What a Woman Wants? Nancy Meyers’s The Intern

2018 ◽  
pp. 209-253
Author(s):  
Katarzyna Paszkiewicz
Keyword(s):  
Detailed Analysis ◽  
Mass Culture ◽  
Sense Of Belonging ◽  
Film Industry ◽  
Reading Strategy ◽  
Women Directors ◽  
Central Importance ◽  
Romantic Comedy ◽  
Mise En Scene ◽  
Female Authorship

This chapter focalises on Nancy Meyers, arguably the most successful woman filmmaker of all time. It shows how Meyers’s carefully composed mise-en-scène and the portrayal of privileged women protagonists contribute to a critical alignment between the director and her films, and at the same time how they are used to demonstrate Meyers’s lack of credibility as an auteur (a reading strategy which often impacts other women directors, such as Sofia Coppola, as analysed in Ch. 5). This analysis is framed within the broader discussions of auteurism, the generic conventions of the romcom and the so-called feminisation of mass culture (Husseyn 1986, Hollows 2005), as well as the cultural, critical and industrial gendering of genres. The remainder of the chapter offers an examination of The Intern (2015). The film has been dubbed as ‘a romantic comedy without the romance’, and it indeed draws on several of its generic conventions: romance’s narrative stages, the presence of the ‘wrong partner’, the sense of ‘belonging together’, and bromantic elements which allow for a rethinking of the gendering of genres. The detailed analysis of the film reveals Meyers’s self-reflexive strategies – rich discursive histories engendered by the presence of stars Robert De Niro and Anne Hathaway, among others – that invoke issues of central importance in this book: the question of female authorship in a male-dominated film industry, and the heritage and evolution of genre in the Hollywood context.

scholarly journals On the Seriousness of Things: Pirandello’s Ma non è una cosa seria from Page to Screen

2019 ◽  
Vol 39 (2) ◽  
pp. 35-60
Author(s):  
Michael Syrimis
Keyword(s):  
Legal Status ◽  
Film Industry ◽  
Historical Context ◽  
Traditional Values ◽  
Romantic Comedy ◽  
Literary Adaptation ◽  
Mise En Scene ◽  
Thematic Layer ◽  
Classical Hollywood Cinema ◽  
Classical Hollywood

A study of Mario Camerini’s Ma non è una cosa seria (But It’s Nothing Serious [1936]), a film based on Luigi Pirandello’s eponymous 1918 play and typical of the 1930s Italian romantic comedy genre, elucidates the transformations that a literary conception undergoes when adapted for the screen, especially as those reflect the historical context of the film’s making. The challenge for the filmmaker when working on a literary adaptation for popular consumption is to identify the cinematic strategies most suitable to render a psychologically and philosophically nuanced discourse, such as Pirandello’s, appealing to a mass audience in search of diversion. Camerini’s film also exemplifies that unique moment in Italian culture when the Fascist government took decisive measures to strengthen the film industry, promoting the expansion of popular genres in the style of classical Hollywood cinema. Camerini, therefore, works on three fronts: to convey literariness, to apply a sophisticated system of popular filmic representation, and to sustain, if subtly, some Fascist cultural ideals. A reading of the 1918 play with respect to Pirandello’s theory of umorismo questions the seriousness of the legal status of marriage, which in Pirandellian terms we may describe as an ideal construct or “fiction.” While this notion informs also the film’s fundamental thematic layer, Camerini modifies parts of the plot and deftly applies the techniques of classical cinema to convey Pirandellian humour specifically through cinematic means, placing emphasis on the identity of the male protagonist, which here takes the form of a visually vibrant array of diverse identity constructs. At the same time, through a graceful coordination of camera work and mise-en-scène, Camerini communicates the Fascist ideal of Italy as a modern and affluent nation but also one that preserves its traditional values.

scholarly journals Naomi Kawase’s “Cinema of Place”

Arts ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 8 (2) ◽  
pp. 43 ◽  
Author(s):  
Erin Schoneveld
Keyword(s):  
Film Industry ◽  
Regional Identity ◽  
Women Directors ◽  
Film Festival ◽  
Film Festivals ◽  
National Cinema ◽  
Art Cinema ◽  
Specific Location ◽  
Award Winning ◽  
Female Authorship

This article evaluates contemporary filmmaker Naomi Kawase’s (b. 1969–) status within Japan’s film industry as well as her place among women directors. Using Kawase’s three award winning features Suzaku (Moe no suzaku, 1997), Shara (Sharasōju, 2003), and Mogari (Mogari no mori, 2007) as the basis of my analysis, I examine the way in which these films illuminate the construction of Kawase’s female authorship in relation to a specific location. While Kawase has made a number of critically and commercially successful films since 2007, I limit my discussion to her early narrative works set in Nara, Japan in order to illuminate the significance of the international film festival apparatus in establishing and upholding the discourse of auteurism in relation to regional identity. Through my analysis I argue that Kawase successfully negotiates this discourse through a strategy of self-promotion that emphasizes a “cinema of place” within the broader context of international film festivals such as Cannes. Kawase’s “cinema of place” ultimately allows her to rearticulate the meaning of female authorship within an art cinema context by representing a new national cinema that challenges the structures and boundaries of Japan’s studio system.

"TOUS LES MATINS DU MONDE": POETRY OF FADING SOUND

2021 ◽  
Vol 1 (4) ◽  
pp. 100-107
Author(s):  
Yu. A. Finkelshtein ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Mass Culture ◽  
Film Industry ◽  
Historical Background ◽  
Present Moment ◽  
Feature Film ◽  
Viola Da Gamba ◽  
Emotional Perception ◽  
Baroque Music ◽  
The Aesthetic ◽  
True Values

The object of the article is Alain Corneau's feature film "All the Mornings of the World" ("Tous les matins du monde", 1991). The movie is considered as a work of art with strong postmodern tendencies. The director uses music written in the XVIIth century to create an image of the era. The image of the gambist de Sainte-Colombe is formed on the basis of the aesthetic and emotional perception of his works by the creators of the movie. The timbre of viola da gamba, one of the key features of which is rapid fading, defines the main philosophical idea of the film. The "disadvantage" of the instrument, which contributed to its short life in art, is perceived by the filmmakers as its original value. The rapidly fading sound becomes a metaphorical symbol of dying and rebirth, death and immortality being one. In addition, Baroque music performs the function of temporary "immersion". Using the music of ancient styles, the film industry gains a foothold in true values and an element of authenticity. In turn, by participating in cinema, it appropriates the features of mass culture: lightness, illusiveness, and easy accessibility. Such ambivalence is also characteristic of the plot, in which events that evoke completely modern feelings take place against a historical background far removed from the present moment.

scholarly journals A Romanian Jew in Hollywood: Edward G. Robinson

2014 ◽  
Vol 22 (1) ◽  
pp. 43-62
Author(s):  
Raluca Moldovan
Keyword(s):  
Detailed Analysis ◽  
Film Industry ◽  
Main Body ◽  
American Film ◽  
Introductory Section ◽  
Gangster Films ◽  
Almost All ◽  
Key Largo ◽  
Double Indemnity ◽  
American Film Industry

Abstract The present study aims to investigate the contribution that actor Edward G. Robinson brought to the American film industry, beginning with his iconic role as gangster Little Caesar in Mervyn Le Roy’s 1931 production, and continuing with widely-acclaimed parts in classic film noirs such as Double Indemnity, The Woman in the Window and Scarlet Street. Edward G. Robinson was actually a Romanian Jew, born Emmanuel Goldenberg in Bucharest, in 1893, a relatively little known fact nowadays. By examining his biography, filmography and his best-known, most successful films (mentioned above), I show that Edward G. Robinson was one of classical Hollywood’s most influential actors; for instance, traits of his portrayal of Little Caesar (one of the very first American gangster films) can be found in almost all subsequent cinematic gangster figures, from Scarface to Vito Corleone. In the same vein, the doomed noir characters he played in Fritz Lang’s The Woman in the Window and Scarlet Street are still considered by film critics today to be some of the finest, most nuanced examples of noir heroes. Therefore, the main body of my article will be dedicated to a more detailed analysis of these films, while the introductory section will trace his biography and discuss some of his better-known films, such as Confessions of a Nazi Spy and Key Largo. The present study highlights Edward G. Robinson’s merits and impact on the cinema industry, proving that this diminutive Romanian Jew of humble origins was indeed something of a giant during Hollywood’s classical era.

scholarly journals SciFi Cinema as one of Spatial Localizations of Military Images in American Mass Culture

2021 ◽  
Vol 16 (5) ◽  
pp. 77-86
Author(s):  
Kyrchanoff Maksym W. ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Popular Culture ◽  
Science Fiction ◽  
Mass Culture ◽  
Film Industry ◽  
Historical Memory ◽  
Consumer Society ◽  
Military Experience ◽  
Military Conflicts ◽  
Modern Mass ◽  
Military Images

War is one of the most popular topics in modern mass culture. The author analyzes the features of the perception of war in modern science fiction cinema. The purpose of this article is to analyze the representation of war in American science fiction as a form of historical memory in mass culture. The author uses inventionism methods to analyze the images of war in the film production of mass culture as “invented traditions” of the consumer society. The range of perception of war and military experience in popular culture is analyzed. Modern global film industry and national film industries regularly address military themes in the world or national contexts, producing films that actualize military experience of nations and states. The film industry segments that specialize in the production of science fiction and fantasy films also do not ignore the military theme. It is supposed that popular culture offers a variety of images of war, including militarism, violence, military collective trauma, and military political psychosis. The author believes that military theme in popular culture arose as a result of reflection on real military conflicts, and the creators of the pop-cultural project could reject the war or idealize it. The author believes that military science fiction in modern American mass culture actualizes the values of pacifism or militarism as reflections of the left or right preferences of the creators of such cultural product for the consumer society. Science fiction films actualize various forms of war, including global military clashes, civil conflicts, aggression, intervention and genocide. Popular culture is becoming the main sphere of existence of the memory of war because military conflicts of science fiction series can be perceived in the consumer society as more real than the historical wars of the past. Military images of mass culture are supposed to actualize various forms of war memory, including memory as trauma, memory as marginalization, and memory as nostalgia which idealize war.

Contexts and Influences

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Catherine Dousteyssier-Khoze
Keyword(s):  
Detailed Analysis ◽  
Family Dynamics ◽  
French Cinema ◽  
Modes Of Representation ◽  
Mise En Scene ◽  
Mosaic Approach ◽  
Shed Light

This chapter seeks to contextualise Chabrol’s extensive filmography; reassess its place and significance in French Cinema; and shed light over key influences on Chabrol’s aesthetic. The detailed analysis of his first four films, Le Beau Serge, Les Cousins, A Double tour and Les Bonnes Femmes, helps to understand the formal inventiveness and diversity of his overlooked Nouvelle Vague palette whilst offering key insights into recurrent Chabrolean motifs: the gradual blurring or undermining of realistic / naturalistic modes of representation; expressionistic mise en scène; self-reflexive structures and theatricality; voyeurism; oppressive relationships and family dynamics. Whilst the influence of Lang, Hitchcock and Renoir on Chabrol is already well established, in this chapter Balzac’s pragmatic aesthetic is identified as pivotal: beyond the numerous diegetic references to Balzac, Chabrol draws on Balzac’s ‘mosaic’ approach in order to conceptualise his œuvre. It is argued that the Balzacian strategy of the recurrence of characters (see the recurring trio of Charles, Paul, Hélène) helps Chabrol to turn contemporary material into ‘myths’ and build his own dark Human Comedy.

scholarly journals The quest for a successful book-to-series adaptation in the times of SVOD — using the examples of “The Handmaid’s Tale and Alias Grace” by Margaret Atwood

2021 ◽  
Vol 24 (4) ◽  
pp. 93-103
Author(s):  
Joanna Szydełko
Keyword(s):  
Mass Culture ◽  
Margaret Atwood ◽  
Film Industry ◽  
Social Reality ◽  
Video On Demand ◽  
Streaming Video ◽  
Literary Works ◽  
On Demand ◽  
Entertainment Television ◽  
The Times

A fascinating factor of so-called mass culture is the ability to adapt to society and its needs. The same pattern seems to be followed by the film industry, as it has been influenced by other branches of entertainment, television included. These are SVODs (Streaming Video on Demand platforms), which offer a growing number of screen adaptations of literary works. The following paper aims to analyse some criteria upon which book-to-series adaptations might be regarded as successful, using examples from The Handmaid’s Tale and Alias Grace.Produced respectively by Hulu and CBC, both based on books by the Canadian female writer Margaret Atwood, the analysed shows confirm that the audience is more inclined to watch (and read) an intertextual production that often reflects and comments on contemporary political and social reality.

scholarly journals REPRESENTASI STAILISTIK FILEM HANG TUAH (1956)

2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-17
Author(s):  
FAIRULADILAN HAMADUN ◽  
NASIRIN ABDILLAH ◽  
NORMAN YUSOFF ◽  
NUR SYAHIRAH ANANI NOR ADZLI
Keyword(s):  
Content Analysis ◽  
Film Industry ◽  
Research Question ◽  
Analytical Framework ◽  
Production Model ◽  
Journal Articles ◽  
Historical Aspects ◽  
Mise En Scene ◽  
Film Content ◽  
Main Instrument

Abstrak Hang Tuah (1956) merupakan salah satu filem adaptasi Melayu yang terkenal dalam sejarah perfileman tanah air. Filem ini dikatakan cuba mengangkat karya kesusasteraan Melayu klasik melalui Hikayat Hang Tuah dan Sejarah Melayu. Memandangkan filem ini bersifat adaptasi, maka sering menjadi perhatian dalam kalangan sarjana. Antara aspek yang sering menjadi daya tarikan mereka adalah soal kesetiaan dalam aspek naratif seperti plot, lakonan, gaya bahasa, latar dan tema. Namun demikian, artikel ini hadir dengan melihat kepada aspek lain iaitu stailistik yang mana merupakan salah satu elemen penting dalam pembuatan filem seperti sinematografi, mise en scene dan penyuntingan. Aspek stailistik filem Hang Tuah (1956) cuba diselami dengan mengaplikasikan teori historical poetic of cinema oleh David Bordwell (1989). Sebagai kerangka analisis utama dalam artikel ini, maka historical poetic of cinema cuba menjawab persoalan kajian; bagaimanakah aspek sejarah mampu memberi kesan terhadap stailistik filem Hang Tuah (1956)? Analisis kandungan turut dipilih sebagai instrumen kajian utama untuk memperolehi data daripada buku, artikel jurnal dan filem. Hasil analisis mendapati bahawa filem Hang Tuah (1956) cenderung kepada stailistik model pembuatan Hollywood. Walau bagaimanapun, keadaan persekitaran industri perfileman Melayu era 1950-an cuba mengubah stailistik filem Hang Tuah (1956) kepada acuan filem India.   AbstractHang Tuah (1956) is one of the famous adaptation films in Malay cinema. The film endeavours to uplift the classical Malay literature through the Hikayat Hang Tuah and Sejarah Melayu. Since Hang Tuah (1956) is an adaptation film, it has always attracted the scholars’ attention. Among the main attractions is the matter of loyalty in the narrative aspects such as plot, acting, language style, background and theme. However, this article looks at other aspect namely stylistics. This important element of stylistics in film production includes cinematography, mise en scene and editing. The stylistics aspect of Hang Tuah (1956) was investigated by applying the historical poetic theory of cinema by David Bordwell (1989). As the main analytical framework in this article, historical poetic of cinema attempts to answer the research question of how the historical aspects can affect the style of Hang Tuah (1956) film? Content analysis was chosen as the main instrument for obtaining data from books, journal articles and films. The analysis found that Hang Tuah (1956) tends to resemble Hollywood production model. However, the environment of Malay film industry around 1950’s had influenced the stylistics of Hang Tuah (1956) film to be shaped by an Indian mould.

Women in the Director’s Chair: The ‘Female Gaze’ in Documentary Film

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lisa French
Keyword(s):  
Documentary Film ◽  
Film Industry ◽  
Women Directors ◽  
Female Subjectivity ◽  
World Views ◽  
Female Gaze ◽  
As If

This essay examines the concept of a ‘female gaze’ in documentary film with a specific consideration of the work, and viewpoints, of women directors. The question asked is whether a film as a creative artefact, as well as if the working opportunities within the film industry, are affected by the fact that the person making the film is biologically female. French concludes that it is indeed so, and that “part of this recognition is due to visible female aesthetic approaches, world, views, and treatments of subjects, themes, and the overall privileging of female subjectivity.”

Dreiser's Suit Against Paramount: Authorship, Professionalism, and the Hollywood Film Industry

Prospects ◽  
1993 ◽  
Vol 18 ◽  
pp. 187-203
Author(s):  
Thomas Strychacz
Keyword(s):  
Mass Culture ◽  
Film Industry ◽  
Literary Work ◽  
Hollywood Film ◽  
Long Line ◽  
Dorothy Parker ◽  
History Of ◽  
Professional Standing

In the 1930s, Dorothy Parker wrote to Alexander Woollcott that the “Kiss of Death has come.” She was referring, in her inimitably morbid way, to a contract from the Paramount Film Corporation, and in so doing became one of a long line of writers to establish themselves as different than and superior to the Hollywood script factories, while welcoming that vampirish — but lucrative — kiss of death. Behind Parker's remark lies an already long history of writers struggling to reconceive their authorial functions, their professional standing, and the nature of their literary work in an age of mass culture. One of the most remarkable moments in that struggle was Theodore Dreiser's suit in 1931 against Paramount-Publix Corporation, which was brought in at attempt to halt the release of an (in his opinion) “inartistic” version of An American Tragedy (1925).

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