Movie Greats: A Critical Study of Classic CinemaWhy are some films regarded as classics, worthy of entry into the canon of film history? Which sorts of films make the cut and why? Movie Greats questions how cinema is ranked and, in doing so, uncovers a history of critical conflict, with different aesthetic positions battling for dominance. The films examined range across the history of cinema: The Battleship Potemkin, The 39 Steps, Modern Times, Citizen Kane, It's a Wonderful Life, Black Narcissus, The Night of the Hunter, Lawrence of Arabia, 8*, 2001: A Space Odyssey, The Godfather, Raging Bull, The Piano and Kill Bill: Vol. 1. Each chapter opens with a brief summary of the film's plot and goes on to discuss the historical context, the key individuals who made the film, and initial and subsequent popular and critical responses. Students studying the history of film, canon formation or film aesthetics will find this book relevant, provocative and absorbing. |
Contents
| 1 | |
| 3 | |
2 The Celluloid Canon | 13 |
The Politics of the Cinema | 27 |
Romance on the Run | 35 |
A Tramp for All Seasons | 45 |
The Tragedy of Ambition | 53 |
Seeking the American Hero | 63 |
A Space Odyssey GB US 1968 The Long Voyage to Destiny | 107 |
Keeping It in the Family | 117 |
The Drama of the Fight | 127 |
Love in a Rough Place | 135 |
Volume 1 US 2003 Violence as Art | 143 |
Great Films Reconsidered | 151 |
Notes | 163 |
Further Reading | 191 |
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Common terms and phrases
39 Steps accessed 27 accessed 3 January accessed 31 December aesthetic ambiguity American approach Arab artist audience Baines Battleship Potemkin becomes best films Black Narcissus British Campion’s canon Chaplin characters Charlie cinema Citizen Kane classic comedy context Coppola critics Cultural David Thomson dialogue director Don’s Durgnat Eisenstein emotional favour feel Fellini film-makers film’s Frank Capra George George’s Godfather Guido Hannay Hollywood Ibid IMDb Jake Jake’s John Jonathan Rosenbaum Kane’s Kill Bill Kubrick Lawrence ofArabia Lawrence’s London Martin Scorsese Michael Modern moral Movies narrative never Night ofthe Hunter Orson Pauline Kael Piano political poll popular Powell and Pressburger Preacher Raging Bull relationship response reveals Robert Roger Ebert role scene Scorsese Scorsese’s screen seems sense Sight and Sound Sister Clodagh Sister Ruth Space Odyssey Stewart story sublime T. E. Lawrence takes Tarantino University Press values viewer violence visual Welles’s York