Del 0 - SUNY series, Cultural Studies in Cinema/Video

Phantom of the Cinema

Character in Modern Film

Häftad, Engelska, 1997

439 kr

Tillfälligt slut

The first book to focus on the representation of character in film, encompassing the art cinema, popular movies, and documentaries.The first extended study to focus on the representation of character in film, The Phantom of the Cinema provides a historically informed, theoretically sophisticated, yet eminently readable account of a broad spectrum of texts that center on elusive, ambiguous protagonists. Ranging across acknowledged classics such as Citizen Kane and Persona, including relatively neglected works such as House of Games, The Last Tycoon, and Badlands, and encompassing the art cinema, popular movies, and documentary, Michaels applies the concept of "presence of absence" to distinguish cinema from other performative arts. He then suggests how this propensity to present images that reflect a constantly mediated sense of reality allows certain reflexive films to project a problematic understanding of human identity.In analyzing these spectral figures haunting the modern cinema, Michaels combines contemporary theory with his own close reading in order to reconcile the structuralist emphasis on textuality with the humanist account of character as representing the autonomous self. Ultimately, he demonstrates how film protagonists reflect both the melancholy and mystery of personhood and the "inner aesthetic" of the medium itself.

Produktinformation

Utgivningsdatum1997-12-04
Mått150 x 228 x 13 mm
Vikt295 g
FormatHäftad
SpråkEngelska
SerieSUNY series, Cultural Studies in Cinema/Video
Antal sidor191
FörlagState University of New York Press
ISBN9780791435687

Tillhör följande kategorier

Film inom Kultur
Kulturvetenskap inom Samhälle och politik

List of Illustrations Preface Acknowledgments Chapter One The Phantom of the Cinema: Representation of Character in the Modern FilmChapter Two Reflexivity and Character in PersonaChapter Three Incarnations of the Confidence ManChapter Four Reviving the Undead: Herzog's Remake of NosferatuChapter Five: The Spy and the Cipher Chapter Six Documenting Character in The Thin Blue LineChapter Seven Avatars of Memory: Entropy and Nostalgia in the Representation of CharacterChapter Eight Conclusion: The Mystery and Melancholy of a SelfNotes Works Cited and Consulted About the Author Index

"I find this book continually interesting and alive with insights. With the cultural studies agenda alive today, character has returned to center stage, but generally as a mirror of types in society. Michaels delivers a more cinematic view of character, one that tells us more about the medium than about the society that uses it. This is a theoretically sophisticated book [whose] success rests on the clear reading of some great and some surprising films. It is the work of someone quite in tune with the cinema." — Dudley Andrew, Institute for Cinema and Culture, University of Iowa"Michaels's Phantom of the Cinema is an important study on a subject—character construction in film—that has been virtually neglected by scholars. Thoroughly researched, lucidly written, and full of right insights, it focuses on both canonical texts and little-discussed ones and ultimately is as much about film itself as it is about characterization. It is a timely contribution to film studies." — Arthur Nolletti, Jr., Framingham State College"The breadth of critical approaches in The Phantom of the Cinema is very impressive. The author displays a keen ability to bring together a diverse array of methodologies which combine to create a completely unique analysis of the material at hand. This is a refreshingly modern book in all respects, and one which is simultaneously daring and original." — Gwendolyn Audrey Foster, University of Nebraska, Lincoln