Colette Balmain – författare

This book is a major historical and cultural overview of an increasingly popular genre. Starting with the cultural phenomenon of Godzilla, it explores the evolution of Japanese horror from the 1950s through to contemporary classics of Japanese horror cinema such as Ringu and Ju-On: The Grudge. Divided thematically, the book explores key motifs such as the vengeful virgin, the demonic child, the doomed lovers and the supernatural serial killer, situating them within traditional Japanese mythology and folk-tales. The book also considers the aesthetics of the Japanese horror film, and the mechanisms through which horror is expressed at a visceral level through the use of setting, lighting, music and mise-en-scene. It concludes by considering the impact of Japanese horror on contemporary American cinema by examining the remakes of Ringu, Dark Water and Ju-On: The Grudge.The emphasis is on accessibility, and whilst the book is primarily marketed towards film and media students, it will also be of interest to anyone interested in Japanese horror film, cultural mythology and folk-tales, cinematic aesthetics and film theory.Key Features:*Covers classics of Japanese horror film such as Pitfall, Tales of Ugetsu, Kwaidan, Onibaba, Hellish Love and Empire of Desire alongside less well-known cult films such as Pulse, St John’s Wort, Infection and Living Hell: A Japanese Chainsaw Massacre.*Includes analysis of the relationship between cultural mythology and the horror film.*Explores the evolution of the erotic ghost story in the 1960s and 1970s.*Examines the contemporary relationship between Japanese horror film and American horror.*Contains 9 B&W film stills.

Concurrent with the growing body of scholarship on South Korean cinema, Directory of World Cinema: South Korea offers an accessible overview of South Korea's film industry. In addition to the action and horror films usually considered in studies of South Korean cinema, this volume also examines genres that have traditionally lacked critical attention, including romantic comedies and gay and lesbian features. Essays by leading film scholars explore a variety of topics, including the emergence of South Korean cinema into the global marketplace in the late 1990s; the genre known as hanyru, or the Korean Wave; and the centrality of film festivals in promoting new South Korean films. The most comprehensive English-language publication available on South Korean cinema, this informative, analytical and entertaining guide will be widely appreciated by film fans and enthusiasts of Korean pop culture.

The «Korean Wave», or Hallyu phenomenon, has brought South Korean popular culture to the global population. Studies on Korean visual culture have therefore often focused on this aspect, leaving North Korea sidelined and often considered in a negative light because of its political regime. Korean Screen Cultures sets out to redress this imbalance with a broad selection of essays spanning both North and South as well as different methodological approaches, from ethnographic and audience studies to cultural materialist readings. The first section of the book, «The South», highlights popular media – including online gaming and television drama – and concentrates on the margins, in which the very nature of «The South» is contested. «The South and the North» examines North Korea as an ideological other in South Korean popular culture as well as discussing North Korean cinema itself. «The Global» offers new approaches to Korean popular culture beyond national borders and includes work on K-pop and Korean television drama. This book is a vital addition to existing scholarship on Korean popular culture, offering a unique view by providing an imaginary unification of the two Koreas negotiated through local and transnational popular culture flows.