In 1893 Friedrich Engels branded history “the cruelest goddess of all.” This sorrowful vision of the past is deeply rooted in the Western imagination and history is thus presented as a joyless playground of inevitability rather than a droll world of possibilities. There are few places this is more evident than in historical cinema which tends to portray the past in a somber manner. 



Historical Comedy on Screen examines this tendency paying particular attention to the themes most difficult to laugh at and exploring the place where comical and historical storytelling intersect. The book emphasizes the many oft-overlooked comical renderings of history and asks what they have to tell us if we begin to take them seriously.

By focusing on this body of work from the highly successful The Stand and The Night Flier to the lesser-known TV films Storm of the Century Rose Red Kingdom Hospital and the 2004 remake of Salem’s Lot Browning is able to articulate how these adaptations work and in turn suggest new ways of viewing them. This book is the first written by a film specialist to consider King’s television work in its own right and it rejects previous attempts to make the films and books fit rigid thematic categories. Browning examines what makes a written or visual text successful at evoking fear on a case-by-case basis in a highly readable and engaging way. He also considers the relationship between the big and small screen. Why for instance are some TV versions more effective than movie adaptations and vice versa? In the process Stephen King on the Small Screen is able to shed new light on what it is that makes King’s novels so successful and reveal the elements of style and approach that have helped make King one of the world’s best-selling authors.

The New Deal introduced sweeping social political and cultural change across the United States which Hollywood embraced enthusiastically. Then when the heady idealism of the 1930s was replaced by the paranoia of the postwar years Hollywood became an easy target for the anticommunists. A Divided World examines some of the important programs of the New Deal and the subsequent response of the film community—especially in relation to social welfare women’s rights and international affairs. The book also provides an analysis of the major works of three European directors—Billy Wilder Ernst Lubitsch and Fritz Lang—compared and contrasted with the products of mainstream Hollywood. This is a new interpretation of an influential period in American film history and it is sure to generate further debate and scholarship.

Be they musicals or melodramas war movies or animation Russian films have a long and fascinating history of addressing the major social and political events of their time. From Sergei Eisenstein’s anti-tsarist drama The Battleship Potemkin to socialist realism to the post-glasnost thematic explosion this volume explores the sociopolitical impact of the cinema of Russia and the former Soviet Union. Introductory essays establish key players and situate important genres within their cultural and industrial milieus while reviews and case studies analyze individual titles in considerable depth. For the film studies scholar or for all those who love Russian cinema and want to learn more Directory of World Cinema: Russia will be an essential companion.

The analysis of film music is emerging as one of the fastest-growing areas of interest in film studies. Yet scholarship in this up-and-coming field has been beset by the lack of a common language and methodology between film and music theory. Drawing on the philosophy of Gilles Deleuze film studies scholar Gregg Redner provides a much-needed analysis of the problem which then forms the basis of his exploration of the function of the film score and its relation to film's other elements. Not just a groundbreaking examination of persistent difficulties in this new area of study Deleuze and Film Music also offers a solution—a methodological bridge—that will take film music analysis to a new level.

This addition to Intellect's Directory of World Cinema series turns the spotlight on Australia and New Zealand and offers an in-depth and exciting look at the cinema produced in these two countries since the turn of the twentieth century. Though the two nations share considerable cultural and economic connections their film industries remain distinct marked by differences of scale level of government involvement and funding and relations with other countries and national cinemas. Through essays about prominent genres and themes profiles of directors and comprehensive reviews of significant titles this user-friendly guide explores the diversity and distinctiveness of films from Australia and New Zealand from Whale Rider to The Piano to Wolf Creek.

With high-profile Academy Award nominations and an increasing number of big-name actors eager to sign on to promising projects independent films have been at the forefront in recent years like never before. But the roots of such critical and commercial successes as The Hurt Locker and Precious can be traced to the first boom of independent cinema in the 1960s when a raft of talented filmmakers emergedto capture the attention of a rapidly growing audience of young viewers.

A thorough overview of a thriving area of cultural life Directory of World Cinema: American Independent chronicles the rise of the independent sector as an outlet for directors who challenge the status quo yet still produce accessible feature films that not only find wide audiences but enjoy considerable box office appeal—without sacrificing critical legitimacy. Key directors are interviewed and profiled and a sizeable selection of films are referenced and reviewed. More than a dozen sub-genres—including African American cinema queer cinema documentary familial dysfunction and exploitation—are individually considered with an emphasis on their ability to engage with tensions inherent in American society. Copious illustrations and a range of research resources round out the volume making this a truly comprehensive guide.

At a time when independent films are enjoying considerable cultural cachet this easy-to-use yet authoritative guide will find an eager audience in media historians film studies scholars and movie buffs alike.

One of the most distinguished filmmakers working today David Lynch is a director whose vision of cinema is firmly rooted in fine art. He was motivated to make his first film as a student because he wanted a painting that “would really be able to move.” Most existing studies of Lynch however fail to engage fully with the complexities of his films’ relationship to other art forms. The Film Paintings of David Lynch fills this void arguing that Lynch’s cinematic output needs to be considered within a broad range of cultural references.

Aiming at both Lynch fans and film studies specialists Allister Mactaggart addresses Lynch’s films from the perspective of the relationship between commercial film avant-garde art and cultural theory. Individual Lynch films—The Elephant Man Blue Velvet Twin Peaks Lost Highway The Straight Story Mulholland Drive Inland Empire—are discussed in relation to other films and directors illustrating that the solitary or seemingly isolated experience of film is itself socially culturally and politically important. The Film Paintings of David Lynch offers a unique perspective on an influential director weaving together a range of theoretical approaches to Lynch's films to make exciting new connections among film theory art history psychoanalysis and cinema.

While postwar British cinema and the British new wave have received much scholarly attention the misunderstood period of the 1970s has been comparatively ignored. Don’t Look Now uncovers forgotten but richly rewarding films including Nicolas Roeg’s Don’t Look Now and the films of Lindsay Anderson and Barney Platts-Mills. This volume offers insight into the careers of important filmmakers and sheds light on the genres of experimental film horror rock and punk films as well as representations of the black community shifts in gender politics and adaptations of television comedies. The contributors ask searching questions about the nature of British film culture and its relationship to popular culture television and the cultural underground.

In recent years Chinese film has garnered worldwide attention and this interdisciplinary collection investigates how new technologies changing production constraints and shifting viewing practices have shaped perceptions of Chinese screen cultures. For the first time international scholars from film studies media studies history and sociology have come together to examine technology and temporality in Chinese cinema today.

Futures of Chinese Cinema takes an innovative approach arguing for a broadening of Chinese screen cultures to account for new technologies of screening from computers and digital video to smaller screens (including mobile phones). It also considers time and technology in both popular blockbusters and independent art films from mainland China Taiwan Hong Kong and the Chinese diasporas. The contributors explore transnational connections including little-discussed Chinese-Japanese and Sino-Soviet interactions. With an exciting array of essays by established and emerging scholars Futures of Chinese Cinema represents a fresh contribution to film and cultural studies.