Individual film directors Books

Book SynopsisThe first English-language book on the Greek Experimental Cinema director, Antoinetta Angelidi

Read more less

Book SynopsisThe first edited collection of critical essays on American filmmaker Richard Linklater

Read more less

Book SynopsisA Deleuzian analysis of the role of silence as chaotic interstice in sound film.Trade Review"Gardner's pioneering work turns up the theoretical and philosophical volume on what is typically disregarded by critics and dismissed by directors in sound films: silence. Drawing on the ecosophical dimension of Deleuze and Guattari's thought and building on an impressive range of examples from 1931 to 2009, Gardner performs a virtuosic recital of sonic dropouts, pregnant pauses, and zones of silence in cinema. This visionary book will serve as an ideal companion to emergent works of scholarship on visual absence and darkness in film studies and film-philosophy." -Tanya Shilina-Conte, SUNY at Buffalo

Read more less

Book SynopsisA philosophical study of image-destruction in European cinema.Trade Review"Through detailed and engaging readings of select films by Bene, Bergman, Debord, Duras, Godard, Isou, Jarman, and Kie?lowski Chiara Quaranta demonstrates impressively how the destruction of the image within European cinema can be generative of an enabling ethics which foregrounds the importance of listening and imagining in the film experience." -Sarah Cooper, King's College London

Read more less

Book SynopsisThe first critical work to emphasize Richard Brook's literarinessTrade Review"A comprehensive and telling treatment of an often overlooked director, ReFocus: The Literary Films of Richard Brooks includes incisive and elegantly written essays from major film scholars that appreciate a genial director and his oeuvre." -Tom Conley, Harvard University

Read more less

Book SynopsisExamines the use of cinematography and mise en sc ne in contemporary Indonesian cinemaTrade Review"In this engrossing study of contemporary Indonesian film style, Ari Purnama probes the visual appeal and artistic power of a cinema in resurgence. Distinguished by analytical acuity and theoretical rigor, Purnama's account reveals how post-Suharto filmmakers have innovated upon past traditions, pushing Indonesian cinema to dazzling new heights of artistry." -Gary Bettinson, Author of The Sensuous Cinema of Wong Kar-wai and Editor-in-Chief of Asian Cinema.

Read more less

Book SynopsisApplys a noir lens to films which defy easy generic categorization

Read more less

Book SynopsisBefore Herzog and Kinski, before Simon and Garfunkel, there was Charles Brackett and Billy Wilder. Despite their shared nickname, writer-producer Charles Brackett and writer-director Billy Wilder were not, in fact, the happiest couple in Hollywood. Actually, they disliked each other intensely, even as they collaborated on some of the most iconic films of Hollywood's Golden Age, including Sunset Boulevard, Double Indemnity, The Lost Weekend, and A Foreign Affair.Just how two men who found each other so irritating could together make such enduring contributions to cinematic history is the subject of Double Solitaire, a joint biography of a fascinating and explosive creative collaboration. In the course of making their mark on genres ranging from film noir to the screwball comedy, they achieved an almost inexplicable alchemy that highlights the paradoxical nature of shared genius. Author Donald Brackettwhose grandfather was Charles Brackett's cousindelves into family lore, corre

Read more less

Book SynopsisJoin Oscar-winning filmmaker Guillermo del Toro for an intimate exploration of his darkly electrifying psychological thriller Nightmare Alley.Comprehensive and insightful, Guillermo del Toro’s Nightmare Alley: The Rise and Fall of Stanton Carlisle, is the ultimate companion to the master director’s latest work. • DISCOVER A RIVETING STORY: Inspired by William Lindsay Gresham’s cult 1947 novel, Nightmare Alley stars Bradley Cooper as Stanton “Stan” Carlisle, a talented but troubled drifter who takes up with a traveling carnival. Ingratiating himself with its troupe of misfits, Stan swindles his way to fortune and fame, but when he meets psychiatrist Lilith Ritter (Cate Blanchett), his greed and duplicity will put him on the path to self-destruction. Also starring Toni Collette, Willem Dafoe, Richard Jenkins, and Rooney Mara, Nightmare Alley is del Toro’s most ambitious film to date, an engrossing yet disturbing journey into the psyche of a tragic swindler whose own nature seals his fate. • EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEWS: This deluxe volume delves into the creation of all aspects of the film through extensive interviews with del Toro and his cast and crew, including writer Kim Morgan, with whom he collaborated closely on the script. • NEVER-BEFORE-SEEN CONCEPT ART AND PHOTOS: This incisive commentary is illustrated with a broad range of striking visuals from the production—including concept art and unit photography—that illuminate the film’s two distinct worlds: the ramshackle life of the traveling carnival and the sophisticated art deco trappings of 1940s Buffalo, New York. • INSIGHTS FROM DEL TORO HIMSELF: Tracing the arc of a production that faced multiple challenges, not least of all the onset of a pandemic that threatened to derail shooting, del Toro and his team give deep insights into the complex psychology of the film’s protagonists and the process of bringing them to life on set.

Read more less

Book Synopsis

Read more less

Book SynopsisFilm historian James Chapman has mined Hitchcock's own papers to investigate fully for the first time the spy thrillers of the world's most famous filmmaker. Hitchcock made his name as director of the spy movie. He returned repeatedly to the genre from the British classics of the 1930s, including The 39 Steps and The Lady Vanishes, through wartime Hollywood films Foreign Correspondent and Saboteur to the Cold War tracts North by Northwest, Torn Curtain and his unmade film The Short Night. Chapman's close reading of these films demonstrates the development of Hitchcock's own style as well as how the spy genre as a whole responded to changing political and cultural contexts from the threat of Nazism in the 1930s and 40s to the atom spies and double agents of the post-war world.Trade Review"In this judicious, authoritative, and fluent book, film historian, James Chapman, deftly plots the fertile marriage between the master of suspense and the espionage thriller. In doing so he achieves far more: a deeply researched and richly nuanced perspective upon the trajectory of Hitchcock's entire career after the coming of sound."--Richard Allen, author of Hitchcock's Romantic Irony, 'James Chapman is an authentic historian, and his expertise fully pays off in this important addition to the Hitchcock literature. His book achieves a pleasing balance between film and politics, between Hitchcock's own authorship and his multiple influences, and - especially welcome - between the British and American sections of his long career.' - Charles Barr, author of Ealing Studios and The English Hitchcock

Read more less

Book SynopsisTHE ESSENTIAL AND EXPANDED UNOFFICIAL GUIDE TO THE WHEDONVERSE!This revised and updated edition covers every aspect of his work, through insightful essays and in-depth interviews with key figures in the 'Whedonverse'.Trade Review “I stayed up all night reading this stuff!...Whether you’re a casual fan or a serious student of Joss Whedon’s worlds, you will enjoy every page of this volume. Go get it!” - Count Gore

Read more less

Book SynopsisThe films of John Akomfrah represent one of the most significant bodies of artistic production in the post-war era in Britain, yet little attempt has been made to analyse the consistencies and divergences across them. James Harvey’s John Akomfrah is the first comprehensive analytic engagement with these films, offering sustained close engagement with the artist’s core thematic preoccupations and aesthetic tendencies. His analysis negotiates the contextual and theoretical layers of Akomfrah’s rich and complex films, from the intermedial diaspora aesthetics of Handsworth Songs (1986) to the intersectional spatial ecopolitics of Purple (2017). Positioning Akomfrah in the burgeoning black British arts and cultural scene of the 1980s as a member of Black Audio Film Collective, Harvey traces the evolution of a critical relationship with the postcolonial archive in his early films, through analysis of documentaries made for television in the 1990s and up to more recent film installations in museums and galleries.Trade ReviewJames Harvey's dextrous, perceptive account of John Akomfrah's extraordinary contributions to cinema is a rich and invaluable work of scholarship. Spanning the full breadth of Akomfrah's career to date - from ground-breaking works with the Black Audio Film Collective to more recent gallery installation pieces - Harvey adopts a productive thematic approach, identifying formal and political links between individual works, and between Akomfrah and a variety of other artists, filmmakers and thinkers. Throughout, Harvey repeatedly returns to Akomfrah's deployment of archive materials and of montage techniques, pinpointing the manifold ways in which Akomfrah has innovated with both. This highly readable book is a significant contribution to the study of Black British cinema, experimental and avant-garde film, and the politics of the diaspora. -- Glyn Davis, University of St Andrews, UKThis is a timely and important book that traces the concerns and contexts of Akomfrah’s oeuvre from the early years of Black Audio Film Collective through to the Four Nocturnes commissioned for the the inaugural Ghana Freedom pavilion at the 2019 Venice Biennale. Through close readings and drawing from a wide range of sources this book explains Akomfrah’s central role as a commanding film maker of his generation in Britain. Harvey’s own theoretical fluency deciphers and explores Akomfrah’s preoccupations with iconicity, gesture, memory and montage, siting him finally as a neo expressionist for our epoch. -- Rachel Garfield, The Royal College of Art, London, UKTable of ContentsAcknowledgements List of Illustrations Preface Introduction: Positioning John Akomfrah 1.The Ghosts of Other Stories: Thatcherism and Postcolonial Britain 2.Black Stars: From Racial Iconicity to Black Atlantic Collectivity 3.Memory-images: Catharsis, Embodiment and the Aesthetics of Remembrance 4.Why They Come: Migration Films in the Age of ‘Refugee Crisis’ 5.Changing Site, Changing Sight: The Spatial Turn 6.Water, Earth, Elephants: The Human Destruction Trilogy as Political Ecology 7.‘Staking Claims on the Real’: An Interview with John Akomfrah Notes Bibliography Index

Read more less

Book SynopsisIn a comprehensively revised and updated new edition, James Naremore provides an illuminating critical account of the films of Stanley Kubrick, from his earliest feature, Fear and Desire (1953), to the posthumously-produced A.I. Artificial Intelligence (Steven Spielberg, 2001). Naremore offers provocative analyses of each of Kubrick's films, considering his emphasis on the absurdity of combat, as in Paths of Glory (1957) and Full Metal Jacket (1987), the failure of scientific reasoning, as in 2001 (1968), and the fascistic impulses in masculine sexuality, as in Dr Strangelove (1964) and Eyes Wide Shut (1999). He argues that while Kubrick was a voracious intellectual and a life-long autodidact, the fascination of his work has less to do with the ideas it espouses than with the emotions it evokes. Combining close readings with new insights into the production histories and cultural contexts of key films, Naremore provides a concise yet thorough discussion that will be useful to students of Kubrick's filmmaking and cinephiles who seek a deeper insight into the work of this perfectionist genius. Revised throughout, this new edition also includes a fully updated bibliography of critical writings on Kubrick's cinema.Table of ContentsList of Figures Acknowledgements for the Revised Edition Acknowledgements for the First Edition Introduction to the New Edition: Kubrick’s Cold Modernism and Major Themes PART I Prologue 1. Portrait of the Late Modernist as a Young Photographer 2. Silence, Exile and Cunning 3. Grotesque Aesthetics PART II Early Kubrick 1. No Other Country but the Mind 2. Dream City PART III Kubrick, Harris, Douglas 1. The Criminal and the Artist 2. Ant Hill 3. Dolores, Lady of Pain PART IV Stanley Kubrick Presents 1. Wargasm 2. Beyond the Stars 3. A Professional Piece of Sinny 4. Duelist 5. Horrorshow PART V Late Kubrick 1. Warriors 2. Lovers PART VI Epilogue 1. Summation 2. Some Unproduced Films 3. Love and Death in A. I. Artificial Intelligence Filmography Select Bibliography Index

Read more less

Book SynopsisThis book bridges the gap between film theory and filmmakers’ thoughts and poetics, and proposes a new way to address and elaborate film theory. It brings together primary sources by filmmakers themselves, drawing on their films, interviews, books, texts, and manifestos. Divided into three parts, the book covers the main aspects of this approach. Part one discusses the concepts of ‘author’ and ‘filmmaker’. Part two evaluates the creative processes of a broad range of filmmakers, including Víctor Gaviria (Colombia), Kleber Mendonça Filho (Brazil), Jean-Luc Godard and Agnès Varda (France), Abbas Kiarostami (Iran) Pa. Ranjith (India), Andy Warhol (USA), Maya Deren (Ukraine-USA) and Nuri Bilge Ceylan (Turkey). The final part examines filmmakers’ various techniques, particularly the use of multi-images, after-(dialectical)-images, and the use of sound as a sensorial and narrative tool. This curated selection of writings, with contributors from a range of countries including the USA, UK, India, China, Portugal, Brazil, Belgium and New Zealand, reflects the global perspective of this new approach. The volume also discusses the ways in which filmmakers influence each other, the spectator as seen by filmmakers, and ways to critically address a filmography that takes into account filmmakers other than the director.Table of ContentsAcknowledgements List of Contributors Foreword by Lúcia Nagib Introduction A proposal for approaching Film Theory and filmmakers - André Rui Graça, Manuela Penafria & Eduardo Tulio Baggio I FILMMAKERS ON FILM: SETTING THE FIELD 1. From the Concept of Author to the Concept of Filmmaker – Eduardo Tulio Baggio (Paraná State University, Brazil) 2. Film as thought: notes on the role of the researcher in the Filmmakers on Film approach, from the perspective of Karim Aïnouz’s films and interviews - Marcelo Carvalho (Paraná Tuiuti University, Brazil) 3. The spectator and the filmmaking process: reflections based on case studies- André Rui Graça (Lusófona University, Portugal) & Manuela Penafria (University of Beira Interior, LabCom-Communication and Arts, Portugal) II POETICS AND FILMMAKING PROCESSES 4. The dark light of poetry: Víctor Gaviria’s poetics of childhood - Liliana Galindo Orrego (Johns Hopkins University, USA) 5. Music in Kleber Mendonça Filho's Feature Films: An Analysis of the Creative Process - Rodrigo Carreiro (Pernambuco Federal University, Brazil) & Breno Alvarenga (Pernambuco Federal University, Brazil) 6. Films on Filmmaking: Jean-Luc Godard and Abbas Kiarostami's Auto-Commentaries Scénario du Film Passion (1982) and Ten on Ten (2004) - Karel Pletinck (Theatre, Film and Literature Studies, University of Antwerp, Belgium) 7. Andy Warhol's legacy and body representation in contemporary cinema - Edson Pereira da Costa Júnior (University of São Paulo, Brazil) 8. Madame Cinéma: Agnès Varda, or a Portrait of the Artist as an Ageless Woman - Fátima Chinita (Lisbon Polytechnic Institute, Portugal) 9. The Struggles and Rise of the Dalit Protagonists – Cinematic Representations in the Tamil Films of the Director Pa. Ranjith - Amutha Manavalan (Institute of Communications and Media Studies, St. Joseph's College, India) 10. From Photographic Servitude to Cinematic Emancipation: The Poetic Films of Maya Deren - Amresh Sinha (The School of Visual Arts, USA) 11. Establishing reality: mode of production and surrealism in the cinema of Nuri Bilge Ceylan - Sezen Gürüf Basekim (Kastamonu University, Turkey) III FILMS AND FILMMAKERS’ WRITINGS AS ACTS OF THEORY 12. Reflecting on a public debate and its aftermath: Jiang Hao, his writings in the 1980s and his film practices in the 1990s - Lingling Yao (School of Foreign Studies at the Capital University of Economics and Business in Beijing, China) 13. Alexander Kluge’s ‘Film in the mind of the spectator’ or after-(dialectical)-images in News from Ideological Antiquity: Marx – Eisenstein – Capital - James Hellings (University of Reading, UK) 14. The multi-image: cinematic collage as revelation and revolution - Chris Gerrard (Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art & Design, Scotland) 15. Seeing through the kaleidoscope – Wim Wenders and his collaborators in Lisbon Story and Inventing Peace: A Dialogue on Perception - Olivier Delers (University of Richmond, USA) 16. Chantal Akerman's Words and Images: the avant-garde of theory and filmmaking - André Rui Graça (Lusófona University, Portugal) 17. ‘Sculpting everyday life’ and the lake as a metaphor: towards a documentary filmmaking history - Manuela Penafria (University of Beira Interior, LabCom-Communication and Arts, Portugal) 18. To Contest the Deafness of the Gaze: The Miseducation of the Senses and the Unreliable Reality in Lucrecia Martel's Films - Natalia Christofoletti Barrenha (UNICAMP-Campinas State University, Brazil) Bibliography Filmography Index

Read more less

Book SynopsisThis collection of Laura Mulvey and Peter Wollen’s film scripts vividly evokes the close connection between their influential work as theorists and their work as filmmakers. It includes scripts for all six of Mulvey and Wollen’s collaborative films, Wollen’s solo feature film, Friendship’s Death (1987), and Mulvey’s later collaborations. Each text is followed by a new essay by a leading writer, offering a critical interpretation of the corresponding film. The collection also includes Wollen’s short story Friendship’s Death (1976), the outlines for two unrealised Mulvey and Wollen collaborations, and a selection of scanned working documents. The scripts and essays collected in this volume trace the historical significance of a complex cinematic project that brought feminist, semiotic and psychoanalytic concerns together with formal devices and strategies. The book includes original contributions from Nora M. Alter, Kodwo Eshun, Nicolas Helm-Grovas, Esther Leslie, Laura Mulvey, Volker Pantenburg, Griselda Pollock, B. Ruby Rich and Sukhdev Sandhu.Trade ReviewThis noble and overdue compilation serves as a much-needed affirmation of their powerful cinematic oeuvre. -- Bruno Guaraná * Film Quarterly *Table of ContentsAcknowledgements List of Contributors Introduction Oliver Fuke Introduction Laura Mulvey Section 1 - Laura Mulvey and Peter Wollen’s Collaborative Films 1. Penthesilea: Queen of the Amazons Laura Mulvey and Peter Wollen 2. Scorch the Earth, Start from Zero: Penthesilea: Queen of the Amazons Nicolas Helm-Grovas 3. Riddles of the Sphinx Laura Mulvey and Peter Wollen 4. Towards New Theoretical Instruments: Riddles of the Sphinx Volker Pantenburg 5. AMY! Laura Mulvey and Peter Wollen 6. The Curse of Celebrity, Colonial Territory and the Flight to Freedom: AMY! Griselda Pollock 7. Crystal Gazing Laura Mulvey and Peter Wollen 8. Economic Forecasting and the End of the Avant-Garde: Crystal Gazing Esther Leslie 9. Frida Kahlo & Tina Modotti Laura Mulvey and Peter Wollen 10. Muse, Mutilation, Mastery, Martyr: Frida Kahlo & Tina Modotti B. Ruby Rich 11. The Bad Sister Laura Mulvey and Peter Wollen 12. Timeshifting: The Bad Sister Sukhdev Sandhu Section 2 - Peter Wollen’s Friendship’s Death 13. Friendship’s Death (fiction) Peter Wollen 14. Friendship’s Death (script) Peter Wollen 15. ‘Aliens wherever they have to go’: Friendship’s Death Kodwo Eshun Section 3 - Laura Mulvey’s Later Collaborative Films 16. Disgraced Monuments Mark Lewis and Laura Mulvey 17. Preserving History: Disgraced Monuments Nora M. Alter 18. 23rd August 2008 Faysal Abdullah, Mark Lewis and Laura Mulvey 19. Two Portraits: 23rd August 2008 Laura Mulvey Section 4 - Outlines for Unmade Collaborative Films 20. Possible Worlds Laura Mulvey and Peter Wollen 21.Chess Fever Laura Mulvey and Peter Wollen Section 5 - Working Documents Bibliography Filmography Index

Read more less

Book SynopsisThis collection of Laura Mulvey and Peter Wollen’s film scripts vividly evokes the close connection between their influential work as theorists and their work as filmmakers. It includes scripts for all six of Mulvey and Wollen’s collaborative films, Wollen’s solo feature film, Friendship’s Death (1987), and Mulvey’s later collaborations. Each text is followed by a new essay by a leading writer, offering a critical interpretation of the corresponding film. The collection also includes Wollen’s short story Friendship’s Death (1976), the outlines for two unrealised Mulvey and Wollen collaborations, and a selection of scanned working documents. The scripts and essays collected in this volume trace the historical significance of a complex cinematic project that brought feminist, semiotic and psychoanalytic concerns together with formal devices and strategies. The book includes original contributions from Nora M. Alter, Kodwo Eshun, Nicolas Helm-Grovas, Esther Leslie, Laura Mulvey, Volker Pantenburg, Griselda Pollock, B. Ruby Rich and Sukhdev Sandhu.Table of ContentsAcknowledgements Introduction - Oliver Fuke Introduction - Laura Mulvey Section 1 - Laura Mulvey and Peter Wollen’s Collaborative Films 1.Penthesilea: Queen of the Amazons - Laura Mulvey and Peter Wollen 2.Scorch the Earth, Start from Zero: Penthesilea: Queen of the Amazons - Nicolas Helm- Grovas 3.Riddles of the Sphinx - Laura Mulvey and Peter Wollen 4.Towards New Theoretical Instruments: Riddles of the Sphinx - Volker Pantenburg 5.AMY! - Laura Mulvey and Peter Wollen 6.The Curse of Celebrity, Colonial Territory and the Flight to Freedom: AMY! - Griselda Pollock 7.Crystal Gazing - Laura Mulvey and Peter Wollen 8.Economic Forecasting and the End of the Avant- Garde: Crystal Gazing - Esther Leslie 9.Frida Kahlo & Tina Modotti - Laura Mulvey and Peter Wollen 10.Muse, Mutilation, Mastery, Martyr: Frida Kahlo & Tina Modotti - B. Ruby Rich 11.The Bad Sister - Laura Mulvey and Peter Wollen 12.Timeshifting: The Bad Sister - Sukhdev Sandhu Section 2 - Peter Wollen’s Friendship’s Death 13.Friendship’s Death (Fiction) - Peter Wollen 14. Friendship’s Death (Script) - Peter Wollen 15.‘Aliens wherever they have to go’: Friendship’s Death - Kodwo Eshun Section 3 - Laura Mulvey’s Later Collaborative Films 16. Disgraced Monuments - Mark Lewis and Laura Mulvey 17. Preserving History: Disgraced Monuments - Nora M. Alter 18. 23rd August 2008 - Faysal Abdullah, Mark Lewis and Laura Mulvey 19.Two Portraits: 23rd August 2008 - Laura Mulvey Section 4 - Outlines for Unmade Collaborative Films 20.Possible Worlds - Laura Mulvey and Peter Wollen 21.Chess Fever - Laura Mulvey and Peter Wollen Section 5 Working Documents Bibliography Filmography List of Contributors Index

Read more less

Book SynopsisIn 1983 visionary director John Cassavetes asked journalist Michael Ventura to write a unique film study - an on-set diary of the making of his film Love Streams. Cassavetes laid out his expectations. He wanted 'a daring book, a tough book'. In Ventura's words, 'All I had to do for 'daring' and 'tough' was transcribe this man's audacity day by day.' Cassavetes Directs describes the creation of Love Streams shot by shot, crisis by crisis. During production, the director learned that he was seriously ill, that this film might, as it tragically turned out, be his last. Starring alongside actress and wife Gena Rowlands, Cassavetes shot in sequence, reconceiving and revising his film almost nightly, in order that Love Streams could stand as his final statement. Both an intimate portrait of the man and an insight into his unique filmmaking philosophy, Cassavetes Directs documents a heroic moment in the life of a great artist.Trade ReviewMichael Ventura's stunning Cassavetes Directs - a caustic and boisterously detailed cine-biography -- David Jenkins * Vertigo Magazine Volume 3 *

Read more less

Book SynopsisRocliffe Notes is a compendium for screenwriters and filmmakers which brings together tips and opinions from over 140 film and TV industry professionals, and provides a step-by-step, common-sense guide on how writers and writer-directors can best present themselves to the industry. Including insider insights from award-winning industry players, it details their habits, writing processes, daily passions and preoccupations, whilst also looking at the nuts and bolts of the industry, aiming to motivate writers on their own creative journey, maximise networking opportunities and encourage a professional approach to writing. An essential armament in any writer's store, contributors include: Moira Buffini, Danny Huston, David Parfitt, Jack Thorne, Sarah Gavron, John Madden, John Yorke, Nik Powell, Peter Kosminsky, Christine Langan and Asif Kapadia.Trade ReviewA really useful guide to getting on in the world of film -- Richard EyreAn indispensable addition to the writer's bookshelf * Lock and load, brides of Christ *

Read more less

Book SynopsisFollowing on from the New York Times-bestselling My Boring-Ass Life, Kevin Smith is back! In freewheeling conversations with his friend and producer Scott Mosier (as heard on their top-rated podcast, known as SModcast), we discover — to pick just four random examples of the riches therein — the genesis of Stalin’s Monkey Soldier army, the horrifying tale of Kevin vs. Steak Tartare, how to make bukkake eggs, and how Kevin was once willing to let Alanis Morissette get mugged... Defiantly lewd, crude and hilariously rude, Shootin’ the Sh*t with Kevin Smith is a must for all his fans! Adults Only!

Read more less

Book Synopsis

Read more less

Book Synopsis

Read more less

Book Synopsis

Read more less

Book Synopsis A unique document: Clint Eastwood’s story, as told in his own words A reference work in which one of the great masters of contemporary cinema revisits, film by film, his entire career as both a legendary actor and a remarkable director An insightful conversation with the critic and documentary filmmaker Michael Henry Wilson, who has known Eastwood for over twenty years A richly illustrated, faithful record of Eastwood’s work, containing film stills and set photographs as well as previously unpublished photographs from his personal collection, dating from his youth and early years as an actor A potential 2010 bestseller: Eastwood’s recent films – including Million Dollar Baby (2004), Gran Torino (2008), Changeling (2008) and Invictus (2009) – have enjoyed huge worldwide success, both at the box office and with the critics Includes a biography and a complete filmography

Read more less

Book Synopsis

Read more less

Book SynopsisSince the mid-1970s, Ericka Beckman (b. 1951, Hampstead, NY) has forged a signature visual language in film, video, installation, and photography. Often shot against black, spatially ambiguous backdrops, her moving image works are structured according to the logic of child’s play, games, folklore, or fairy tales, and populated by archetypical characters and toy-like props in bright, primary colours. Throughout her work, Beckman engages profound questions of gender, role-playing, competition, power and control. The publication will include selected works spanning thirty years of Beckman’s career, providing the first opportunity to survey her contribution to the art world. With new scholarly essays on Beckman’s work that offer an art-historical consideration of her early Super-8 Films and a critical situating of the artist’s ongoing preoccupation with the structures of games, gambling, and capitalism, the exhibition catalogue contextualizes Beckman’s practice on the occasion of this major survey exhibition. More than 20 colour images in the catalogue include photo- documentation of Beckman’s works since 1983 and installation views of the MIT List Center exhibition.

Read more less

Book Synopsis

Read more less

Book Synopsis

Read more less

Book Synopsis

Read more less

Book Synopsis

Read more less

Book SynopsisFilmmaker Alexander Medvedkin (1900 89), a contemporary of Sergei Eisenstein and Alexander Dovzhenko, is celebrated today for his unique form of total documentary cinema, which aimed to bridge the distance between film and life, and for his use of satire during a period when the Soviet authorities preferred that laughter be confined to narrowly prescribed channels. This collection of selected writings by Medvedkin is the first of its kind and reveals how his work is a crucial link in the history of documentary film. Although he was a dedicated communist, Medvedkin's satirical approach and social critiques ultimately led to his suppression by the Soviet regime. State institutions held back or marginalized his work, and for many years, his films were assumed to have been lost or destroyed. These texts, many assembled for this volume by Medvedkin himself, document for the first time his considerable achievements, experiments in film and theater, and attempts to develop satire as a major S

Read more less

Book SynopsisNo filmmaker has more successfully courted mass-audience understanding than Alfred Hitchcock, and none has been studied more intensively by scholars. In Hidden Hitchcock, D. A. Miller does what seems impossible: he discovers what has remained unseen in Hitchcock's movies, a secret style that imbues his films with a radical duplicity. Focusing on three films Strangers on a Train, Rope, and The Wrong Man Miller shows how Hitchcock anticipates, even demands a Too-Close Viewer. Dwelling within us all and vigilant even when everything appears to be in good order, this Too-Close Viewer attempts to see more than the director points out, to expand the space of the film and the duration of the viewing experience. And, thanks to Hidden Hitchcock, that obsessive attention is rewarded. In Hitchcock's visual puns, his so-called continuity errors, and his hidden appearances (not to be confused with his cameos), Miller finds wellsprings of enigma.Hidden Hitchcock is a revelatory work that not only shows how little we know this best known of filmmakers, but also how near such too-close viewing comes to cinephilic madness.

Read more less

Book SynopsisOffers a collection of interviews with the directors who have changed the face of Chinese and international cinema. This book includes discussions with such directors as Ang Lee (Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon), Zhang Yimou (Hero), Chen Kaige (Farewell My Concubine), Stanley Kwan (Lan Yu), and Tsai Ming-Liang (Vive l'Amour).Trade ReviewSpeaking in Images, by Michael Berry, is engaging... It is refreshing to read artists talk about their work and medium. -- Malcom Parker Pots.com Berry's questions are intelligent... they illicit intelligent, detailed answers...useful to anyone seriously interested in world cinema...Essential. Choice [Speaking in Images] should be required reading for anyone seeking to understand the complexities and power of contemporary Chinese Film. -- Mingwei Song China Review International Speaking in Images is an excellent, even essential resource for anyone interested in the past, present, and future of these three important Chinese film industries. -- Ethan de Seife Film InternationalTable of ContentsForeword by Martin Scorsese Acknowledgments Author's Note Introduction: Speaking in Images I. Voices from China Xie Jin: Six Decades of Cinematic Innovation Tian Zhuangzhuang: Stealing Horses and Flying Kites Chen Kaige: Historical Revolution and Cinematic Rebellion Zhang Yimou: Flying Colors Zhang Yuan: Working up a Sweat in a Celluloid Sauna Wang Xiaoshuai: Banned in China Jia Zhangke: Capturing a Transforming Reality Li Yang: The Future of Chinese Cinema? II. Voices from Taiwan Hou Hsiao-hsien with Chu Tien-wen: Words and Images Edward Yang: Luckily Unlucky Wu Nien-jen: Writing Taiwan in the Shadows of Cultural Colonialism Ang Lee: Freedom in Film Tsai Ming-liang: Trapped in the Past Chang Tso-chi: Shooting from the Margins III. Voices from Hong Kong Ann Hui: Living Through Films Stanley Kwan: From Spectral Nostalgia to Corporeal Desire Fruit Chan: Hong Kong Independent Peter Ho-sun Chan: Pioneering Pan-Asian Cinema Evans Chan: The Last of the Chinese Notes Bibliography

Read more less

a huge range and FREE tracked UK delivery on ALL orders.

Read more less

Book SynopsisRecognizing the innovative work and distinct sensibilities of five major gay American and European film directors.Trade ReviewEmanuel Levy's book is enlightening. It brings into clear focus the disparate works of five gay male directors and helps the reader see these films in new and refreshing ways. -- Ed Sikov, author of Film Studies: An Introduction An impressively informative treatment of five prominent gay directors who represent a wide range of differences within the gay spectrum. Emanuel Levy's background in gay cinema, independent cinema, and traditional Hollywood cinema make him the ideal author for this significant and original study. -- Molly Haskell, film critic and author of Frankly, My Dear: Gone with the Wind Revisited In a nuanced examination of five pioneering gay directors, Emanuel Levy moves with fluid grace and astonishing erudition through a broad range of national traditions and personal styles, nailing what is peculiar and intriguing about each auteur. His study will enchant anyone interested in the twists and turns of gender, sex, and cinema over the past fifty years. -- Thomas Doherty, author of Hollywood and Hitler, 1933-1939 A vastly intelligent, comprehensively procured treat for film buffs. Kirkus Reviews [Levy's] treatment of his subjects is comprehensive, and his passion always shines through... This book is well-suited for the cinematic omnivore and the armchair aesthete. Publishers Weekly Like many good film books, this one's for movie mavens to argue with and revisit-often. Booklist [Gay Directors, Gay Films?] succeeds where it counts, enlivening the discussion of what it meant to make 'gay films' in the 20th century... Perfect for fans of film and gender studies. Library Journal Lively and entertaining. -- Brian T. Carney The Washington Blade Gay Directors, Gay Films? is a smart primer on the work of five very deserving directors. Casual film enthusiasts looking for a new trail to follow and readers interested in lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender cultural studies should find plenty of material to inspire both movie rentals and thoughtful conversations. -- Ryan Little The Washington Post One of the finest books ever written on gay filmmaking... Anyone seeking to explore the features and meanings of gay films in the future must read Gay Directors, Gay Films? -- Brian Bromberger The Bay Area Reporter A broad introduction to the fascinating work of these significant directors. -- Melanie White Times Literary Supplement [Levy] places their careers into the larger context of American and European society and its gradual acceptance of homosexuality over the past five decades. [Gay Directors, Gay Films?] seems especially timely and relevant at this moment. -- Leonard Maltin Indiewire [A] nuanced, eminently readable book. Choice A comprehensive account of five remarkable careers in film. -- Dion Kagan Australian Book ReviewTable of ContentsPreface Acknowledgments Introduction 1. Pedro Almodovar: Spain's Enfant Terrible 2. Terence Davies: Subjective Memoirist 3. Todd Haynes: Deconstructive Queer Cinema 4. Gus Van Sant: Poet of Lost and Alienated Youth 5. John Waters: Queer as Trash and Camp Conclusion: Gay Directors-Who's Looking and How? Notes Select Bibliography Index

Read more less

Book SynopsisRecognizing the innovative work and distinct sensibilities of five major gay American and European film directors.Trade ReviewEmanuel Levy's book is enlightening. It brings into clear focus the disparate works of five gay male directors and helps the reader see these films in new and refreshing ways. -- Ed Sikov, author of Film Studies: An Introduction An impressively informative treatment of five prominent gay directors who represent a wide range of differences within the gay spectrum. Emanuel Levy's background in gay cinema, independent cinema, and traditional Hollywood cinema make him the ideal author for this significant and original study. -- Molly Haskell, film critic and author of Frankly, My Dear: Gone with the Wind Revisited In a nuanced examination of five pioneering gay directors, Emanuel Levy moves with fluid grace and astonishing erudition through a broad range of national traditions and personal styles, nailing what is peculiar and intriguing about each auteur. His study will enchant anyone interested in the twists and turns of gender, sex, and cinema over the past fifty years. -- Thomas Doherty, author of Hollywood and Hitler, 1933-1939 A vastly intelligent, comprehensively procured treat for film buffs. Kirkus Reviews [Levy's] treatment of his subjects is comprehensive, and his passion always shines through... This book is well-suited for the cinematic omnivore and the armchair aesthete. Publishers Weekly Like many good film books, this one's for movie mavens to argue with and revisit-often. Booklist [Gay Directors, Gay Films?] succeeds where it counts, enlivening the discussion of what it meant to make 'gay films' in the 20th century... Perfect for fans of film and gender studies. Library Journal Lively and entertaining. -- Brian T. Carney The Washington Blade Gay Directors, Gay Films? is a smart primer on the work of five very deserving directors. Casual film enthusiasts looking for a new trail to follow and readers interested in lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender cultural studies should find plenty of material to inspire both movie rentals and thoughtful conversations. -- Ryan Little The Washington Post One of the finest books ever written on gay filmmaking... Anyone seeking to explore the features and meanings of gay films in the future must read Gay Directors, Gay Films? -- Brian Bromberger The Bay Area Reporter A broad introduction to the fascinating work of these significant directors. -- Melanie White Times Literary Supplement [Levy] places their careers into the larger context of American and European society and its gradual acceptance of homosexuality over the past five decades. [Gay Directors, Gay Films?] seems especially timely and relevant at this moment. -- Leonard Maltin Indiewire [A] nuanced, eminently readable book. Choice A comprehensive account of five remarkable careers in film. -- Dion Kagan Australian Book ReviewTable of ContentsPreface Acknowledgments Introduction 1. Pedro Almodovar: Spain's Enfant Terrible 2. Terence Davies: Subjective Memoirist 3. Todd Haynes: Deconstructive Queer Cinema 4. Gus Van Sant: Poet of Lost and Alienated Youth 5. John Waters: Queer as Trash and Camp Conclusion: Gay Directors-Who's Looking and How? Notes Select Bibliography Index

Read more less

Book SynopsisExploring the work of three visionary auteurs deeply invested in the political possibilities of film.Trade ReviewAn impressive book people will read for all kinds of reasons, academic and otherwise, not least of which is its bold proposal that the future is unthinkable without cinema. -- Richard Dienst, author of Still Life in Real Time: Theory After Television ... Pavsek renews our faith in the utopian possibilities of truly political art. -- Patrick Reagan, Yale University Screening the PastTable of ContentsList of IllustrationsAcknowledgmentsIntroduction: The Idea of Cinema1. What Has Come to Pass for Cinema: From Early to Late Godard2. Kidlat Tahimik's "Third World Projector"3. The Actuality of Cinema: Alexander KlugeEpilogueNotesBibliographyIndex

Read more less

Book SynopsisThe Cinema of Takeshi Kitano: Flowering Blood is a detailed aesthetic, Deleuzian, and phenomenological exploration of Japan's finest currently-working film director, performer, and celebrity. The volume uniquely explores Kitano's oeuvre through the tropes of stillness and movement, becoming animal, melancholy and loss, intensity, schizophrenia, and radical alterity; and through the aesthetic temperatures of color, light, camera movement, performance and urban and oceanic space. In this highly original monograph, all of Kitano's films are given due consideration, including A Scene at the Sea (1991), Sonatine (1993), Dolls (2002), and Outrage (2010).Trade ReviewAn imaginatively written self-reflexive academic's journey through the films of Kitano Takeshi. -- Isolde Standish, School of Oriental and African Studies A bold and provocative attempt at pinning down this most mercurial and misunderstood of Japanese directors. -- Jasper Sharp, Midnight Eye The depth of engagement with the films and the director within The Cinema of Takeshi Kitano ensures a complex reading of Kitano's cinema... An excellent book for anyone interested in Japanese culture, screen media and theory. More than this, The Cinema of Takeshi Kitano... is (like Kitano's cinema) an evocative and powerful contribution to film culture. -- Wendy Haslem, The University of Melbourne Senses of CinemaTable of ContentsAcknowledgements Introduction: Becoming Lost in Tokyo 1. Time, Space and Whatever 2. Flowering Blood 3. Intense Alterity 4. Starring Kitanos 5. This is the Sea Conclusion: Standing Outside Office Kitano Postscript: I Welcome the Pain of it Already Filmography Bibliography Index

Read more less

Book SynopsisTrade ReviewMuch of the available commentary on the films of Bela Tarr is often confused and confusing. Andras Balint Kovacs cuts through this Gordian Knot with a comprehensive but detailed and precise analysis; this is film-writing at its very best. -- John Cunningham, author of Hungarian Cinema: From Coffee House to MultiplexTable of ContentsAcknowledgements Introduction 1. The Persona 2. Style in the Early Years 3. The Tarr style 4. The Tarr style in Evolution 5. Narration in the Tarr Films 6. The Characters Conclusion Filmography Select Bibliography Index of Names

Read more less

Book SynopsisTrade Review[An] excellent book on this maverick, shape-shifting filmmaker... Immaculately researched and illustrated with frame blowups throughout the text, the volume is an important contribution to the field... Highly recommended. ChoiceTable of ContentsAcknowledgements Preface by Thomas Schatz Introduction Part One: Author, Brand, Guerrilla 1. The Dialectical Signature: Soderbergh as Classical Auteur 2. Impresario of Indiewood: Soderbergh as Sellebrity Auteur 3. Corporate Revolutionary: Soderbergh as Guerrilla Auteur Part Two: History, Memory, Text 4. Searching Low and High: The Limey and the Schizophrenic Detective 5. Returning to the Scene of the Crime: Solaris and the Psychoanalytic Detective 6. The (Bl)end of History: The Good German and the Intertextual Detective Part Three: Crime, Capital, Globalisation 7. Genre and Capital: New Crime Wave in the 1990s 8. The Ethical Heist: Competing Modes of Capital in the Ocean's Trilogy 9. Trafficking Social Change: The Global Social Problem Film in the 2000s Conclusion Filmography Bibliography Index

Read more less

Book SynopsisTrade Review[An] excellent book on this maverick, shape-shifting filmmaker... Immaculately researched and illustrated with frame blowups throughout the text, the volume is an important contribution to the field... Highly recommended. ChoiceTable of ContentsAcknowledgements Preface by Thomas Schatz Introduction Part One: Author, Brand, Guerrilla 1. The Dialectical Signature: Soderbergh as Classical Auteur 2. Impresario of Indiewood: Soderbergh as Sellebrity Auteur 3. Corporate Revolutionary: Soderbergh as Guerrilla Auteur Part Two: History, Memory, Text 4. Searching Low and High: The Limey and the Schizophrenic Detective 5. Returning to the Scene of the Crime: Solaris and the Psychoanalytic Detective 6. The (Bl)end of History: The Good German and the Intertextual Detective Part Three: Crime, Capital, Globalisation 7. Genre and Capital: New Crime Wave in the 1990s 8. The Ethical Heist: Competing Modes of Capital in the Ocean's Trilogy 9. Trafficking Social Change: The Global Social Problem Film in the 2000s Conclusion Filmography Bibliography Index

Read more less

Book SynopsisIn this second edition of The Cinema of Richard Linklater, Rob Stone shows how Linklater’s latest films have redefined our understanding of his work, offering critical analysis of films including Before Midnight (2013) and Everybody Wants Some!! (2016), as well as new interviews with Linklater and a chapter on Boyhood (2014).Trade ReviewAt last, a comprehensive study of one of America's most important independent filmmakers. This hugely readable and highly nuanced book reveals the sophisticated approach to filmmaking that underpins the apparent casualness of Linklater's 'slacker' aesthetic. -- Paul Cooke, University of Leeds A study as compelling and nuanced as Linklater's films. With remarkable insight, this volume provides provocative reflections on industry and indie filmmaking practices by exploring the work of this innovative filmmaker. -- Ann Marie Stock, College of William and Mary Stone's excellent book covers the director's entire career with skill and insight, illustrated with numerous stills throughout...an excellent course text, written in direct, accessible language. ChoiceTable of ContentsAcknowledgements Introduction: Walk, Don't Run: The Cinema of Richard Linklater 1. Locating Linklater 2. Crafting Contradictions 3. The Form and Content of Slack 4. American Art House 5. Dreamstate, USA: The Metaphysics of Animation 6. The Spaces In Between Filmography Bibliography Index

Read more less

Book SynopsisTable of ContentsAcknowledgements Notes on Contributors Introduction: Know Your Enemy, Know Yourself, by Rikke Schubart and Anne Gjelsvik Part 1: History 1. The Making and Remakings of an American Icon: 'Raising the Flag on Iwo Jima' from Photojournalism to Global, Digital Media, by Mette Mortensen 2. The Forgotten Cinematographer of Mount Suribachi: Bill Genaust's Eight-Second Iwo Jima Footage and the Historical Facsimile, by Bjorn Sorenssen 3. Flags of Their Stepfather? Race and Culture in the Context of Military Service and the Fight for Citizenship, by Martin Edwin Andersen Part 2: Flags of Our Fathers 6. Following the Flag in American Film, by Robert Eberwein 7. Care or Glory? Picturing a New War Hero, by Anne Gjelsvik 8.Beyond Mimesis: War, History, and Memory in Flags of Our Fathers, by Holger Potzsch 9. Clint Eastwood's Postclassical Multiple Narratives of Iwo Jima, by Glenn Man 10. Haunting in the War Film: Flags of Our Fathers, by Robert Burgoyne Part 3: Letters from Iwo Jima 11. Eastwood and the Enemy, by Rikke Schubart 12. Eat of Eastwood: Iwo Jima and the Japanese Context, by Lars-Martin Sorensen 13. Humanism versus Patriotism: Eastwood Trapped in the Bi-polar Logic of Warfare, by Mikkel Bruun Zangenberg 14. Suicide in Letters from Iwo Jima, by Robert Burgoyne Part 4: War Today 15. To Sell a War: Flags, Lies, and Tragedy, by Vibeke Schou Tjalve 16. Banzai! Letters from Iwo Jima and Choosing the Enemy in Risk Society, by Mikkel Vedby Rasmussen Filmography Index

Read more less

Book SynopsisThis volume maps Ruiz's cinematic trajectory across more than five decades of prolific workTrade ReviewMichael Goddard's erudite new book is among the finest of contemporary film director studies to be published in recent years. It is a bold, authoritative and compelling survey of a career famously difficult to capture. Combining important and enriching context, engaging film analysis and a convincing central thesis, Goddard delivers his survey with a brio of which its subject would surely approved. The result is a nuanced and detailed portrait of the work of one of cinema's most fecund and engaging minds. The author succeeds in proposing on the one hand a scholarly periodisation and on the other some unifying theoretical concepts (principally cartography) which, against the odds perhaps, will leave the aficionado with an urge to explore further and deeper in the Ruizian labyrinth and the novice with the desire to begin somewhere, anywhere in the polymorphous corpus. This book serves as a worthy critical response to the incomparable range of output, the uncompromising vision, the ravenous intellectual energy and the sheer audacity of imagination of one of cinema's true, or (as Ruiz himself would probably prefer), fake originals. -- Garin Dowd, University of West London A clear and penetrating analysis... Punctuated by brilliant film analysis, this volume is essential reading for anyone interested in the life and work of Raul Ruiz. -- Richard Begin, University of Montreal The cinema of Raul Ruiz is well known to all true cinephiles, but until now has gone under-analysed - effectively buried under the lamentably vague adjective 'Ruizian'. In the first single-authored English-language book on this great director, Michael Goddard expertly sifts through the many styles, contexts and personae of Ruiz: from Chilean radical to European artist, from no-budget experimentalist to wily entertainer, from theorist to storyteller. Using the lens of an 'impossible cartography', Goddard redraws all the maps we have used to grasp this most elusive and protean of international filmmakers - and concludes with a splendid, mind-expanding dialogue with Ruiz. -- Adrian Martin, Goethe University and co-author with Raul Ruiz of Magnificent Obsessions Raul Ruiz, one of cinema's prodigious inventors, is the subject of this fascinating book. This scholarly work on Ruiz's extensive oeuvre provides a history of his filmmaking practice in Chile, Europe and elsewhere by contextualizing his remarkable personal history and intellectual trajectory. Further, the writer shows great sensitivity and care in engaging with Ruiz's fecund theoretical ideas and cinematic thought. The interview with Ruiz, done shortly before his untimely death, is not only poignant but also astutely illuminates his labyrinthine mode of thought, which has been so stimulating. This is a philosophically attuned book, with perceptive film criticism, written in an accessible and engaging manner. It is heartily recommended to those who still find cinema an indispensable ally in the adventure of thought. Through this book Ruiz now seems to signal to us across death, which he looked in the face through his Latin American Baroque optic, laced with humour. So we may use this book to slake our thirst for an understanding of Ruiz's inexhaustible allegorical cinematic vision of the world. -- Laleen Jayamanne, Sydney UniversityTable of ContentsAcknowledgements Introduction: A New Cartographer? 1. Ruiz's Cinema in the 1960s and 1970s 2 The Cinema of Piracy, the Sea and Spectral Voyages: Ruiz's Neo-Baroque Cinema of the 1980s 3 Cartographies of Complexity: Ruiz's 'French' Cinema Since the Mid-1990s Conclusion: Ruizian Cartography from Chile to the Cosmos via the Littoral, or The Film to Come Appendix: Raul Ruiz Interview (Paris, November, 2009) Select Filmography Bibliography Index

Read more less

Book SynopsisSuggestive readings of gender and identity explore the international appeal of Ang LeeTrade ReviewDilley not only provides an in-depth overview of Ang Lee's contribution to film, but also gives crucial contextualization for East-West film studies and theoretical approaches, as well as providing careful study of significant themes in Lee's personal life which molded him as a film director. This is an enormous amount of territory to cover. Dilley does it well with scholarly rigor in a tone of exploration and wonder. -- Barbara Kline, Seattle Pacific University The Cinema of Ang Lee is the most comprehensive study of Ang Lee and all the films directed by him to date. It tells the extraordinary story of a Taiwan-born Chinese director within the global contexts of diaspora, transnationalism, Chinese-language cinema, American cinema, and world cinema. The book is full of interesting details, and is written in a lucid, accessible style that will be appreciated by readers and moviegoers interested in this director. -- Sheldon Lu, University of California at Davis Writing about film is no easy task and writing about great film even harder. Ang Lee's films include not only three Academy Award winners, The Life of Pi, Brokeback Mountain, and Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, but also less familiar masterpieces like Lust|Caution, Ride with the Devil, The Ice Storm, and Eat Drink Man Woman. Whitney Dilley's study of Ang Lee's art is written with remarkable clarity, insight, and compassion. It is a model of fine film literature. -- Jerome Silbergeld, Princeton University Recommended. All readers. ChoiceTable of ContentsAcknowledgments Note on Transliteration 1. Introduction: Ang Lee-A History 2. Ang Lee as Director: His Position in Asian and World Cinema 3. Confucian Values and Cultural Displacement in Pushing Hands 4. Transgressing Boundaries of Gender and Culture in The Wedding Banquet 5. Globalization and Cultural Identity in Eat Drink Man Woman 6. Opposition and Resolution in Sense and Sensibility 7. Fragmentary Narratives/Fragmented Identities in The Ice Storm 8. Race, Gender, Class, and Social Identity in Ride with the Devil 9. Wuxia Narrative and Transnational Chinese Identity in Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon 10. The Ultimate Outsider: Hulk 11. Transcending Gender in Brokeback Mountain 12. Eroticism and Performance in Lust/Caution 13. Memory, Narrative, and Transformation in Taking Woodstock 14. Storytelling and Truth in Life of Pi: A Spiritual Journey 15. Conclusion: The Dream of Cinema Notes Bibliography Index

Read more less

Book SynopsisAgnes Varda, a pioneer of the French New Wave, has been making radical films for over half a century. Many of these are considered by scholars, filmmakers, and audiences alike, as audacious, seminal, and unforgettable. This volume considers her production as a whole, revisiting overlooked films like Mur, Murs/Documenteur (1980-81), and connecting her cinema to recent installation work. This study demonstrates how Varda has resisted norms of representation and diktats of production. It also shows how she has elaborated a personal repertoire of images, characters, and settings, which all provide insight on their cultural and political contexts. The book thus offers new readings of this director's multifaceted reveries, arguing that her work should be seen as an aesthetically influential and ethically-driven production where cinema is both a political and collaborative practice, and a synesthetic art form.Trade ReviewThere have been other excellent books on Varda, but this particular text, neatly illustrated with frame blow-ups, and graced with a detailed filmography, is one of the best, and also has the virtue of being the most complete... Pick up a copy now. Frame by Frame A solid contribution to the field... Unique in its precision and focus on the evolution of Varda's continual embrace of upcoming artistic media, technological advances, and social inclusion. French Review A relevant and insightful review of Varda's career thus far. LSE Review of BooksTable of ContentsAcknowledgements Introduction: Beginnings 1. Agnes Varda: A Woman Within History 2. Aesthetics and Technique 3. Varda's Ethics of Filming 4. Poetics of Space 5. Cinecriture and Originality Conclusion Filmography Bibliography Index

Read more less