Synopses & Reviews
Cinema is not only an intellectual or cerebral experience, especially when we are talking about popular movies. This is a book about one aspect of how cinema makes us feel as well as think. Although all these aspects are intertwined, Men's Cinema is about identification as well as analysis, about mise-en-scene alongside representation and narrative . It reflects on how we as spectators are invited to understand, desire or identify with Hollywood's vision of men and masculinity via mise-en-scene , from the classical era to the present day. It shows how Hollywood has built up and refined the 'language' of 'men's cinema' via a series of recurrent, refined tropes that evoke masculinity, from a posse of men walking towards the camera to the ecstatically fast editing of the classic action sequence.
Review
'Stella Bruzzi's new book makes a welcome intervention in the fields of film and gender studies. Skillfully building upon classic works on the construction of male identity on screen, she nevertheless provides a completely new focus on the topic, offering a valuable addition to existing scholarship on this most crucial issue.' - Elisabetta Girelli, Scottish Journal of Performance
Synopsis
This is a book about one aspect of how cinema makes us feel as well as think. It reflects on how we as spectators are invited to understand, desire or identify with Hollywood's vision of men and masculinity via mise-en-scene.
Synopsis
Men's Cinema offers a fresh theorisation of men in Hollywood cinema via a theoretical discussion of definitions of masculinity and the close textual analysis of classic and contemporary films. Through an examination of mise-en-sc ne, Men's Cinema moves beyond discussions of representation and narrative to an exploration of the physical or instinctive effects of cinema and how we are invited to engage with, desire or identify with Hollywood's vision of men and masculinity. By delineating how Hollywood has built up and refined the language of men's cinema through a series of recurrent, refined tropes, this book critically explores masculinity and the concept of a male aesthetic within film.
Films discussed include: The Deer Hunter, Dirty Harry, Goodfellas, Inception, Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol, Once Upon a Time in the West, Point Break, Raging Bull, Rebel Without A Cause, Reservoir Dogs, Sherlock Holmes, There's Always Tomorrow, The Wild Bunch.
Synopsis
The first full length study of masculinity and film style
Men's Cinema offers a fresh theorisation of men in Hollywood cinema via a theoretical discussion of definitions of masculinity and the close textual analysis of classic and contemporary films. Through an examination of mise-en-sc ne, Men's Cinema moves beyond discussions of representation and narrative to an exploration of the physical or instinctive effects of cinema and how we are invited to engage with, desire or identify with Hollywood's vision of men and masculinity. By delineating how Hollywood has built up and refined the language of men's cinema through a series of recurrent, refined tropes, this book critically explores masculinity and the concept of a male aesthetic within film.
Films discussed include: The Deer Hunter, Dirty Harry, Goodfellas, Inception, Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol, Once Upon a Time in the West, Point Break, Raging Bull, Rebel Without A Cause, Reservoir Dogs, Sherlock Holmes, There's Always Tomorrow, The Wild Bunch.
About the Author
Stella Bruzzi is Professor of Film and Television Studies at the University of Warwick.