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Film in Australia : an introduction / Albert Moran and Errol Vieth.

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Van Pelt Library PN1993.5.A8 M64 2006
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Format:
Book
Author/Creator:
Moran, Albert.
Contributor:
Vieth, Errol, 1950-
Language:
English
Subjects (All):
Motion pictures--Australia--History.
Motion pictures.
Australia.
History.
Physical Description:
xii, 219 pages : illustrations ; 23 cm
Place of Publication:
Cambridge [England] ; New York : Cambridge University Press, 2006.
Summary:
Film in Australia: An Introduction is a groundbreaking book that systematically addresses the wide-ranging output of Australian feature films. Adopting a genre approach, it gives a different take on Australian films made since 1970, bypassing the standard run of historical texts and actor - or character - driven studies of Australian film. Comedy, adventure, horror, science fiction, crime, art films and other types are analyzed with clarity and insight so the reader can recognize and understand all kinds of Australian films, whether they are contemporary or older features, obscure gems or classic blockbusters.
Film in Australia explains how particular types of films work, identifies sub-types, and surveys the work of local film makers in the different genres. Authoritatively argued for film studies courses, and based on the authors' deep and extensive knowledge of Australian film, it is also enjoyable and accessible for the general reader. A must-read for all students of Australian film.
Contents:
1 Genre and Australian Film 1
Why Genre? 1
Generic Difference 3
Identifying Australian Film Types 6
Genre in Hollywood 8
Undertaking Genre Inquiry 11
2 The Adventure Film 13
Poetics of Adventure 13
A Local Tradition 15
Defining Action-Adventure 17
Other Modes and Figures 19
Survival - Four Australian War Films 22
Women Heroes 25
Finally 27
3 Art Film 29
Boundaries 29
Identifying Art Cinema 30
Auteur, Auteurism and Art Cinema 32
Aesthetic Adventure on the Side 34
The Period Art Film 35
Modernist Interiority and Art Cinema 38
4 The Biopic 44
Aussie Lives 44
Defining the Type 46
Sons and Fathers 49
The Criminal Biopic 53
5 Comedy 57
Comedy and the Comic 57
Narrative and Subgenres 58
A Comic Tale 60
Performers and Performance 64
Comic Types 66
Comic Surprise and Suspense 67
Gags and Jokes 69
Towards an Australian Film Comedy Tradition 71
6 Crime 73
Poe's Triangle 73
Theft as Business 74
Robbery as Fun 76
Loners 78
Fugitives 80
Street Life 81
High Life 82
The Rake's Progress - An Endnote on Bryan Brown 84
7 The Detective Film 87
Types of Detective Story 87
Watching the Detectives 88
An Australian Tradition 91
Blokes 92
The Woman Investigator 94
Comic Sleuths 97
Art and Investigation 98
Post Mortem 101
8 Horror 102
Introduction: The Fantastic 102
Themes and Other Discussion 111
The Supernatural 113
9 The Musical 117
Musicalizing Australia 117
Defining the Musical 118
Musicals on the Margin 119
The New Musical 121
Mediating Tradition 124
Musical Magic 126
Encore 128
10 Science Fiction 130
Australian Science Fiction Film 131
Themes and Other Discussion 136
11 Social Realism 142
The Label 142
Mike and Stefani 146
Types and Cycles 148
Character and Location 151
Narrative Structures 153
Themes 155
12 Suspense Thriller 157
Neither Detective nor Gangster 157
Surprise, Suspense and Thriller 158
Derry's Typology 159
Sex and Murder 160
Political Intrigue and Danger 161
Dangerous Masquerade 162
The Living Nightmare 164
Maid versus Monster 165
Innocents on the Run 167
Desperate Hours 168
In a Dangerous Place 169
Post Mortem 170
13 The Teenpic 172
Youth in the Cinema 172
Critical Perspectives 174
Four Types 174
School and Schoolies 175
Teen Horror 178
Coming of Age 181
Rebels and Delinquents 184
Roll Call 186
14 Women's Film 188
Melodrama - The Standard Account 188
Other Accounts 189
Female Cinema 191
Towards an Australian Tradition 193
Love 194
Suffering 196
Romance 198
Grief 199.
Notes:
Includes bibliographical references (pages 206-212) and index.
ISBN:
0521613272
9780521613279
OCLC:
63808037
Publisher Number:
9780521613279

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