Companion to the Biopic

Inbunden, Engelska, 2019

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Beskrivning

The most comprehensive reference text of theoretical and historical discourse on the biopic filmThe biopic, often viewed as the most reviled of all film genres, traces its origins to the early silent era over a century ago. Receiving little critical attention, biopics are regularly dismissed as superficial, formulaic, and disrespectful of history. Film critics, literary scholars and historians tend to believe that biopics should be artistic, yet accurate, true-to-life representations of their subjects. Moviegoing audiences, however, do not seem to hold similar views; biopics continue to be popular, commercially viable films. Even the genre’s most ardent detractors will admit that these films are often very watchable, particularly due to the performance of the lead actor. It is increasingly common for stars of biographical films to garner critical praise and awards, driving a growing interest in scholarship in the genre.A Companion to the Biopic is the first global and authoritative reference on the subject. Offering theoretical, historical, thematic, and performance-based approaches, this unique volume brings together the work of top scholars to discuss the coverage of the lives of authors, politicians, royalty, criminals, and pop stars through the biopic film. Chapters explore evolving attitudes and divergent perspectives on the genre with topics such as the connections between biopics and literary melodramas, the influence financial concerns have on aesthetic, social, or moral principles, the merger of historical narratives with Hollywood biographies, stereotypes and criticisms of the biopic genre, and more. This volume: Provides a systematic, in-depth analysis of the biopic and considers how the choice of historical subject reflects contemporary issuesPlaces emphasis on films that portray race and gender issuesExplores the uneven boundaries of the genre by addressing what is and is not a biopic as well as the ways in which films simultaneously embrace and defy historical authenticityExamines the distinction between reality and ‘the real’ in biographical filmsOffers a chronological survey of biopics from the beginning of the 20th centuryA Companion to the Biopic is a valuable resource for researchers, scholars, and students of history, film studies, and English literature, as well as those in disciplines that examine interpretations of historical figures

Produktinformation

Utgivningsdatum:2019-12-30
Mått:175 x 246 x 25 mm
Vikt:953 g
Format:Inbunden
Språk:Engelska
Antal sidor:464
Förlag:John Wiley and Sons Ltd
ISBN:9781119554813

Utforska kategorier

Samhälle och kultur inom Samhälle och politik

Mer om författaren

DEBORAH CARTMELL is Associate Pro Vice-Chancellor, Director of the Centre for Adaptations, and Professor of English at De Montfort University, Leicester, UK. She is founding editor of two journals, Shakespeare and Adaptation, and founder and first Chair of the Association of Adaptation Studies. She is series editor of the Bloomsbury Adaptation Histories. ASHLEY D. POLASEK is Instructor of English at Tri-County Technical College, Pendleton, South Carolina, USA, and Honorary Research Fellow of the Centre for Adaptations at De Montfort University, Leicester, UK. She is a member of the Association of Adaptation Studies, The Literature/Film Association, and is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts.

Innehållsförteckning

List of Contributors ixAcknowledgements xiiiList of Figures xv1 Introduction 1Deborah Cartmell and Ashley D. PolasekPart I Approaches 112 Biopics and the Trembling Ethics of the Real 13Timothy Corrigan3 Biopics and the Melodramatic Mode 23Sonia Amalia Haiduc4 Television Biopics: Questions of Genre, Nation, and Medium 45Jonathan Bignell5 Alexander Mackendrick’s Mary Stuart and Alan Sharp’s Burns: Two Unfilmed Scottish Biopics 61Brian HoylePart II Histories 876 The Hollywood Biopic of the Twentieth Century: A History 89Deborah Cartmell7 Silent Biopics 103Gregory Robinson8 A Match Made in Heaven?: The Biopic in Pre‐Revolution Russian Cinema 125Henrik Christensen9 The Golden Age Hollywood Biopic: The Barretts of Wimpole Street 1934–1957 147Deborah Cartmell10 Caligula, History, and the Erotic Imagination 159I.Q. Hunter11 Representing the Unrepresentable: The Army of Crime and Biopic Generic Conventions of Identity 191Hila Shachar12 Nature Versus Nurture/Wilderness Versus Words: Syncretising Binaries and the Getting of Wisdom in Sean Penn’s Into the Wild (2007) 209Melissa CroteauPart III Sub‐biopic Genres 23113 Fleming, Adaptation, and the Author Biopic 233Jeremy Strong14 Partial Presidential Biography on Stage and Screen: Franklin D. Roosevelt in Sunrise at Campobello 247Dean J. Kotlowski15 Can the Biopic Subjects Speak?: Disembodied Voices in The King’s Speech and The Theory of Everything 269Alexa Alice Joubin16 Biographical Fantasia on Screen: Derek Jarman’s Wittgenstein, Karol Radziszewski’s MS 101, and the Strategy of Detournement 283Robert Kusek17 The Criminal and the Yarn: Adapting and Performing Notoriety 297Imelda Whelehan18 ‘The Man Behind the Myth’: Mr. Holmes and the Fictional Biopic 309Ashley D. PolasekPart IV Biopic Performances 33119 ‘She was an actress …’: Performing Margaret Thatcher in The Iron Lady 333Christine Geraghty20 Film (Noir) à Clef: Jailhouse Rock, A Hard Day’s Night, and the ‘Jukebox’ Biopic 353Robert Miklitsch21 A Recipe for Life: Constructing the Biopic through New Media 375Annie Nissen22 Performance and Prestige in the Biopic, or Stardom and Statuettes 395Colleen Kennedy‐Karpat23 The Matter of Black Lives: Representations of Prominent Afro‐Americans in Biopics 415Lucinda HobbsIndex 435