Melodrama: Genre, Style and Sensibility

by John Mercer PhD, Martin Shingler

Overview

Melodrama: Genre, Style and Sensibility is designed as an accessible overview of one of the most popular genres at undergraduate Film Studies. The book identifies three distinct but connected concepts through which it is possible to make sense of melodrama; either as a genre, originating in European theatre of the 18th and 19th century, as a specific cinematic style, epitomised by the work of Douglas Sirk or as a sensibility that emerges in the context of specific texts, speaking to and reflecting the desires, concerns and anxieties of audiences. Films discussed include All That Heaven Allows, Safe, Fear Eats the Soul, Black Narcissus, Suddenly Last Summer and Rebel Without a Cause. Each chapter includes overviews of key essays, analyses of significant and widely studied films and includes an annotated reading list.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780231503068
Publisher:	Columbia University Press
Publication date:	09/06/2013
Series:	Short Cuts
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	144
Sales rank:	601,903
File size:	3 MB

About the Author

John Mercer is a lecturer in Film and Media Studies and Buckinghamshire Chilterns University College, UK. Martin Shingler is the co-author of On Air: Methods and Meanings in Radio (Arnold) with Cindy Wieringa. He has contibuted to Screen Acting (Routledge) and Hollywood Spectatorship(BFI).

Table of Contents

Table of Illustrations
Introduction
1. Genre
2. Style
3. Sensibility
Conclusion
Filmography
Recommended Reading List
Bibliography