Roman Polanski : the cinema of a cultural traveller / Ewa Mazierska.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Mazierska, Ewa.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Polanski, Roman--Criticism and interpretation.

Polanski, Roman.

Criticism and interpretation.

Physical Description:

ix, 230 pages : illustrations ; 24 cm

Place of Publication:

London ; New York : I.B. Tauris, 2007.

Summary:

Polanski is one of the most talented and distinguished of modern filmmakers. A well-informed cultural traveller, interested in the position of the outsider, he is hard to pigeonhole: he moves easily between mass audience and art-house tastes, between settings and genres; his films, from Two Men and a Wardrobe, through The Tenant and Cul-de-Sac, Chinatown and Rosemary's Baby, to The Pianist and Oliver Twist, represent diverse characters and cinematic influences. Like a magpie, he is interested in everything he encounters, but then easily discards his treasure and moves onward.

Covering all Polanski's films as director, Ewa Mazierska addresses the eclecticism, ambiguity and paradoxes of his cinema, while seeking out the common elements in his films. From a number of perspectives, she examines the autobiographical effect of Polanski's films in terms of violence, travel and voyeurism. She explores his characters and narratives, the place of absurdism, surrealism and the 'double life' of things in his cinema; the function of music, of religion, power, patriarchy and racism in the films. She looks at Polanski's literary adaptations and at his use and subversion of film genres. Herself a Polish emigre, she uncovers Polanski's Polish roots and the extent of their influence on the cinema of this mercurial filmmaker, at large in the world.

Contents:

The autobiographical effect in the cinema of Polanski

The absurd and how to deal with it: narratives and characters in Polanski's films

Landscapes and inner sceneries: recurring visual motifs of Polanski's films

All that jazz and noise: music in Polanski's films

Trust yourself: Polanski's ideology

Adapt to survive and express yourself: Polanski's encounters with literature

Matrix or empty vessel: Polanski's use of genre

Conclusion: The cinema of a cultural traveller

Appendix: Filmography (with technical details and synopses)

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages 217-223) and index.

ISBN:

1845112970

9781845112974

1845112962

9781845112967

OCLC:

141384185