For those interested in the secret origin of how Hollywood got super-powers, Perren and Steirer reveal all. -- Amanda Conner, comic book artist and illustratorThe book can also be used in dialogue with formal or narrative studies of contemporary superhero comics and films, or as an economic counterpoint to fan studies approaches. In any case, this is an undeniable success. * La Brèche (Bloomsbury Translation) *Table of ContentsIntroduction: The More Things Change…: The American Comic Book Industry and Hollywood in the Twenty-First Century 1 Comics Pros Go to Hollywood: The Historical Evolution of the Comics-Hollywood Relationship 2 Comic Books and the Economics of Intellectual Property Production 3 Drawing Lines: The Place of Comic Book Artists and Writers in Hollywood 4 Synergy in Theory and in Practice: Comic Books and the Contemporary Media Conglomerate 5 Organizational (Dis-)Integration: Publisher-Hollywood Relationships in the Twenty-First Century 6 From Dental Floss to Dental Tape: The Strange Case of Digital Comics Distribution Afterword: Days of Future Present: The View from 2020

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Book SynopsisGinette Vincendeau is Professor of Film Studies at the University of Warwick. Her books include 'Stars and Stardom in French Cinema' (2000) and 'Jean-Pierre Melville, An American in Paris' (2003). She is Series Editor of I.B.Tauris's Cine-Files: The French Film Guides.

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Book SynopsisProvides an up-to-date, insightful take on modern American cinema's relations with, and influence on Reagan's, Clinton's and both Bush's administrations. George W.Bush, Clinton and Ronald Reagan's relations are revealed with radical celebrities like Sean Penn, Tim Robbins, Susan Sarandon and Warren Beatty. It contains unique 'behind the scenes' stories and exclusive, revealing interviews with Hollywood celebrities. Described by Tony Garnett as 'an ambitious and refreshing book', "Hollywood's New Radicalism" is a timely and contentious account of the last twenty-five years of American cinema. Ben Dickenson tells the story of the corporate take-over of the movies in the 1970s, and the subsequent transformation of Hollywood into the dominant force in the global media industry. Writing from the intersection where politics, society and cinema meet, and using exclusive interviews with Hollywood personalities, he explores the radicalising effect of such changes on liberal filmmakers like Warren Beatty, Michael Moore and Sean Penn in the past decade. He demonstrates how left-wing messages smuggled their way into 1980s movies, found a fuller voice in independent American cinema during the 1990s and flirted with mainstream popularity at the start of the new millennium. Bringing the story up to and through the 2004 Presidential election, he reveals how important Hollywood figures have become key members of a vigorous left - wing opposition to George W. Bush's Presidency.Trade Review"'Here's a book that explains how the industry we're in really works and how some of us try to get a human message through the system. Without question an enjoyable and stimulating read.' - Ed Asner Ambitious and refreshing. Ben Dickenson displays a rare and welcome use of political ideas, to make sense of Hollywood beyond its trivial surface.' - Tony Garnett"

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Book SynopsisIn post-Franco Spain, a re-shaping of notions of the masculine has been under way for some time. The authors of "Live Flesh" demonstrate how contemporary Spanish films, during this modern period, have contributed to this process. They do so by visualizing the ways in which Spanish men have been abandoning old self images and adopting new ones, and they explain and explore the complexity and diversity of these fresh cinematic creations of masculine identities. The book's point of focus is Spanish films of the democratic period, both popular and auteur, made by directors of national and international prominence, such as Pedro Almodovar, Alejandro Amenabar, Bigas Luna or Julio Medem, as well as films featuring acclaimed actors who have contributed to the construction of contemporary ideas of the masculine in their country, including Antonio Banderas and Javier Bardem. Using a fresh theoretical framework, embracing queer and feminist theory and concepts of nation, race and class, each chapter examines key films that represent the male body, highlighting notable elements - young, muscular, homosexual, (dis)abled, foreign and so on - and goes on to focus on recent case studies from the early 1990s to the present. An increasingly transnational Spanish cinema is a most promising field in which to explore questions of how male bodies are represented - and mediated - in film. "Live Flesh" more than fulfils this promise and goes further, to reveal how these representations have intervened in the Spanish cultural imagination.Table of ContentsCONTENTS Introduction CHAPTER 1: Stereotypical Bodies CHAPTER 2: Young Bodies CHAPTER 3: Muscular Bodies CHAPTER 4: (Dis)abled bodies CHAPTER 5: Homosexual bodies CHAPTER 6: Transformed Bodies CHAPTER 7: Foreign Bodies CHAPTER 8: The Genitals Filmography Bibliography Index

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Book SynopsisModern Lebanese cinema can best be explored in the context of the Civil War, in part because almost all the Lebanese films made since its outset in 1975 have been about this war. Lina Khatib takes 1975 Beirut as her starting point, and takes us right through to today for this, the first major book on Lebanese cinema and its links with politics and national identity.She examines how Lebanon is imagined in such films as Jocelyn Saab's "Once Upon a Time, Beirut", Ghassan Salhab's "Terra Incognita", and Ziad Doueiri's "West Beirut". In so doing, she re-examines the importance of cinema to the national imagination. Also, and using interviews with the current generation of Lebanese filmmakers, she uncovers how in the Lebanese context cinema can both construct and communicate a national identity and thereby opens up new perspectives on the socio-political role of cinema in the Arab world.Table of ContentsCONTENTS Introduction: On Lebanese Cinema and National Identity 1 The Lebanese Cinema Industry in Context 2 Religion, Conflict and the Other Within 3 War as a Masculine Arena 4 Women, the Body and the City 5 The Politics of Place, Exile and Belonging 6 History and the Avoidance of History Epilogue: Imagining the Nation Notes Bibliography Filmography Index

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Book SynopsisJoss Whedon’s Emmy award-winning musical tragicomedy tells the story of Billy, aka Dr Horrible, a budding supervillain who wants to beat superhero Captain Hammer and take over the world... and pluck up the courage to speak to his laundromat crush Penny. With exclusive new material from Joss and the production team, new photos, sheet music and more, this official book is a must for fans!

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Book SynopsisPublishing alongside the world premiere of Christopher Nolan's third Batman film "The Dark Knight Rises", Will Brooker's new book explores Batman's twenty-first century incarnations. Brooker's close analysis of "Batman Begins" and "The Dark Knight" offers a rigorous, accessible account of the complex relationship between popular films, audiences, and producers in our age of media convergence. By exploring themes of authorship, adaptation and intertextuality, he addresses a myriad of questions raised by these films: did "Batman Begins" end when "The Dark Knight began? Does its story include the Gotham Knight DVD, or the 'Why So Serious' viral marketing campaign? Is it separate from the parallel narratives of the Arkham Asylum videogame, the monthly comic books, the animated series and the graphic novels? Can the brightly campy incarnations of the Batman ever be fully repressed by "The Dark Knight", or are they an intrinsic part of the character? Do all of these various manifestations feed into a single Batman metanarrative? This will be a vital text for film students and academics, as well as legions of Batman fans.Trade Review'A fascinating and incredibly detailed analysis of comic fiction's most powerful and successful hero.' - Pat Mills, author of Batman: The Book of Shadows 'Through the prism of poststructuralism, Will Brooker casts dazzling new light on Batman as myth, brand, and canon. Hunting the Dark Knight is, quite simply, a brilliant study of the Batman and contemporary processes of rebooting, franchising and shaping a cultural icon.' - Matt Hills, author of Triumph of a Time LordTable of ContentsPrologue Chapter 1 The Nolan Function: Authorship Chapter 2 The Batman Matrix: Adaptation Chapter 3 Dark Knight Lockdown: Realism and Repression Chapter 4 Carnival on Infinite Earths: Continuity and Crisis Chapter 5 The Never-Ending War: Deconstruction and the Dark Knight Epilogue: Time and the Batman Bibliography Index

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Book SynopsisWhat is the state of American indie cinema in the second decade of the twenty-first century? Some have forecast an end to the viability of an indie sector marked by the appearance of films with ambitions significantly beyond those of the commercial mainstream. But, as this book demonstrates, plenty of distinctively indie productions continue to thrive, even in the face of difficult economic circumstances. Using the term indie 2.0 to denote the particular form of independent feature production that achieved cultural prominence in this contemporary period, Geoff King explores new opportunities for indie films, including the use of low-cost digital video and the pursuit of the internet and social media as alternative means of funding, distribution, promotion and sales. Other detailed case studies focus on the ultra-low-budget 'mumblecore' movement; the social realism of filmmakers such as Kelly Reichardt and Ramin Bahrani; the 'digital desktop' aesthetics of Susan Buice and Arin Crumley's "Four Eyed Monsters" and Jonathan Caouette's "Tarnation", and the articulation of notions of 'true' indie in opposition to what are seen by some as the quirky contrivances of cross-over hits such as "Little Miss Sunshine" and "Juno".Trade Review'Indie 2.0 offers a valuable combination of close critical analyses of several key works, discussions of film production and distribution practices, and considerations of critical and cultural reception. Geoff King weaves these different kinds of commentary together into a convincing and timely study on the renewal of indie cinema that draws on many of the historically rooted conventions and appeals of alternative film practice in the twentieth century.' Michael Z. Newman, author of Indie: An American Film CultureTable of ContentsList of Illustrations Introduction: Discourses on the state of indie film 1. Quirky by design? Irony vs. sincerity in Little Miss Sunshine and Juno 2. Industry 2.0: The digital domain and beyond 3. Mumblecore 4. Social realism and art cinema: The films of Kelly Reichardt and Ramin Bahrani 5. The desktop aesthetic: First-person expressive in Tarnation and Four Eyed Monsters Conclusion: Indie lives! Notes Select bibliography Index

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Book SynopsisIn the wake of the 1979 Iranian Revolution, Iranian society and culture underwent massive changes. Here, Khatereh Sheibani argues that cinema evolved after the national uprising in 1978/79, and ultimately replaced poetry as the dominant form of cultural expression. She presents a comparative analysis of post-revolutionary Iranian cinema as an offshoot of Iranian modernity, and explains its connections with the themes present in traditional Persian poetry and conventional visual arts. She examines the pre-revolutionary film industry - such as Iranian new wave and filmfarsi movies - its styles and themes, and its relation to the emerging cinema after 1978. Sheibani argues that Iranian art cinema, as one of the signifiers and agents of modernity, underwent a cultural revolution by employing the aesthetics of Persian literature and visual arts in a modern context. This is a valuable contribution to the scholarly literature on Iranian cinema, politics and culture.Trade Review'Here Khatereh Sheibani discusses the works of major internationally-known Iranian film directors in light of the continuum of Persian philosophical and artistic tradition in general and the poetry of Hafez and the philosophy of Sohrevardi (eshraq), in particular. In doing so, she also addresses the issues of modernity and identity, among others, as they relate to the works of filmmakers and the broader picture of Iranian society, especially sincethe Islamic Revolution and its aftermath, the Iran-Iraq War, as well as the social, political, and cultural changes brought about with the establishment of the Islamic state.' - M. R. Ghanoonparvar, Professor of Persian and Comparative Literature and Persian Language at The University of Texas at Austin; 'This book is innovative both from the point of view of the discipline of Comparative Literature and Persian literary and cinema studies, exploring continuity and change inthe development of recent Iranian cinema. Focusing on the seminal figures of new Iranian cinema such as Abbas Kiarostami and Bahram Bayzai, she traces the roots of a new form of poetic cinema that emerged in the wake of the 1979 revolution but is well anchored in the social, political and cultural movements pre-dating the revolution..' - Nasrin Rahimieh, Professor and Maseeh Chair and Director, Dr. Samuel M. Jordan Center for Persian Studies and Culture, School of Humanities, University of California, IrvineTable of ContentsIntroduction Chapter 1: Cinema as Art: A Poetic Interpretation Chapter 2: Kiarostami and the Aesthetics of Ghazal Chapter 3: Kiarostami and Modern Persian Poetry Chapter 4: Modernity and Identity in a Cinematic Perspective Chapter 5: Mirroring the Past, Envisioning the Future Chapter 6: Bayzai and the Conventions of Visual Arts Conclusion Bibliography

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Book SynopsisPraised for its unabashed portrait of the 'death care' industry, HBO's 'Six Feet Under' is less about the business of death than the art of living well. It was created by Alan Ball ('American Beauty') and centres on a Pasadena undertakers run by two brothers, with their mom and teenage sister making up the dysfunctional family quarter. This innovative, controversial show charts difficult territory, from death, dying and bereavement, to female and gay sexualities, laying bare in the process an American cultural consciousness. 'Six Feet Under' first aired among HBO's 'must-see' Sunday night line-up in 2001, going on to establish itself as a critical and ratings winner. This book on the groundbreaking show examines such themes as the modern sacred and profane, pornography and the dead body, magic realism and the grotesque, American cultural politics, self-help culture, family relationships, homosexuality and re-thinking the closet, the church and gay politics, motherhood and teenage rebellion. Entertaining and enlightening in equal measure it contains a complete episode guide to the first four series of 'Six Feet Under'.Trade Review'This is the essential appeal of the book - it manages to combine the serious with the comic and ironic, just as its subject series does.' - Media Education Journal

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Book SynopsisThe Book of Alien is the definitive companion to the classic movie, taking you right behind the scenes of the production, including interviews with legendary designer HR Giger and director Ridley Scott. Lavishly illustrated with scores of stunning stills and pieces of production art unpublished elsewhere, the book graphically demonstrates just why the movie won an Oscar for its visual effects.

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Book SynopsisEisenstein's last, unfinished masterpiece is a strange, complex and haunting film. Commissioned personally by Stalin in 1941, the project placed Eisenstein in the paradoxical situation of having to glorify Stalinist tyranny in the image of Ivan, without sacrificing his own artistic and political integrity - or his life. Drawing on sources that include Eisenstein's personal archive and the memoirs of those involved in Ivan's making, Joan Neuberger's vivid account reveals how, in almost impossible circumstances, he managed to create a film of cinematic innovation, intellectual depth and political critique. She reveals the film to be both a great work of art and a product of the time and place in which it was made.Trade ReviewModern Language Review: "often perceptive discussion of the aesthetic devices employed in the film" "particularly thoughtful and well-informed assessment of the visual imagery" "the book can be recommended as a useful guide to viewers of the DVD version of Eisenstein's masterpiece"

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Book SynopsisThe story of a lost film about the relationship between Adolf Hitler and the English aristocrat Unity Mitford'A wonderful novel, written with exceptional knowledge and understanding of past and present Germany' Gitta Sereny'The most intriguing and thought-provoking novel I have read this year' Daily Express 'A remarkable, unsettling book' The Times'A gripping read packed with intrigue, sex, politics and death. What more could you possibly want?' AttitudeUnity tells the story of a lost film about the relationship between the English aristocrat, Unity Mitford, and Hitler, set against the background of the Red Army Faction terror campaign in 1970s Germany. Shooting has to be abandoned when the leading actress, Felicity Benthall, joins in the campaign, following her affair with a charismatic Palestinian. The author himself features in the narrative when, almost thirty years later, he attempts to uncover the truth about Felicity and another university friend, Luke Dent, who wrote the film-script. He consults Luke's letters from the set and the diaries of the former Hollywood child star and revolutionary socialist, Geraldine Mortimer, who played Diana Mosley; interviews two of the German actors and the film's producer, Thomas Bücher, an Auschwitz survivor turned high-powered pornographer; reads a revealing memoir by the director's widow; and corresponds with Carole Medhurst, a British actress turned Hollywood mogul. Their testimonies set up an intricate chain of associations from 1930s Britain to post-war Germany, painting a disturbing picture of corruption and fanaticism, and casting light on the nature of evil.Trade ReviewA wonderful novel, written with exceptional knowledge and understanding of past and present Germany -- Gitta SerenyThe most intriguing and thought-provoking novel I have read this year * Daily Express *Highly intelligent . . . well worth reading * Sunday Times *Farce and intensity blend in a deftly layered version of Hitler's legacy . . . Michael Arditti ambitiously tackles the theme of human evil in the history of Europe over the past seventy years. He does so with a touch both curiously light and unambiguously earnest * Guardian *Strikingly original in form . . . a remarkable, unsettling book . . . a compelling fiction * The Times *What is astonishing in Unity is the grim wit and ironic humour which pervades this deadly serious page-turner . . . the reader staggers away from this uncompromising drama of ideas shaken and stirred * Independent *Chilling in the extremity of its import . . . hugely ambitious in its scope, Arditti's novel examines the events and personalities that shape moral character * Financial Times *Remarkable . . . a strange and engrossing story that has powerful resonances with our own era * Daily Mail *The purpose . . . is to understand the human appetite for gratuitous cruelty . . . the final section . . . debates this with a Dostoevskian intentness. The author's love for his creations [is] the only possible antidote to the loveless anti-human behaviour that Unity has been courageous enough to confront * Times Literary Supplement *This is a deftly written, deeply intelligent and wholly admirable book, full of good ideas and sharp historical sidelights * Literary Review *

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Book SynopsisGraduate students of media studies have benefited from a variety of books on television genres, yet lower level students lack resources that focus specifically on TV drama. With this genre now dominating this area of study, it is important for students to have a text that investigates and analyzes individual dramas in detail. Studying TV Drama meets this need. Divided into ten chapters, this general introduction begins with the history of UK TV drama, with a specific section on shows broadcast in the U.S. The remaining nine chapters are case studies of specific TV dramas, addressing the significance of the dramatic mode in the development of the genre and in the history of '"television entertainment" in general; content and narrative structure; representation; dramatic style and form; and technical analysis (camera, sound, editing, mise-en-scène). Chosen case studies are very selective and focus on contemporary and continuing drama likely to be familiar to students (such as Dr. Who) as well as landmark productions (such as Bleak House). US drama as a particular mode is represented by the Hugh Laurie vehicle, House. The dramas selected also represent differences in production style, allowing for diverse analyses. Michael Massey served as head of media education at Southgate School and is a regular contributor toMediaMagazine.

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Book SynopsisLocated in the West London suburb from which it takes its name, Ealing Studios is one of the best loved and best known institutions of British cinema. Ealing represents a particular kind of institutional practice—a community of filmmakers who collaborate in a defined location and produce a particular kind of film. Popular and acclaimed examples include Dead of Night (1945), Whiskey Galore! (1949), Kind Hearts and Coronets (1949), The Lavender Hill Mob (1951), and The Ladykillers (1955). Viewed within the context of a nation forced to adjust to World War II and its subsequent social upheavals, Ealing films reflect common characteristics that can be identified as "national," conjuring images of Britain and Britishness for domestic and international audiences. In many ways, the values of Ealing in the 1940s and early 1950s are the values of Britain. Encouraging a view of the institution from its own perspective (which John Ellis casts as "liberal rather than radical, progressive rather than revolutionary "), this volume traces how Ealing constructed an image of Britain at a particular moment in history.

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Book SynopsisSince its establishment in 1922 the BBC has continually asserted itself as one of the great British institutions at home and abroad. David Pat Walker offers an in-depth analysis of the history of BBC Scotland from its creation in 1923 through to its 50th anniversary in the seventies. Examining how the firm developed over the course of the 20th century, the author portrays how the broadcaster developed its own Scottish identity despite governance from London and how it thrived within the context of the history it reported and created.Trade ReviewPat Walker charts the continuing challenges and development in television and radio across drama, light entertainment, music, news, current affairs, sport and ground-breaking programmes such as the weekly series Scope. Alongside this there was a battle between the Director General Hugh Carelton Greene and BBC Scotland’s controller Andrew Stewart over tradition and trendiness, only one of many confrontations. – THE SCOTSMAN

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Book SynopsisAn introduction to the art of filmmaking for you, the filmmaker.

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Book SynopsisThe story of Eastmancolor's arrival on the British filmmaking scene is one of intermittent trial and error, intense debate and speculation before gradual acceptance. This book traces the journey of its adoption in British Film and considers its lasting significance as one of the most important technical innovations in film history. Through original archival research and interviews with key figures within the industry, the authors examine the role of Eastmancolor in relation to key areas of British cinema since the 1950s; including its economic and structural histories, different studio and industrial strategies, and the wider aesthetic changes that took place with the mass adoption of colour. Their analysis of British cinema through the lens of colour produces new interpretations of key British film genres including social realism, historical and costume drama, science fiction, horror, crime, documentary and even sex films. They explore how colour communicated meaning in films ranging from the Carry On series to Monty Python's Life of Brian (1979), from Lawrence of Arabia (1962) to A Passage to India (1984), and from Goldfinger (1964) to 1984 (1984), and in the work of key directors and cinematographers of both popular and art cinema including Nicolas Roeg, Ken Russell, Ridley Scott, Peter Greenaway and Chris Menges.Trade ReviewRooted in detailed primary research into aesthetics, production practices, technologies and institutions, Colour Films in Britain, provides a comprehensive and illuminating consideration of the adoption, diffusion and popularization of colour in British cinema from the mid-1950s. -- Duncan Petrie, University of York, UKColour Films in Britain is a landmark study of the transition to colour that occurred in the 1960s and 1970s. No other book has yet tackled this transition with such depth, breadth and precision. The collaborative efforts of Sarah Street, Keith M. Johnston, Paul Frith and Carolyn Rickards are a model for research that I hope will soon be taken up in other national and transnational contexts. -- Joshua Yumibe, Michigan State University, USATable of ContentsIntroduction Section 1: What is Eastmancolor? 1. Branding and Marketing the Eastmancolor Revolution 2. Eastmancolor, the British Film Industry, and Institutions Section 2: Eastmancolor and British Genre Films 3. Comedy and Satire 4. Social realism / contemporary drama 5. The Colour of Crime 6. Fantasy, Horror and Science Fiction 7. Historical and costume films 8. Musicals, pop films, and the concert film Section 3: Eastmancolor Outside the Mainstream 9. Key colourists, 1955-85 10. Art, experimental, and avant-garde practices 11. Eastmancolor and the Amateur Film 12. Short and Documentary Films 13. The Colour of Sex? Eastmancolor and the Sex Film Section 4: Preservation and Restoration 14. Cultures and Practices of Preservation and Restoration Conclusion First Appendix: Eastmancolor Film List, 1954-85 Second Appendix: Technical Appendix

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Book SynopsisChallenging the study of both celebrity and the cinema, Mandy Merck argues that modern fame and film melodrama are part of the same worldview, one that cannot resolve the relation of personal worth to social esteem. Tracing the history of this conundrum back to the philosophy of the seventeenth century and the theatre of the eighteenth, she demonstrates its convergence in stage melodrama and its intensification in the Hollywood star system. Are today’s celebrities worth our attention? In that demand for judgement and the hope for its visual guidance, the melodramatic imagination survives – permeating not only fiction film, but documentary, the artist’s film, and our self-exhibition on social media. Examining a range of classical and contemporary films from Charlie Chaplin's City Lights (1931) to Laura Poitras’s Citizenfour (2014) , the many remakes of A Star Is Born, the compulsory exhibitionism of political celebrity and the unmasking of whistle-blowers, Merck illustrates the ways in which the cinema constantly restages the moral evaluation of prominent individuals, whether they are actors, artists, politicians or activists.Trade ReviewThe book makes a worthwhile study for a diverse range of readers—it is indicated not only for an academic audience, but also for cinephiles who would enjoy a pleasant read recalling the moments of every film and its celebrity’s anecdotes addressed in the book. * Comparative Cinema *It was an exhilarating read, in its hugely impressive range of references, the unexpected connections it made, and the wide range of films it considered. This is a major study which advances the theorization of melodrama, celebrity culture, and the relationship between the two. -- Sue Thornham, Professor of Media and Film Studies , University of Sussex, UKHere is one of the most astute uses of melodrama theory to analyze popular fiction film, documentary, and television as well as events in popular circulation to have been produced in recent years. It is a work of subtle wit and sharp insight that carries over a tradition at the same time that it supplements it significantly. -- Jane Gaines, Professor of Film, University of Columbia, USAMandy Merck’s exploration of the charms and pitfalls of a self-worth to be gained through the public attention celebrity affords in our media saturated culture is truly an eye-opener. Witty yet scrupulous in its analysis of texts ranging from Rousseau’s theatrical melodrama Pygmalion to Dreiser’s stardom novel Sister Carrie, from the renown tramp in Chaplin’s City Lights to royal prestige in Frears’ The Queen, and culminating in the news notoriety of former congressman Anthony Wiener and whistleblower Edward Snowden, it dissects the long cultural history that has made fame such an interesting thing – on the page, the stage, the screen and in politics. -- Elisabeth Bronfen, author of Crossmappings. On Visual CultureTable of ContentsTOC List of Figures Acknowledgements 1. Personal Worth and Public Attention 2. The Drama of a Recognition: City Lights 3. Imitations of Celebrity 4. Women’s Pictures 5. Melotrauma 6. Melodrama, Celebrity, The Queen 7. Home from the Hill: Weiner 8. Unmasked: Hacktivism, Anonymity and Celebrity Notes References Index

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Book SynopsisMad medics... sinister surgeons... psychopathic psychiatrists. We put our trust in them. They say they want to help, to cure, to relieve pain and soothe suffering. They claim those experiments they''ve been performing are for the greater good of mankind. But what if they actually want the opposite? What happens when doctors are dead set on researching the strange, the bizarre, the weird? What happens when all that scientific and medical knowledge only results in the creation of unimaginable horror? Ever since the dawn of cinema, filmmakers have been depicting on screen the potential outcomes of medical madness and science gone sick. Now join surgeon, author, film critic and not-at-all-mad Doctor (at least according to him) John Llewellyn Probert as he takes a detailed look at the history of one of the most enduring archetypes in cinema, with an introductory overview of the genre followed by reviews of over 200 key mad doctor movies. In addition to critical appraisal, the author''s own

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