ENGLISH HERITAGE, ENGLISH CINEMA by Andrew Higson ( 9780198182931 )

Item Details

Title:

ENGLISH HERITAGE, ENGLISH CINEMA
COSTUME DRAMA SINCE 1980

By:

Format:

Hardback

List price:	£77.00
We currently do not stock this item, please contact the publisher directly for further information.

ISBN 10:

0198182937

ISBN 13:

9780198182931

Publisher:

OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS

Pub. date:

16 January, 2003

Pages:

296

Description:

Costume dramas such as Chariots of Fire, A Room with a View, Sense and Sensibility, and Shakespeare in Love were vital to the success of British cinema in the 1980s and 1990s. This is the first book-length study of these important films, and the debate about their politics and their meanings, and about their relationship to the heritage industry. It maps the extent of the production trend, and looks in detail at the commercialcontext in which the films were funded, marketed, and exhibited, in both the UK and the USA. There are also extensive case studies of two key films, Howards End and Elizabeth.

Synopsis:

The costume drama was one of the important production trends in British cinema during the 1980s and 1990s. Films such as Chariots of Fire, A Room with a View, Howards End, Sense and Sensibility, Elizabeth, and Shakespeare in Love won numerous accolades, received extensive critical acclaim, and achieved considerable box-office success, both in the UK and overseas. Since the late 1980s, there has been much debate about these films, about their politics and their meanings, and about their relationship to the heritage industry. In English Heritage, English Cinema, Andrew Higson moves the debate on heritage cinema in important new directions. First, he demonstrates that there were many more 'British' costume dramas than have usually been taken into account in discussions of heritage cinema, and describes the typical subject matter, themes, and stylistic characteristics of these films. Secondly, he explores the major concerns of the critical debate about heritage cinema, arguing that the ambivalence of the films themselves and the richness of the reception process necessarily produces a range of often incompatible interpretations of the same films.Thirdly, he looks at the way in which the costume drama production trend was funded, marketed, and exhibited, noting in particular the development of crossover appeal, and the involvement of American capital and specialist distribution companies. Finally, he looks in detail at two key films, Howards End and Elizabeth, and at their production, distribution, exhibition, and critical reception. The book is based on extensive empirical research but is written in an accessible and jargon-free style. As well as dealing with a specific production trend, it also raises more general questions about genre, national cinema, the relations between commercial and cultural interests, and the processes of reception and interpretation.

Illustrations:

numerous halftones and 1 table

Publication:

Imprint:

Oxford University Press

Returns:

Returnable

Some other items by this author:

'FILM EUROPE' AND 'FILM AMERICA' (HB)

'FILM EUROPE' AND 'FILM AMERICA' (PB)

BRITISH CINEMA, PAST AND PRESENT