Description
Book SynopsisFilm Genre: Hollywood and Beyond provides a detailed account of genre history and contemporary trends in film genre, alongside the critical debates they have provoked. The book ranges widely across the field, dealing separately and in detail with not only classic genres - including the Western, the musical, the war film, the gangster film, and film noir - but also more recent trends such as body-horror, Holocaust film, and the action blockbuster. Throughout the book, genre is presented as a constantly evolving phenomenon. Writing in a sophisticated yet accessible style, Barry Langford shows how notions of genre help shape the ways that filmmakers, critics and audiences view films and how the often complex scholarly debates around genre reflect important differences in the ways cinema is understood in relation to its social and historical contexts. The book encourages students to interrogate and broaden received ideas about genre.
Trade ReviewFilm Genre presents a thoroughgoing historical analysis, addressing the history of film production, the history of style, the history of individual genres and the history of genre criticism for each genre. Film International The author offers a hugely impressive yet concise account of genre theory, cycles and contemporary reportage - from Hollywood and beyond! Langford's book is a majextically informed achievement and a prodigiously detailed production. SCOPE: An Online Journal of Film Studies Film Genre presents a thoroughgoing historical analysis, addressing the history of film production, the history of style, the history of individual genres and the history of genre criticism for each genre. The author offers a hugely impressive yet concise account of genre theory, cycles and contemporary reportage - from Hollywood and beyond! Langford's book is a majextically informed achievement and a prodigiously detailed production.
Table of Contents1. Who needs genres?; 2. Before Genre: Melodrama; Part One: Classical Paradigms; 3. The Western: Genre and History; 4. The Musical: Genre and Form; 5. The War/Combat Film: Genre and Nation; 6. The Gangster Film: Genre and Society; Part Two: Transitional Fantasies; 7. The Horror Film; 8. The Science-Fiction Film; Part Three: Post-Classical Genres; 9. Film Noir; 10. The Action Blockbuster; 11. Genre: Breaking the Frame; (i) Documentary; (ii) Holocaust Film; (iii) Pornography; 12. Conclusion: Transgenre?.
