World Directors – serie

A discussion of the frequently controversial film maker Youssef Chahine. The book aims to illuminate Chahine's work in the context of modern Egyptian culture and its tumultuous post-war history and how such films as 'Cairo Station' (1958), 'The Earth' (1959) and 'The Sparrow' (1973) dramatized the dilemmas of ordinary Egyptians. He also argues that Chahine's intensely autobiographical trilogy 'Alexandria...Why?' (1978), 'An Egyptian Story' (1985) and 'Alexandria...More and More' (1989) spoke to the concerns of the broader Egyptian intelligentsia amongst whom he has earned the reputation of being the 'poet and thinker' of modern Arab cinema. The final analysis of the book argues that Chahine's work stands comparison with directors such as Fellini, Bergman, Kurosawa or Sembene but also emphatically draws strength from its links with one of the most vibrant popular cinemas of the world and from the roots and traditions of popular Arabic culture.

As a charismatic director in the Indian film industry, Chopra's name is synonymous with the glamour of the romantic film and a certain style within Indian culture. Spanning four decades, his directed features include some of the classic films of Indian film history, such as 'Deewaar' and 'Kabhi Kabhie'. His directorial career began in 1959 with 'Dhool Ka Phool' and he has been a major producer since 1973, consolidating his success in the 1990s with a series of huge box office hits including 'Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jayenge'. He has also worked in other Hindi movie genres, directing action movies such as 'Mashaal' and a thriller, 'Darr'. This book discusses in depth his work with the Hindi megastar Amitabh Bachanan in films such as 'Deewaar', 'Trishul', 'Kala Patthar' and 'Silsila' and how, in his transformation of the look of mainstream cinema in 'Dil To Pagal Hai' and other films, Yash Chopra has proved to be a tireless innovator within a mainstream tradition. The author integrates this analysis with information about the man and his work, based on interviews with Yash Chopra, his family, his colleagues, his stars, his contemporaries and major critics that include views from Amitabh Bachchan, Shahrukh Khan, Shashi Kapoor and Sri Devi. A study of a top contemporary Indian film director, Rachel Dwyer's book also examines the influence on Chopra of predecessors such as Raj Kapoor and how his own legacy can be seen in such films as 'Kuch Kuch Hota Hai' and younger directors such as Karan Johar and Aditya Chopra.

Films such as 'The Adjuster', 'Calendar' and 'Speaking Parts' established Canadian Armenian director Atom Egoyan as a leading contender for being the worlds most alluring post-modern filmmaker. In these and other films the distortions and perversions of the self are mirrored through an omnipresent (and sexualised) visual media culture. Through the filter of a compassionate detachment his work is an unparalleled probing of identity and alienation, sexuality and dysfunction, psychology and subjectivity. Critic Jonathan Romney traces Egoyan's career, film by film - from his early shorts, through the video-themed features that made his name, to his emergence as prize-winning A list auteur with 'The Sweet Hereafter' and the wider canvasses of his most recent films 'Felicia's Journey' and 'Ararat'. The author shows how films such as Egoyan's 'Exotica' (set in a strip club and structured like a striptease) offer their viewers rich, almost inexhaustibly complex pleasures and demonstrate the craft of one of contemporary cinema's most provocative auteurs.

With no less than two Golden Palms from Cannes and scores of other top awards, Bosnian-born Emir Kusturica is one of the most decorated and celebrated film directors in the world. Films such as Time of the Gypsies (1989) and Underground (1995) have captivated audiences with their extraordinary imagination, exuberant energy and challenging and often contentious subjectmatter. But Kusturica is also one of the most controversial directors working in cinema today. While many critics have praised his free-flying fantasy, others have found his films excessively exoticised and overdrawn. Some have publicly criticised his politics. He has an extensive international fan following who worship his work and think of him as a film-making genius, but there are also people who think of him as an opportunist. Dina Iordanova's study in the BFI World Directors series is a balanced examination of Kusturica's personality, films, artistry, and ideology. It acknowledges the contradictions but tries to understand and make them comprehensible to others. The text presents an overview of Kusturica's career from early films with their debt to Russian cinema and the Czech New Wave (Do you Remember Dolly Bell? 1981; When Father was Away on Business, 1985) to the most recent Black Cat White Cat (1998) and the 'rockumentary' Super 8 Story (2001). It pays tribute to his attractive and impressive aesthetics and investigates the particularities of his ideology. The author details Kusturica's artistic and personal roots dating back to socialist Sarejevo in the former Yugoslavia, examining the sources of his unique artistry, and the complex ideological and political issues that arise from their production and reception histories. Dina Iordanova's account presents a uniquely rounded view of this fascinating director showing how Kusturica's intensely held (though changing) Balkan affiliations lie at the root of a practice which has proved to be one of the latest and glorious flowerings of the European auteurist tradition.

Shyam Benegal is the best known and most prolific contemporary film-maker from India's arthouse or 'New Cinema' tradition. This work traces a career with its beginnings in political cinema and a realist aesthetic. Sangeeta Datta demonstrates how the struggles of women and the dispossessed and marginalised in Indian society have found an eloquent expression in films as diverse as Nishant, Bhumika, Mandi, Suraj Ka Satwan Ghoda and Kalyug. The book also traces Benegal's work with his protégés and collaborators including many of the biggest names in Indian Cinema — Shabana Azmi, Smita Patil, Naseeruddin Shah, Karishma Kapoor and A.R. Rahman.

This, the first book-length study of Hong Kong cult director Wong Kar-wai, provides an overview of his career and in-depth analyses of his seven feature films to date. The study also takes an intriguing look at Wong's commercials for the likes of Motorola, BMW, and Lacoste and at his music vide for DJ Shadow. Stephen Teo probes Wong's cinematic and literary influences - from Martin Scorsese and Alfred Hitchcock to Manuel Puig and Haruki Murakami - yet shows how Wong transcends them all. This comprehensive and thoroughly accessible study confirms Wong's position as the star of the Hong Kong-global nexus and as a postmodern exemplar of world cinema.

This study of Hong Kong cult director Wong Kar-wai provides an overview of his career and in-depth analysis of his seven feature films to date. Teo probes Wong's cinematic and literary influences - from Martin Scorsese to Haruki Murakami - yet shows how Wong transcends them all.

This is the first major book-length study of the work of Australian film-maker Baz Luhrmann, one of the most exciting and controversial personalities working in World Cinema today. Luhrmann's reputation as an innovator rests on the evidence of the three films known as the Red Curtain Trilogy: Strictly Ballroom (1992), William Shakespeare's Romeo + Juliet (1996) and Moulin Rouge! (2001), which together demonstrate the development of a highly distinctive style and brand. Pam Cook, who was given unprecedented access to the Luhrmann private archives, explores the genesis of the Red Curtain aesthetic, from Luhrmann's early experience in theatre and opera to his collaborative working methods and unique production set-up. Drawing on in-depth interviews with Luhrmann and his chief collaborator, designer Catherine Martin, she traces the roots of their work in an increasingly globalised Australian film culture, investigating the relationship of their company Bazmark to the Hollywood studio Twentieth Century-Fox, and the influences on their style and production methods. At the book's heart are substantial analyses of the spectacular Red Curtain films and the historical epic Australia (2008). This lively and original study of one of contemporary cinema's most fascinating figures will appeal to film scholars, cultural historians and Luhrmann enthusiasts alike.