Synopses & Reviews
World Cinema through Global Genres offers a new response to recent trends in internationalism that shape the increasingly global character of movies. Costanzo is able to render the complex forces of global filmmaking accessible to students; instead of tracing the long histories of cinema country by country, this innovative textbook uses engaging, recent films like
Hero (China),
Monsoon Wedding (India), and
Central Station (Brazil) as entry points, linking them to comparable American and European films. The book’s cluster-based organization allows students to acquire a progressively sharper understanding of core issues about genre, aesthetics, industry, culture, history, film theory, and representation that apply to all films around the world.
Students are empowered to look through the lens of genre for reasons behind the similarities and differences among movies made at home and abroad. They come to understand how today’s films are part of a dynamic world phenomenon, drawing on local traditions and foreign influences to meet the needs and desires of an increasingly multicultural, globally conscious audience. By studying the cultural flows and cross-currents shaping global genres, readers form a deeper appreciation not only of the films and their stories, but also of the people, societies, and beliefs behind these films.
Online resources for instructors, including sample syllabi, lesson plans, student assignments and filmographies, can be found at www.wiley.com/go/costanzo.
Review
US & CANADA: (Processed July 2013)
requested by the author
Cinema Journal
Camera Obscura
Film Comment
Journal of Film and Video
Journal of Popular Culture
The Journal of Media Literacy Education (Journal of NAMLE, http://jmle.org/index.php/JMLE/index)
Columbia College Today
Framework: The Journal of Cinema and Media
Cinema Scope
Cineastes
The Velvet Light Trap
Wide Angle
UK & RoW: (Processed July 2013)
Cahiers du Cinema
Film-Philosophy
New Review of Film and Television Studies
Scope
Senses of Cinema
THE
TLS
Review
"A wonderful textbook as well as a scholarly tour-de-force. Costanzo brings new meaning to the concept of global genres and offers up examples that convincingly demonstrate cinematic border crossings and cultural connections amongst far-flung places."
—
David Desser, University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign, USA"Costanzo revitalizes both world cinema and genre studies with his stimulating, insightful cross cultural approach to warrior heroes, wedding films, horror and road movies. It's a well-written, scholarly work that's as inventive as it is enjoyable."
—Diane Carson, Past President, University Film and Video Assn (UFVA)
"William Costanzo has cut the clearest path yet through the forest of World Cinema. Key genres take us confidently place to place, era to era; while maps, timelines, and surveys of national industries position a rich array of films, many analyzed with real mastery."
—Dudley Andrew, Professor of Film and Comparative Literature, Yale University, USA
Synopsis
World Cinema through Global Genres introduces the complex forces of global filmmaking using the popular concept of film genre. The cluster-based organization allows students to acquire a clear understanding of core issues that apply to all films around the world.
- Innovative pedagogical approach that uses genres to teach the more unfamiliar subject of world cinema
- A cluster-based organization provides a solid framework for students to acquire a sharper understanding of core issues that apply to all films around the world
- A “deep focus” section in each chapter gives students information and insights about important regions of filmmaking (India, China, Japan, and Latin America) that tend to be underrepresented in world cinema classes
- Case studies allow students to focus on important and accessible individual films that exemplify significant traditions and trends
- A strong foundation chapter reviews key concepts and vocabulary for understanding film as an art form, a technology, a business, an index of culture, a social barometer, and a political force.
- The engaging style and organization of the book make it a compelling text for both world cinema and film genre courses
About the Author
William Costanzo is a SUNY Distinguished Teaching Professor of English and Film at Westchester Community College in Valhalla, New York, where he teaches courses in writing, literature, and film studies. Dr. Costanzo has previously published five books on film, writing, and computers, including Reading the Movies (1992), Great Films and How to Teach Them (2004) and The Writer’s Eye (2008). He currently serves on the Society for Cinema and Media Studies Teaching Committee.
Table of Contents
Preface ix
Acknowledgments xiii
How to Use This Book xv
Introduction 1
UNIT I THE WARRIOR HERO 43
Chapter 1: The Warrior Hero 45
Deep Focus on Chinese Cinemas 79
Close-up: The Magnificent Seven 100
Close-up: Seven Samurai 106
Close-up: Sholay 113
Close-up: Way of the Dragon 118
UNIT II THE WEDDING FILM 125
Chapter 2: The Wedding Film 127
Deep Focus on Indian Cinemas 159
Close-up: My Big Fat Greek Wedding 181
Close-up: Monsoon Wedding 187
Close-up: The Wedding Banquet 192
Close-up: Wedding in Galilee 197
UNIT III THE HORROR FILM 203
Chapter 3: The Horror Film 205
Deep Focus on Japanese Cinemas 254
Close-up: Halloween 270
Close-up: Suspiria 276
Close-up: The Devil’s Backbone 282
Close-up: Ring 287
UNIT IV THE ROAD MOVIE 293
Chapter 4: The Road Movie 295
Deep Focus on Latin American Cinemas 335
Close-up: Thelma & Louise 368
Close-up: La Strada 374
Close-up: Breathless 379
Close-up: The Motorcycle Diaries 386
Glossary 392
Index 406