Melodrama, self and nation in post-war British popular film / Johanna Laitila.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Laitila, Johanna, 1986- author.

Series:

Routledge advances in film studies ; 59.

Routledge advances in film studies ; 59

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Motion pictures--Great Britain--History--20th century.

Motion pictures.

Crime films.

Great Britain.

History.

Melodrama in motion pictures.

Crime films--Great Britain--History and criticism.

Nationalism in motion pictures.

Sex in motion pictures.

Physical Description:

viii, 196 pages : illustrations ; 24 cm.

Place of Publication:

New York, NY : Routledge, 2018.

Summary:

"This book investigates the portrayal of nationalities and sexualities in British post-Second World War crime film and melodrama. By focusing on these genres, and looking at the concept of melodrama as an analytical tool apt for the analysis of both sexuality and nation, the book offers insight into the desires, fears, and anxieties of post-war culture. The problem of returning to 'normalcy' after the war is one of the recurring themes discussed; alienation from society, family, and the self were central issues for both women and men in the post-war years, and the book examines the anxieties surrounding these social changes in the films of the period. In particular, it explores heterosexuality and nationality as some of the most prominent frameworks for the construction of identities in our time; structures that, for all their centrality, are made invisible in our culture"-- Provided by publisher.

Contents:

History and myth

"Bloody uncomfortable" : from war to post-war

Inside, outside, and somewhere in-between : race and sexuality

Melodramas in the post-war

Identities and their theories

"Lest we forget" : national memories and collective oblivions

Male amnesiacs in Caravan and The October man

Displaced trauma in Madonna of the Seven Moons and the Seventh veil

"We'll need good citizens when this is over"

Masculine horror and feminine melancholy in post-war Ealing : Dead of night and It always rains on Sunday

Rebelling against normative temporality in The wicked lady and A matter of life and death

Language and identity

Pathological families and nationalisms in The blue lamp and Odd man out

Making names in The long memory and The magic bow.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references, index and filmography.

ISBN:

9781138482753

1138482757

OCLC:

1028610749