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2020 | Buch | 1. Auflage

European Cinema in the Twenty-First Century

Discourses, Directions and Genres

herausgegeben von: Ingrid Lewis, Laura Canning

Verlag: Springer International Publishing

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Über dieses Buch

This book rethinks the study of European Cinema in a way that centres on students and their needs, in a comprehensive volume introducing undergraduates to the main discourses, directions and genres of twenty-first-century European film. Importantly, this collection is the first of its kind to apply a transversal approach to European Cinema, bringing together the East and the West, while providing a broad picture of key trends, aesthetics, genres, national identities, and transnational concerns. Lewis and Canning’s collection effectively addresses some of the most pressing questions in contemporary European film, such as ecology, migration, industry, identity, disability, memory, auteurship, genre, small cinemas, and the national and international frameworks which underpin them. Combining accessible original research with a thorough grounding in recent histories and contexts, each chapter includes key definitions, reflective group questions, and a summative case study. Overall, this book makes a strong contribution to our understanding of recent European Cinema, making it an invaluable resource for lecturers and students across a variety of film-centred modules.

Inhaltsverzeichnis

Frontmatter
Chapter 1. Introduction: The Identity of European Cinema
Abstract
Lewis and Canning address a set of key questions regarding form, aesthetics, industry, and identity in mapping the critical debates necessary to outline the territory of European cinema in the twenty-first century. They do so by building on extant scholarship to create a picture of a field impossible to delimit but characterised by diversity and difference, marked by complex production and funding landscapes, caught between oppositions to and adaptations of Hollywood approaches, experiencing tensions between old and new, and operating in an increasingly post-national, pan-European, and transnational reality. They go on to outline the structure of the book and its relevance to contemporary students and conclude by giving a brief overview of each chapter.
Ingrid Lewis, Laura Canning

Discourses

Frontmatter
Chapter 2. Documenting Difference: Migration and Identity in European Documentaries
Abstract
Vaughan offers an assessment of how recent European documentaries are responding to the ongoing migrant crisis, and, in so doing, he asks how these films trigger a re-evaluation of what it means to be ‘European’. The chapter also summarises how technological developments—such as digital image-making and online viewing platforms—have influenced nonfiction aesthetics and helped to create an interactive viewing culture where spectators are able to participate in these debates. ‘Documenting Difference’ ends with a detailed analysis of Gianfranco Rosi’s Fire at Sea (2016) which encourages audiences to acknowledge the plight of refugees as they arrive on the Italian island of Lampedusa by organising various textual representations of ‘seeing’.
Adam Vaughan
Chapter 3. Scotland’s Onscreen Identities: Otherness and Hybridity in Scottish Cinema
Abstract
Torricelli explores the way the ‘Other’ complicates the concept of the national and contributes to the construction of hybrid identities within a national cinema context. Focusing on Scottish national cinema, the chapter first considers the ways in which Scottish identity itself is simultaneously Other and not-Other. It then examines the ways in which Scottish national cinema’s grappling with traditional discourses of Scottish representation created space for hybrid constructions of Scottishness. It then looks at the influence of diasporic cultures in the creation of hybrid Scottish identities before concluding with a case study on the hybrid, inclusive Scotland constructed by the film Nina’s Heavenly Delights (Pratibha Parmar 2006).
Emily Torricelli
Chapter 4. Questioning the ‘Normality Drama’: The Representation of Disability in Contemporary European Films
Abstract
In film and television, even in the twenty-first century and in Europe, disability is frequently under- or misrepresented. This chapter focuses on three European films, which have, as their theme, the life of a physically disabled character: The Sea Inside (Alejandro Amenábar 2004), The Diving Bell and the Butterfly (Julian Schnabel 2007) and Untouchable (Olivier Nakache and Éric Toledano 2011). The discourse of disability in these films follows a trajectory, which is examined in relation to Paul Darke’s (Understanding Cinematic Representations of Disability. In The Disability Reader, ed. Tom Shakespeare, 181–197. London: Cassell, 1998) notion of the ‘normality drama’, where the filmic depiction of the disabled character emphasises the representation of normality rather than impairment. All three are based on true-life narratives, wherein the disabled person manages to achieve a goal in life in spite of their many difficulties.
Eleanor Andrews
Chapter 5. Ecocritical Perspectives on Nordic Cinema: From Nature Appreciation to Social Conformism
Abstract
This chapter provides an analysis of key environmental approaches in Nordic cinema. Environmental considerations have consistently featured as a significant hallmark of ‘national cinema’, often acting as a means to demonstrate the ‘natural’ constitution of national narratives. Kääpä outlines the diverse ways in which the environment has been appropriated for these purposes, as well as the means through which these appropriations have been presented as adhering to a natural state of things, often in lieu of conservative narratives of nation-building. By addressing these ‘naturalised’ anthropogenic and -centric narratives as conscious political projects, the chapter constructs an ecocritical perspective that unravels the mechanics of environmental appropriation to analyse the ways national cinemas have to be invariably considered as fallible, politically constructed anthropocentric projects. Its central case study, Force Majeure (Ruben Östlund 2014) exemplifies many of these aspects of Nordic cinema, revealing some of the ideological problems of these productions.
Pietari Kääpä
Chapter 6. The Trauma of (Post)Memory: Women’s Memories in Holocaust Cinema
Abstract
Lewis signals a representational shift in twenty-first-century Holocaust cinema that breaks with previous, stereotyped, imagery of women and assigns them a central, privileged, authorial position from which to tell their stories. The chapter discusses some of the most relevant examples of this cycle of films, namely, Nina’s Journey (Lena Einhorn, 2005) and Remembrance (Anna Justice, 2011) and The Birch-Tree Meadow (Marceline Loridan-Ivens, 2003), among others. In particular, it explains how recent films engage with concepts of trauma and vicarious witnessing, while recovering women’s voices and memories in their diversity and uniqueness. As the chapter contends, these contemporary counter-narratives demonstrate that films are much more than (re)presentations of history: they can function as important interventions in their own right, which challenge and re-interrogate history’s gender biases.
Ingrid Lewis
Chapter 7. An Ordinary Warrior and His Inevitable Defeat: Representation in Post-Yugoslav Cinema
Abstract
This chapter examines the contemporary post-Yugoslav war film, contextualising it historically, and in light of the emergence of new film paradigms across post-Yugoslav territories. Tendencies such as the cinemas of ‘self-victimisation’ or ‘self-Balkanisation’ described by Jurica Pavičić (Postjugoslavenski film. Stil i ideologija. Zagreb: Hrvatsko filmski savez, 2011) are examined, wherein films are characterised by, respectively, a rediscovered nationalism and a sense of victimhood, or the confirmation of stereotypes of barbarism and violence. Murtic then considers the notion of ‘normalisation’ (Pavičić, Postjugoslavenski film. Stil i ideologija. Zagreb: Hrvatsko filmski savez, 2011) and its creation of an integrative space facilitating reflection on war and post-war narratives across common ground, as well as in the emergence of female directors constructing an alternative to patriarchal societies across post-Yugoslavia. Taking as its central case study, Kristian Milić’s The Living and the Dead (2007), a film which displays all the dominant characteristics of the post-Yugoslav war genre, it examines the demilitarisation of men in the context of the historical entrenchment of militaristic discourse(s) and the predominantly anti-war stance of post-Yugoslav war cinema.
Dino Murtic

Directions

Frontmatter
Chapter 8. The New/Old Patriarchal Auteurism: Manoel de Oliveira, the Male Gaze and Women’s Representation
Abstract
This chapter discusses the figure of Manoel de Oliveira, the renowned Portuguese auteur whose filmmaking career spanned from 1931 to 2015. Lewis and Sever Globan argue that Oliveira’s longevity and prolific career allowed him to carry into the twenty-first century a set of female representations which can be considered highly problematic in the context of contemporary society. By focusing on Belle Toujours (2006), Eccentricities of a Blonde-Haired Girl (2009) and The Strange Case of Angelica (2010), the chapter explains how Oliveira’s recent films set in place an intricate process of reviving a regressive patriarchal auteurism which is performed through mechanisms of male identification, male gaze and a strong voyeuristic element.
Ingrid Lewis, Irena Sever Globan
Chapter 9. The Latest European New Wave: Cinematic Realism and Everyday Aesthetics in Romanian Cinema
Abstract
This chapter provides an overview of the Romanian New Wave cinema, using as its case study The Death of Mr. Lăzărescu (Cristi Puiu 2005), a film ranked fifth in The New York Times’ ‘Best Film of the 21st Century’ list. The analysis of this particular film is contextualized in the overall history of Romanian national cinema and showcases its relevance in international film culture. The overall purpose of Pop’s chapter is to identify the aesthetic, narrative and cinematographic attributes that brought recognition to the Romanian style of moviemaking. In order to understand the international acclaim of the Romania cinema in the last two decades, the author considers its place within European New Wave filmmaking practices and describes its relationship to the tradition of European cinematic realism.
Doru Pop
Chapter 10. Between Transnational and Local in European Cinema: Regional Resemblances in Hungarian and Romanian Films
Abstract
In order to highlight recent directions in European film culture, this chapter examines the regional aspect of Eastern European cinema by focusing on two of its small- to medium-sized neighbouring industries, those of Hungary and Romania, while presenting a comparative analysis of one film from each of the industries. The Oscar-winning Hungarian Son of Saul (László Nemes 2015) and Romanian Berlin Bear-winning Aferim! (Radu Jude 2015) each gathered the largest domestic audience numbers of their respective nations in 2015, with small national characteristics, European arthouse allegiances and Hollywood influences at work simultaneously, suggesting a process based on a meso-level forging of apparently disparate features and creating a fertile ground of regional linkages and synchronicities.
Andrea Virginás
Chapter 11. Crossing Borders: Investigating the International Appeal of European Films
Abstract
Jones investigates the international appeal of European films. He argues that most European films are unpopular outside their country of origin because they are low-budget productions with culturally specific or controversial stories than only appeal to niche audiences. Nevertheless, drawing on industry data, focus group interviews and textual analysis, he demonstrates that some European films do successfully travel within Europe because they possess certain characteristics. These include major film awards, the involvement of international stars and/or a critically acclaimed ‘auteur’ director, and pre-sold material (e.g. based on a bestselling book). He also uses a case study, that of French comedy drama Untouchable (Olivier Nakache and Éric Toledano 2011), to show that even European films without these characteristics can still sometimes appeal to international audiences if they are shrewdly marketed and tap into wider social concerns.
Huw D. Jones
Chapter 12. Technology, Decentralisation and the Periphery of European Filmmaking: Greece and Scandinavia in Focus
Abstract
This chapter examines the decentralisation of film production, which it sees as having three different angles: geographic decentralisation, the crossing or pushing of boundaries of the form, and the shift towards less-standardised processes of film production. It maps the European film landscape and discusses decentralisation in the Northern European context, then goes on to consider Greece as a particular example within the European periphery, not just because of its geographic location but also because of the ongoing crisis and its implications. The case study discusses Attenberg (Athina Rachel Tsangari 2010), incorporating the elements mentioned in the previous sections. The chapter offers a view of the issues and tensions that film currently faces in the Northern and Southern European peripheral regions: standing between economic considerations and technological developments, as well as cultural objectives and the production of culture.
Olga Kolokytha
Chapter 13. Brooklyn and the Other Side of the Ocean: The International and Transnational in Irish Cinema
Abstract
O’Brien and Canning examine how Irish film production illustrates the complexities and paradoxes around producing meaning-making cultural products within a national setting, while operating simultaneously within a globalised industry. They situate the emergence of the twenty-first-century Irish film industry against the competing dynamics of free-market funding and implied ‘cultural value’ frameworks, and demonstrate how the dialectical relationship between them produces Irish film which speaks both nationally and transnationally. This ‘internationalised’ Irish film includes the work of Irish-born (Lenny Abrahamson) and diasporic Irish (John Michael McDonagh) filmmakers. The authors take Brooklyn (John Crowley 2015) as the central case study and frame it as an example of glocalisation (Robertson, The Journal of International Communication 18:191–208, 2012), interrogating America as well as Ireland.
Maria O’Brien, Laura Canning

Genres

Frontmatter
Chapter 14. On the Eve of the Journey: The New European Road Movie
Abstract
Time and again, in road movies the journey is represented as liberation. In contrast, a number of French-language films of the past decade explore the theme of travel not as release of energies but as tension—between places, identities, discourses and psychological states. They do so by focusing on the eve of the journey, rather than on the journey itself. The three films that Rascaroli explores are Far (André Téchiné 2001), Since Otar Left (Julie Bertuccelli 2003) and, in a more detailed case study, Welcome (Philippe Lioret 2009). While not being strictly speaking road movies, they are all centred on questions of travel and of legal and, especially, illegal emigration, and a journey is at the core of their narrative and thematic concerns.
Laura Rascaroli
Chapter 15. German Film Comedy in the ‘Berlin Republic’: Wildly Successful and a Lot Funnier than You Think
Abstract
Comedy is currently the most successful domestic film genre in Germany, and twenty-first-century German film comedies display diverse topics and approaches. Twark discusses several major German comedy trends, interpreting the directors’ depiction of contemporary social problems and German history in their films. Many recent German comedies portray the effects of German reunification and the socialist East German past with Ostalgie. Others parody Adolf Hitler and the Third Reich with ‘Hitler humour’. Transcultural comedies made by Turkish German directors and other immigrants and their offspring explore cultural clashes between various groups. Contemporary film comedies focusing on present-day Germany frequently reference past historical events and figures. Taking as her central case study Suck Me Shakespeer (Bora Dağtekin 2013), Twark reflects on these major developments in German comedy and considers why it has become so popular in the past few decades.
Jill E. Twark
Chapter 16. On the Ambiguous Charm of Film Noir: Elle and the New Type of Woman
Abstract
This chapter analyses film noir as a transnational genre marked by multiple appropriations and hybridisations, between global conventions and different national identities and cultural contexts. The chapter first explores the genre debate around film noir, insisting on the importance of pragmatic aspects and dynamic variations. Drawing on film, psychoanalytic and feminist theories, Gutiérrez-Martínez and Pedro then examine noir and neo-noir in relation to film mannerism, femme fatales and dysfunctional male characters. They consider examples from European proto-noir film to contemporary neo-noir within postfeminism, revealing how the femme fatale archetype has evolved in consonance with changing political contexts and the advancement of women in society. The authors conclude with a case study of Paul Verhoeven’s Elle (2016), analysing the dialectic between female and male characters.
Begoña Gutiérrez-Martínez, Josep Pedro
Chapter 17. Dystopia Redux: Science Fiction Cinema and Biopolitics
Abstract
In this chapter, Paz presents an overview of European science fiction (sf) cinema in the twenty-first century. He argues that the production of sf films in Europe has increased significantly over the past two decades, resulting in a body of works that occupies a middle ground between the blockbuster and the art film. Emphasising the links between sf and dystopia, and drawing on the theoretical framework of biopolitics, the chapter shows how sf films convey social concerns and anxieties about problems that dominate cultural and political debates in Europe, such as immigration, social control, and identity. The chapter concludes with a case study of Yorgos Lanthimos’ The Lobster (2015).
Mariano Paz
Chapter 18. Spanish Horror Film: Genre, Television and a New Model of Production
Abstract
This chapter discusses the evolution of Spanish horror film in the past decades. First, it examines the growth of horror in the context of film co-productions in the 1960s and 1970s. Second, it studies how horror film developed throughout the 1980s in the context of the re-establishment of a democratic regime. Third, it analyses the return of genre in the 1990s through the appearance of a new generation of filmmakers that redefined Spanish film. Fourth, it approaches horror film in the twenty-first century, with an emphasis on the key role of television operators as film production companies. Finally, it examines The Orphanage (J.A. Bayona 2007) as a national and international triumph that paved the way for an understanding of contemporary Spanish film within a series of both national and transnational coordinates.
Vicente Rodríguez Ortega, Rubén Romero Santos
Backmatter
Metadaten
Titel
European Cinema in the Twenty-First Century
herausgegeben von
Ingrid Lewis
Laura Canning
Copyright-Jahr
2020
Verlag
Springer International Publishing
Electronic ISBN
978-3-030-33436-9
Print ISBN
978-3-030-33435-2
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-33436-9