British Film Institute – serie

British films of the 1960s are undervalued. Their search for realism has often been dismissed as drabness and their more frivolous efforts can now appear just empty-headed. Robert Murphy's Sixties British Cinema is the first study to challenge this view. He shows that the realist tradition of the late 50s and early 60s was anything but dreary and depressing, and gave birth to a clutch of films remarkable for their confidence and vitality: Saturday Night and Sunday Morning, A Kind of Loving, and A Taste of Honey are only the better known titles. Sixties British Cinema revalues key genres of the period - horror, crime and comedy - and takes a fresh look at the 'swinging London' films, finding disturbing undertones that reflect the cultural changes of the decade. Now that our cinematic past is constantly recycled on television, Murphy's informative, engaging and perceptive review of these films and their cultural and industrial context offers an invaluable guide to this neglected era of British cinema.

This work maps the rich, varied cinema of Eastern Europe, Russia and the former USSR. Over 200 entries cover a variety of topics spanning a century of endeavour and turbulent history from Czech animation to Soviet montage, from the silent cinemas dating back to World War I through to the varied responses to the conflicts in the former Yugoslavia. It includes entries on actors and actresses, film festivals, studios, genres, directors, film movements, critics, producers and technicians, taking the coverage up to the late 1990s. In addition to the historical material of key figures like Eisenstein and Wadja, the editors provide separate accounts of the trajectory of the cinemas of Eastern Europe and of Russia in the wake of the collapse of communism.

This work examines major box office hits like 'The Full Monty' as well as critically acclaimed films like 'Under the Skin'. It explores the role of distribution and exhibition, the Americanisation of British film culture, Hollywood and Europe, changing representations of sexuality and ethnicity.

In the conference Africa and the History of Cinematic Ideas held in London in 1995, film-makers, cultural theorists and critics gathered to debate a range of issues. Views were exchanged on such topics as imperialism, and the problems of distribution.

What will prove to be the lasting impact of New Media on film and television? What kinds of transformations of moving image media are really already under way? The term 'new media' has become an effective catch word both as a description of the digital delivery of media via the Internet, DVD, and digital television and as a reference to the 'newness' such technologies have brought to media more generally. And yet the nature of this transformation has been over-hyped and too little understood. The New Media Book provides an accessible, critical intervention into the field of moving image studies and features 20 newly commissioned and thought-provoking essays in a format designed to be of wide use to a range of courses in digital media, film and television studies. The book is divided into five thematic sections: Technologies, Production, Texts, Consumption, and Contexts and addresses how 'new media' is both embracing and altering the existing media landscape. Topics discussed include the ways in which we interact with digital television, the changing methods of production, distribution, and exhibition within the media industry, and how the histories of traditional media have influenced the development of new media. The New Media Book examines the corresponding influences that 'traditional' media and 'new' media are having upon each other as well as revisiting central, continuing issues surrounding the moving image and the contexts in which all the media operate. The collected essays present and redefine these crucially important topics providing the most systematic analysis of both change and continuity in the contemporary media landscape yet published in the field of screen studies.

Why are some contemporary television shows so compelling? The Sopranos, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Friends and ER are examples among many of a new era of the 'must-see' programme. These shows and others like The X-Files and Ally McBeal, have a compulsiveness, a depth of characterisation and 'back-story' that puts most of cinema to shame. Quality Popular Television looks at this new category of 'cult' television (mostly US-produced) and the reasons for its emergence. Looking at shows as diverse as Ally McBeal, Martial Law, Buffy, Lois and Clark, Star Trek: The Next Generation and Ellen the book examines the particular qualities necessary for success and how they relate to issues such as the economics of network scheduling, the growth of the internet and contemporary debates about television audiences. This important new book provides an invaluable window on transformations in contemporary television culture.

Teen TV is the first anthology dedicated to a broad range of television programmes produced for and watched by teenagers. With extensive coverage of shows such as Dawson's Creek, Roswell, Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Australia's Heartbreak High, the book examines how these dramas construct and reaffirm distinct visions of 'youth'. Addressing a number of fundamental questions, the contributors ask: Is teen TV a genre in its own right? What other narrative forms do these programmes draw upon and why? How does teen TV interact with other entertainment industries, such as those of music and cinema? What position does teen TV hold within wider practices of consumption and identity inscription? The book offers a fascinating survey of the different forms teen TV takes and the many ways in which it is produced and consumed.

Despite the key contribution of sound to the development of cinema as a modern (and modernist) art form, analyses of the relationship between film and modernism often overlook the key role played by sound in film.Film Sound Modernism addresses this critical neglect by exploring how speech, music and sound effects have been used by filmmakers to articulate the conditions and experiences of modernity. Through a wide-ranging analysis of international films, including those from Taiwan, Mexico, Poland and Hong Kong, Andy Birtwistle approaches modernism as both a trans-historical and trans-national phenomenon. He provides close readings of key examples of experimental and art cinema, including The Forgotten Village (1941), L'avventura (1960), Riddles of the Sphinx (1977), The Terrorizers (1986) and Perestroika (2009). He then goes on to tackle topics including the use of environmental sounds in the films of Michelangelo Antonioni, Tsai Ming-liang, and Edward Yang, the voices of non-actors and artist filmmakers, and the ways in which forms of creative noise challenge the traditional division of the soundtrack into dialogue, music and effects. In doing so, he investigates the forms of sonic and audio-visual experimentation that developed within the medium and re-examines cinema's place within the broader history of modernism.

In this new edition of The Television Genre Book, leading international scholars have come together to offer an accessible and comprehensive update to the debates, issues and concerns of the field. As television continues to evolve rapidly, this new edition reflects the ways in which TV has transformed in recent years, particularly with the emergence of online streaming services such as Netflix, Disney+, HBO Max and Amazon Prime. It also includes a new chapter on sports TV, and expanded coverage of horror, political thrillers, Nordic noir, historical documentary and docu-drama. With analyses of popular shows like Stranger Things, Killing Eve, The Crown, Chernobyl, Black Mirror, Fleabag, Breaking Bad and RuPaul’s Drag Race, this book offers a comprehensive understanding of television genre for scholars and students alike.

Action Cinema Since 2000 addresses an increasingly lively and evolving field of scholarship, probing the definition and testing the potential of action cinema to reframe the mode for the 21st century.Contributors examine a broad range of content, from blockbusters to smaller independent films, originating from China, Korea, India, France, the USA, and Mexico. Ranging from JSA: Joint Security Area (Gondonggeonygbi guyeok) (2000) to Polite Society (2023), they consider the changing modes of action cinema, with streaming assuming global importance and an ever-increasing number of generic blends. They consider under-explored areas of action film, particularly how race, ethnicity, gender, and age figure in narratives and through image and soundtracks.Overall, the book demonstrates how 21st century action cinema engages with and reflects geopolitical, creative, and industrial developments. Contributors argue that it continues to offer fantasies of empowerment and mobility that say much about how power is understood in diverse contexts today.

Richard Dyer is a foundational figure for the critical study of cinema and popular culture. Across a career spanning five decades, he has made path breaking contributions to our understanding of stardom and celebrity, gay and queer politics and cultural history, film music, race and whiteness and the pleasures of popular entertainment. The Richard Dyer Reader brings together for the first time key writings by this vital and influential figure, many of which are not otherwise available. The anthology guides readers through Dyer’s prolific and rich output through six thematic selections of essays and extracts, each centred on a key theme in Dyer's work: stardom and the image; entertainment and ideology; gay politics and representation; whiteness; the pleasures of popular entertainment, and textual analysis. A seventh section comprises a selection of interviews conducted across the span of his career, as well as a new interview with editors Glyn Davis and Jaap Kooijman. The book will provide an introduction for those new to Dyer’s writings, as well as offering a fresh perspective for readers with a more comprehensive knowledge of his work. The collection includes archival and recent pieces of writing never previously anthologised, newly commissioned essays, a substantial introduction to Dyer’s life and work and framing introduction to each section.

In a comprehensively revised and updated new edition, James Naremore provides an illuminating critical account of the films of Stanley Kubrick, from his earliest feature, Fear and Desire (1953), to the posthumously-produced A.I. Artificial Intelligence (Steven Spielberg, 2001). Naremore offers provocative analyses of each of Kubrick's films, considering his emphasis on the absurdity of combat, as in Paths of Glory (1957) and Full Metal Jacket (1987), the failure of scientific reasoning, as in 2001 (1968), and the fascistic impulses in masculine sexuality, as in Dr Strangelove (1964) and Eyes Wide Shut (1999). He argues that while Kubrick was a voracious intellectual and a life-long autodidact, the fascination of his work has less to do with the ideas it espouses than with the emotions it evokes.Combining close readings with new insights into the production histories and cultural contexts of key films, Naremore provides a concise yet thorough discussion that will be useful to students of Kubrick's filmmaking and cinephiles who seek a deeper insight into the work of this perfectionist genius.Revised throughout, this new edition also includes a fully updated bibliography of critical writings on Kubrick's cinema.

Challenging the study of both celebrity and the cinema, Mandy Merck argues that modern fame and film melodrama are part of the same worldview, one that cannot resolve the relation of personal worth to social esteem. Tracing the history of this conundrum back to the philosophy of the 17th century and the theatre of the 18th, she demonstrates its convergence in stage melodrama and its intensification in the Hollywood star system. Are today’s celebrities worth our attention? In that demand for judgement and the hope for its visual guidance, the melodramatic imagination survives – permeating not only fiction film, but documentary, the artist’s film, and our self-exhibition on social media.Examining a range of classical and contemporary films from Charlie Chaplin's City Lights (1931) to Laura Poitras’s Citizenfour (2014) , the many remakes of A Star Is Born, the compulsory exhibitionism of political celebrity and the unmasking of whistle-blowers, Merck illustrates the ways in which the cinema constantly restages the moral evaluation of prominent individuals, whether they are actors, artists, politicians or activists.

Japanese animation is at the nexus of an international multimedia industry worth over $23.6 billion a year, linked to everything from manga to computer games, Pokémon and plushies. In this comprehensive guide, Jonathan Clements chronicles the production and reception history of the entire medium, from a handful of hobbyists in the 1910s to the Oscar-winning Spirited Away and beyond.Exploring the cultural and technological developments of the past century, Clements addresses how anime’s history has been written by Japanese scholars, and covers previously neglected topics such as wartime instructional animation and work-for-hire for American clients. Founded on the testimonies of industry professionals, and drawing on a myriad of Japanese-language documents, memoirs and books, Anime: A History illuminates the anime business from the inside – investigating its innovators, its unsung heroes and its controversies.This new edition has been updated and revised throughout, with full colour illustrations and three new chapters on anime’s fortunes among Chinese audiences and subcontractors, 21st century trends in ‘otaku economics’, and the huge transformations brought about by the rise of global streaming technology.

Cinema Memories brings together and analyses the memories of almost a thousand people of going to the cinema in Britain during the 1960s. It offers a fresh perspective on the social, cultural and film history of what has come to be seen as an iconic decade, with the release of films such as A Taste of Honey, The Sound of Music, Darling, Blow-Up, Alfie, The Graduate, and Bonnie and Clyde. Drawing on first-hand accounts, authors Melvyn Stokes, Matthew Jones and Emma Pett explore how cinema-goers constructed meanings from the films they watched - through a complex process of negotiation between the films concerned, their own social and cultural identities, and their awareness of changes in British society. Their analysis helps the reader see what light the cultural memory of 1960s cinema-going sheds on how the Sixties in Britain is remembered and interpreted. Positioning their study within debates about memory, 1960s cinema, and the seemingly transformative nature of this decade of British history, the authors reflect on the methodologies deployed, the use of memories as historical sources, and the various ways in which cinema and cinema-going came to mean something to their audiences.

Experimental Cinema examines a range of structures, systems and strategies that film and video artists have developed from the late 1960s to the present. Over the decades, artists have responded to the ever-changing medium of cinema and its technological advances, as well as taking inspiration from painting, sculpture and music.Simon Payne argues that the evolution of methodical strategies in experimental cinema goes back to the first avant-garde films made a century ago, in the 1920s. He shows how key figures internationally have formed part of this picture since then, but suggests that the most thorough formal exploration of cinema can be credited to a generation of artists that began making films in Britain in the 1960s and 1970s.Payne analyses the work of numerous influential artists including Peter Gidal, David Hall, Malcolm Le Grice, Annabel Nicolson, Jayne Parker and Guy Sherwin. He discusses recent and lesser-known works as well as canonical films, videos and expanded cinema. He also pays close attention to younger artists including Jenny Baines, Neil Henderson, Jennifer Nightingale and Samantha Rebello.Experimental Cinema traces a lineage that has defined some of the central preoccupations of artists’ film and video, which continue to test our expectations of cinema, television and the moving image.

This open access book presents the first critical analysis of the work of Stephen Dwoskin, groundbreaking filmmaker, artist, graphic designer and writer.Stephen Dwoskin (1939-2012) was a groundbreaking filmmaker, artist, graphic designer and writer, most renowned for his key role in establishing the London Film Makers Co-Op and The Other Cinema, his book Film Is…(1975), and his experimental, feature length and documentary films. Though his films continue to be screened around the world, his work has - until now - remained chronically under-researched.Emerging from a major AHRC-funded University of Reading/LUX/BFI research project which explored the unique archive from Dwoskin's estate, this book is the first to critique, analyse and give new insights into this influential but under-studied figure. Inside, a range of established scholars, artists who worked with Dwoskin, emerging critics, curators, cultural historians and archivists highlight Dwoskin’s continued relevance to the fields of art history and fine art, film studies, archives and collections, graphic design, and disability studies.The ebook editions of this book are available open access under a CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 licence on bloomsburycollections.com. Open access was funded by the Royal College of Art.

On the evening of 26 January 1926, inventor John Logie Baird held a public demonstration in his workspace on London’s Frith Street of a ‘seeing by wireless’ apparatus that he and many others had been working towards, television. In the years that followed, variants of this astonishing device produced programming that was rich, complex and excitingly imaginative. Familiar television genres, including studio drama, quiz shows, variety spectaculars and sports broadcasts, were all fully realised in the 1930s. At the same time, early television was often strikingly different from later domestic broadcasting.Television began with intimate entanglements with interwar cinema, theatre, music and dance. And, despite reaching only tiny audiences, from its beginnings television responded to key strands of social history, embracing legacies of the Great War, changing roles for women, suburban living and more.Magic Rays of Light is a unique and comprehensive cultural history of early television, exploring its technologies and institutions, while also celebrating the programmes and the people, the ideas and the innovations of the first decade of what would become the most consequential medium of the subsequent century.

This book examines the integral role that makeup plays in the construction and promotion of female stardom, focusing on the transitional Hollywood period, between 1950 and 1970, a time of great change in Hollywood with the advent of television, the break-up of the studios and the break-down of the production code. Cathy Lomax's compelling study features in-depth case studies of stars Vivien Leigh, Marilyn Monroe, Natalie Wood, Dorothy Dandridge and Joan Crawford alongside archival images of make-up promotional material and the make up used by stars and their fans to interrogate the role of makeup in defining and adjusting the appearance of race, beauty, ageing, naturalness, and sexual appeal in the star image. Makeup is a vital technical material in film and photography; correcting skin-tones for different film stocks and making features visible under bright lights. But it is also a component of a film’s mise-en-scene, intrinsically linked to the visual allure of cinema and helps to shape and refine the female star image, both on- and off-screen. Lomax's case studies show how makeup was used to create female figures such as the femme fatale played by Marilyn Monroe in Niagara (1953); how in various roles Natalie Wood's makeup was used to suggest a youthful, natural and openly sexual young woman, or, when as a white actress she was cast in 'ethnic' roles, to create an impression of a Hispanic, Native American or Black identity; how Dorothy Dandridge's light skin challenged codes around inter-racial relationships, with the result that her skin was darkened for love scenes with Black actors, and how the transition to colour impacted Joan Crawford's star persona as she aged, and how ideas about the grotesque nature of female ageing were represented in the 1960s cycle of 'hag horror' movies such as 1962's Whatever Happened to Baby Jane? Drawing on film studies, feminist debates on masquerade theory, celebrity studies and fashion and cultural studies, alongside information from biographies, fan magazines, archives, and practical experience from her own work as a makeup artist, Lomax reveals the vital and under-examined role that makeup plays in the display of femininity on film, and how this is exemplified through the construction of individuated stardom. By making visible a material, that because of its connection with feminine adornment has been overlooked or disregarded, this book highlights undervalued labour, and foregrounds the female agency that was articulated by the design and application of makeup.

This book examines the integral role that makeup plays in the construction and promotion of female stardom, focusing on the transitional Hollywood period, between 1950 and 1970, a time of great change in Hollywood with the advent of television, the break-up of the studios and the break-down of the production code. Cathy Lomax's compelling study features in-depth case studies of stars Vivien Leigh, Marilyn Monroe, Natalie Wood, Dorothy Dandridge and Joan Crawford alongside archival images of make-up promotional material and the make up used by stars and their fans to interrogate the role of makeup in defining and adjusting the appearance of race, beauty, ageing, naturalness, and sexual appeal in the star image. Makeup is a vital technical material in film and photography; correcting skin-tones for different film stocks and making features visible under bright lights. But it is also a component of a film’s mise-en-scene, intrinsically linked to the visual allure of cinema and helps to shape and refine the female star image, both on- and off-screen. Lomax's case studies show how makeup was used to create female figures such as the femme fatale played by Marilyn Monroe in Niagara (1953); how in various roles Natalie Wood's makeup was used to suggest a youthful, natural and openly sexual young woman, or, when as a white actress she was cast in 'ethnic' roles, to create an impression of a Hispanic, Native American or Black identity; how Dorothy Dandridge's light skin challenged codes around inter-racial relationships, with the result that her skin was darkened for love scenes with Black actors, and how the transition to colour impacted Joan Crawford's star persona as she aged, and how ideas about the grotesque nature of female ageing were represented in the 1960s cycle of 'hag horror' movies such as 1962's Whatever Happened to Baby Jane? Drawing on film studies, feminist debates on masquerade theory, celebrity studies and fashion and cultural studies, alongside information from biographies, fan magazines, archives, and practical experience from her own work as a makeup artist, Lomax reveals the vital and under-examined role that makeup plays in the display of femininity on film, and how this is exemplified through the construction of individuated stardom. By making visible a material, that because of its connection with feminine adornment has been overlooked or disregarded, this book highlights undervalued labour, and foregrounds the female agency that was articulated by the design and application of makeup.

Auteur study is a key element of Film Studies, and has become increasingly important in Media Studies, thanks to the popularity of cult auteurs such as Tarantino and Fincher. However, this theoretical aspect of film can seem obscure and difficult to communicate. Teaching Auteur Study provides a coherent and clear approach to the topic. Using examples throughout, the guide outlines the main elements of Auteur theory, provides an overview of how it developed, summarising some of its main proponents, and considers the influence it has had in the way we think about film. It summarises the criteria for defining a filmmaker as an auteur and explores issues of creative control. The guide also looks at the idea of film authorship from the point of view of the audience, and how it influences audience expectations and marketing campaigns.

Tele-Visions: An Introduction to Studying Television Studies has been specifically designed to offer a comprehensive, authoritative, accessible and lively introduction to the subject of television studies. Written by many of the leading international figures in the field, it covers all the major issues, debates, key terms, histories and methodologies that go to make up this exciting new area of expertise. Skilfully illuminated through actual programmes, detailed case studies and recommended readings, it will offer an invaluable insight into how television is produced, broadcast, controlled, consumed and critically examined. From textual analysis to audience studies; from studying drama to studying documentary; from policy and regulation to regionality and globalisation; from authorship to ideology; from modernism to postmodernism; from aesthetics to fandom; from histories to futures; this book offers an expansive and clearly structured account of both how and why we study television. Unapologetically ambitious, 'Tele-Visions' will both explain and expand our knowledge of the subject, clarifying traditional areas of debate while also setting out new agendas and critical possibilities. It is an essential book for anyone studying television and the media today. Fully illustrated - it includes selected reading guides and full bibliographies that will help students at all levels.

Despite its global reach, longstanding popularity, and immense profitability, sitcom has been repeatedly neglected in theoretical work on television and media. This book demonstrates that this lack needs to be sorely addressed, by dragging analysis of sitcom up to date, with a wealth of contemporary examples, a range of new approaches to the genre, and examination of the roles sitcom and comedy play within society. The book takes as its starting point the variety of ways in which sitcom has traditionally been explored. A chapter on genre examines the history and development of sitcom, and the institutional structures which produce it. There is also analysis of differences between sitcoms produced in a range of countries, and what happens when a programme gets sold abroad and remade. A chapter on representation explores the debates about the ways in which sitcom chooses who to make jokes about and why, and whether this matters. And a chapter on performance argues that this is a vital, and underexplored, aspect of sitcom's funniness, and interrogates the ways in which comic actors make their performance funny. With specific case studies on Will and Grace, The Office, and The Cosby Show, as well as analysis of a broad range of contemporary and historical examples throughout, this book will be of interest to students of sitcom and comedy, as well as those of television and popular culture.

One of the most revealing snapshots of British cinema-going ever produced, The Ultimate Film is the definitive list of the all-time top 100 films based on UK cinema admissions. From the 1930s to the present, the chart shows the diverse tastes that come together to make up Britain's choice of film favourites. Is Harry Potter more popular than The Lord of the Rings? How does Bond compare with Bridget Jones? The Ultimate Film has the answers taking the reader from Carry on Nurse to A Clockwork Orange, South Pacific to Star Wars and Ben Hur all the way to Doctor Zhivago. Each film is looked at in turn. What did the critics think of it when it was released and, with the benefit of hindsight, were they right? Who were the stars and who directed the action? What happened behind the scenes? What other films were being lauded at the same time? What was happening in the country and the wider world that led the film to be made, and then made it so popular? Sure to provoke debate and discussion, this fascinating and lavishly illustrated book tells us much about our shared history, culture and attitudes and will undoubtedly rekindle memories and experiences as everyone will be able to point to their personal history, interwoven with some of these films. This is the first time a list has been compiled based on the films people have most wanted to see. Some of the results will come as a surprise and the list has much to tell us about how we once were, and how cinema going has played no small part in shaping our culture and helped make us the way we are today.

While not a production study, this book attempts to provide an insight into the inner workings of the television industry. As such its central concern is with processes, not texts or techniques or histories. 'Television Industries' focuses on the essential elements of the industry: the policy and regulatory frameworks, the swiftly changing world of video production technology, all of which provides the backdrops against which broadcasters shape and sell their products. The book also examines the working practices of scheduling, budgeting, selling advertising air-time and so forth. Where issues may be familiar to readers (for example debates around public service broadcasting) the entries aim to be explanatory and fresh. Of course, it's not possible to cover every aspect of what is a complex and ever changing industry. Nonetheless, the aim is to provide a starting point for students and new scholars as they start to research into the nature of the broadcasting industry. Hence, this volume is extensively cross-referenced, to guide the reader as they tease out for themselves some of the complexity of this industry. There are several other elements that are distinctive about this volume. Perhaps the most striking of these is its blend of contributions from the UK and US. This book will raise as many questions as it provides answers. It aims to make a contribution to the on-going debates in the now well-established world of television studies with fresh perspectives on some familiar, and some not so familiar, landscapes. Fully illustrated, 'Television Industries' is intended as an authoritative and accessible guide to the inner workings of the television industry.

A comprehensive guide to European actors in American film, this book brings together 15 chapters with A-Z entries on over 900 individuals. It includes case studies of prominent individuals and phenomena associated with the emigres, such as the stereotyping of European actresses in 'bad women' roles, and the irony of Jewish actors playing Nazis.

On Kubrick is a critical study of Stanley Kubrick's career, beginning with his earliest feature, "Fear and Desire" (1953), and ending with his posthumous production of "A.I., Artificial Intelligence" (2001). Organized in six parts ("The Taste Machine," "Young Kubrick," "Kubrick, Harris, Douglas," "Stanley Kubrick Presents," "Late Kubrick," and "Epilogue"), it offers provocative analysis of each of Kubrick's films together with new information about their production histories and cultural contexts. Its ultimate aim is to provide a concise yet thorough discussion that will be useful as both an academic text and a trade publication. The book argues that in several respects Kubrick was one of the cinema's last modernists: his taste and sensibility were shaped by the artistic culture of New York in the 1950s; he became a celebrated auteur who forged a distinctive style; he used art-cinema conventions in commercial productions; he challenged censorship regulations; and throughout his career he was preoccupied with one of the central themes of modernist art - the conflict between rationality and its ever-present shadow, the unconscious. War and science are often the subjects of his films, and his work has a hyper-masculine quality; yet no director has more relentlessly emphasized the absurdity of combat, the failure of scientific reasoning, and the fascistic impulses in masculine sexuality. The book also argues that while Kubrick was a voracious intellectual and a life-long autodidact, the fascination of his work has less to do with the ideas it espouses than with the emotions it evokes. Often described as "cool" or "cold," Kubrick is best understood as a skillful practitioner of what might be called the aesthetics of the grotesque; he employs extreme forms of caricature and black comedy to create disgusting, frightening, yet also laughable images of the human body. No less than Diane Arbus (who was his contemporary), he makes his viewers uneasy, unsure how to react either emotionally or politically.

Traces the history and development of Channel 4, one of the UK's best loved and most controversial TV channels. Identifies key figures and signature programmes such as 'Brookside,' 'The Big Breakfast' and 'Wife Swap,' as well as successful American imports including 'Friends' and 'Sex and the City.'

Chinese cinema continues to go from strength to strength. After art-house hits like Chen Kaige's Yellow Earth (1984) and Wong Kar-wai's In the Mood for Love (2000), the Oscar-winning success of Ang Lee's Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon (2000) disproved the old myth that subtitled films could not succeed at the multiplex. Chinese Films in Focus II updates and expands the original Chinese Films in Focus: 25 New Takes with fourteen brand new essays, to offer thirty-four fresh and insightful readings of key individual films. The new edition addresses films from mainland China, Taiwan, Hong Kong and other parts of the Chinese diaspora and the historical coverage ranges from the 1930s to the present.  The essays, by leading authorities on Chinese cinema as well as up-and-coming scholars, are concise, accessible, rich, and on the cutting edge of current research. Each contributor outlines existing writing and presents an original perspective on the film, making this volume a rich resource for classroom use, scholarly research and general reading for anyone wanting to understand more about the historical development and rich variety of Chinese cinema.Contributors: Annette Aw, Chris Berry, Yomi Braester, Felicia Chan, Esther Cheung, Robert Chi, Rey Chow, Mary Farquhar, Carolyn FitzGerald, Ping Fu, Kristine Harris, Margaret Hillenbrand, Brian Hu, Tan See Kam, Haiyan Lee, Vivian Lee, Helen Hok-Sze Leung, David Leiwei Li, Song Hwee Lim, Kam Louie, Fran Martin, Jason McGrath, Corrado Neri, Jonathan Noble, Beremoce Reynaud, Cui Shuqin, Julian Stringer, Janice Tong, Yiman Wang, Faye Hui Xiao, Gang Gary Xu, Audrey Yue, Yingjin Zhang, John ZouThe Editor:  Chris Berry is Professor of Film and Television at Goldsmiths, University of London.