The British new wave : a certain tendency? / B.F. Taylor.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Taylor, B. F. (Barnaby F.), author.

Series:

Manchester Film Studies

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

New wave films--Great Britain--History and criticism.

New wave films.

Motion pictures--Great Britain--History.

Motion pictures.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (189 pages) : digital, PDF file(s).

Edition:

1st digital pbk. ed.

Place of Publication:

Manchester ; New York : Manchester University Press ; New York : Distributed in the U.S. by Palgrave, 2006.

Language Note:

In English.

Summary:

This book offers an opportunity to reconsider the films of the British New Wave in the light of forty years of heated debate. By eschewing the usual tendency to view films such as A Kind of Loving and The Entertainer collectively and include them in broader debates about class, gender and ideology, it presents a new look at this famous cycle of British films. Refuting the long-standing view that films such as Billy Liar and Look Back in Anger are flawed and therefore indicative of an under-achieving national cinema, the book also challenges the widely held belief in the continued importance of the relationship between the British New Wave and questions of realism. Drawing upon existing sources and returning to unchallenged assumptions about British cinema, this book allows the reader to return to the films and consider them anew. In order to achieve this, the book also offers a practical demonstration of the activity of film interpretation. This is essential, because the usual tendency is to consider such a process unnecessary when it comes to writing about British films. The book demonstrates that close readings of films need not be reserved for films from other cinemas.

Contents:

The British new wave : a certain tendency?

From microscope to telescope : the films of Tony Richardson

A cinema of surfaces : Jack Clayton's Room at the top

Major themes and minor movements : composition and repetition in John Schlesinger's Billy liar

The critical forest

Straight lines and rigid readings : Arthur Seaton and the arc of flight

Bodies, critics and This sporting life

Single vessels and twisting ropes.

Notes:

Title from publisher's bibliographic system (viewed on 24 Apr 2026).

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

1-78170-121-0

1-84779-193-X

OCLC:

818847203