Synopses & Reviews
The Hollywood 'happy ending' has long been considered among the most famous and standardised features in the whole of narrative filmmaking. Yet, while ceaselessly invoked, this notorious device has received barely any detailed attention from the field of film studies.
This book is thus the first in-depth examination of one of the most overused and under-analysed concepts in discussions of popular cinema. What exactly is the 'happy ending'? Is it simply a cliché, as commonly supposed? Why has it earned such an unenviable reputation? What does it, or can it, mean? Concentrating especially on conclusions featuring an ultimate romantic union 'the final couple' this wide-ranging investigation probes traditional associations between the 'happy ending' and homogeneity, closure, 'unrealism', and ideological conservatism, testing widespread assumptions against the evidence offered by a range of classical and contemporary films.
Breaking new critical ground, this book encourages students and scholars of film to reconsider some tenacious critical preconceptions, inviting them to approach afresh their understandings of perhaps the most infamous narrative convention in Hollywood cinema.
Synopsis
This wide-ranging investigation probes traditional associations between the 'happy ending' and homogeneity, closure, 'unrealism', and ideological conservatism, testing widespread assumptions against the evidence offered by a range of classical and contemporary films.
Synopsis
A critical study of the 'happy ending' in classical and contemporary Hollywood cinema
The Hollywood 'happy ending' has long been considered among the most famous and standardised features in the whole of narrative filmmaking. Yet, while ceaselessly invoked, this notorious device has received barely any detailed attention from the field of film studies.
This book is the first in-depth examination of one of the most overused and under-analysed concepts in discussions of popular cinema. What exactly is the 'happy ending'? Is it simply a clich , as commonly supposed? Why has it earned such an unenviable reputation? What does it, or can it, mean? Concentrating especially on conclusions featuring an ultimate romantic union - the final couple - this wide-ranging investigation probes traditional associations between the 'happy ending' and homogeneity, closure, 'unrealism', and ideological conservatism, testing widespread assumptions against the evidence offered by a range of classical and contemporary films.
Key Features
- Defines key features of the Hollywood 'happy ending' through detailed textual analysis and theoretical debate
- Traces the historical development of the scholarly approaches taken towards the cinematic 'happy ending'
- Reassesses the concept of cinematic closure and its relationship to genre, ideology and 'unrealism'
About the Author
James MacDowell is an Associate Fellow in the Department of Film and Television Studies at the University of Warwick, and an editorial board member of
Movie: A Journal of Film Criticism. His research focuses on issues of narrative, aesthetics and culture in Hollywood and American independent cinema, and he is currently writing a book on irony in film.
Table of Contents
Acknowledgments
Introduction: The 'Happy Ending': The Making of a Reputation
Chapter 1:The 'Happy Ending' and Homogeneity
Chapter 2: Happy Endings and Closure
Chapter 3: Happy Endings and Unrealism
Chapter 4: Happy Endings and Ideology
Conclusion: Provisions for the Future
Bibliography
Index