A two-volume biographical/critical dictionary of major, filmmakers from all countries, covering the entire history of the medium from 1890 to the present. Each director is treated in a separate essay that includes a detailed, chronological account of the subject's life and work and a summary of critical opinion. Includes filmography and a selective bibliography of books and articles.
In World Directors and Their Films, Bert Cardullo offers readable analyses of some of the most important films and the artists who produced them. Beyond simple biographical capsules and plot summaries, these readings demonstrate with clarity and elegance how international moviemakers use the resources of the medium to pursue complex, significant human goals. Including essays on filmmakers from China, Japan, India, Argentina, Brazil, Mexico, Iran, Senegal, and Chad, this book is an engaging collection of enlightening and helpful essays that will appeal as much to the general reader as it will to scholars of international cinema.
In European Directors and Their Films: Essays on Cinema, Bert Cardullo offers readable analyses of some of the most important film artists and individual films of the last several decades. Beyond simple biographical capsules and plot summaries, these readings demonstrate with elegance and clarity what cinema means as well as shows, explaining how international moviemakers use the resources of the medium to pursue complex, significant human goals.
Soon after film came into existence, the term epic was used to describe productions that were lengthy, spectacular, live with action, and often filmed in exotic locales with large casts and staggering budgets. The effort and extravagance needed to mount an epic film paid off handsomely at the box office, for the genre became an immediate favorite with audiences. Epic films survived the tribulations of two world wars and the Depression and have retained the basic characteristics of size and glamour for more than a hundred years. Length was, and still is, one of the traits of the epic, though monolithic three- to four-hour spectacles like Gone with the Wind (1939) and Lawrence of Arabia (1962) have been replaced today by such franchises as the Harry Potter films and the Lord of the Rings trilogy. Although the form has evolved during many decades of existence, its central elements have been retained, refined, and modernized to suit the tastes of every new generation. The Encyclopedia of Epic Films identifies, describes, and analyzes those films that meet the criteria of the epic—sweeping drama, panoramic landscapes, lengthy adventure sequences, and, in many cases, casts of thousands. This volume looks at the wide variety of epics produced over the last century—from the silent spectacles of D. W. Griffith and biblical melodramas of Cecil B. DeMille to the historical dramas of David Lean and rollercoaster thrillers of Steven Spielberg. Each entry contains: Major personnel behind the camera, including directors and screenwriters Cast and character listings Plot summary Analysis Academy Award wins and nominations DVD and Blu-ray availability Resources for further study This volume also includes appendixes of foreign epics, superhero spectaculars, and epics produced for television, along with a list of all the directors in the book. Despite a lack of overall critical recognition and respect as a genre, the epic remains a favorite of audiences, and this book pays homage to a form of mass entertainment that continues to fill movie theaters. The Encyclopedia of Epic Films will be of interest to academics and scholars, as well as any fan of films made on a grand scale.
The Encyclopedia of the Documentary Film is a fully international reference work on the history of the documentary film from the Lumière brothers' Workers Leaving the Lumière Factory (1885) to Michael Moore's Fahrenheit 911 (2004). This Encyclopedia provides a resource that critically analyzes that history in all its aspects. Not only does this Encyclopedia examine individual films and the careers of individual film makers, it also provides overview articles of national and regional documentary film history. It explains concepts and themes in the study of documentary film, the techniques used in making films, and the institutions that support their production, appreciation, and preservation.
The book explores the concept of artistic witnessing as political activity. In which ways may art and artists bear witness to political events? The Contributors engage with dance, film, photography, performance, poetry and theatre and explore artistic witnessing as political activity in a wide variety of case studies.
Hungarian cinema began in cafes, and short films were projected at the Velence coffee-house in Budapest in the late 1890s. By 1912, a distinct film culture had formed in Hungary, which - unlike the imported American popular entertainment cinema - throughout its history has shown a commitment to the idea of film as art. This new book is a detailed historical, critical and appreciative account of the Hungarian cinema from its early days to the transforming 1990s, and provides an extended analysis of some 50 directors and their key films. It describes the ways in which the industry has developed, largely with the assistance of the state, especially since the Second World War, and shows how the Hungarian cinema has achieved an international success out of all proportion to its size, and despite the potential obstructions of language and culture. The author concludes with a survey of recent filmmaking activities, and a look towards the future in rapidly changing Eastern Europe. This book will appeal to all those interested in Hungarian and Eastern European film and history.
