Loyal and stubborn heroes: the main character’s personality in Classic Hollywood cinema

This research aims to analyze the main characters’ construction in classic Hollywood cinema by focusing on their personalities. This work follows Bordwell, Staiger and Thompson’s notions of classic cinema. The sample includes films from 1930 to 1960. Character is understood as personality and as a psychological unit. Characterization is defined by each trait that refers to the totality of their character. We start with the hypothesis that there are central tendencies for creating heroes and heroines in classic cinema. However, these tendencies also correspond with the film narrative model, which is shaped by the functionality of the narrative categories in the story. Personality is among those factors that shape the construction of the character. We applied a methodology of film narrative analysis to a sample of 64 films from six extensive genres in classic Hollywood cinema. The results confirm that the main character in classic cinema is conditioned and shaped by their adaptation to the film’s genre. The hero is usually positive according to what is considered socially acceptable values; the dramatic needs of the plot predetermine their definition. The Hollywood main character’s personality is based on their functionality as they serve the narrative needs of the story.

The Category of System in David Bordwell’s Concept of Film Aesthetics

The aim of this paper is to analyse the role played by the category of system in the early books of David Bordwell. They have exerted an enormous influence on the understanding of film aesthetics, but little space has been devoted to their methodological background, including the category of system. In Film Art: An Introduction (1979), all elements of film form have a systemic character, which is visible in the chapter titles, such as “Form as System” or “Narration as a Formal System”. In The Classical Hollywood Cinema, the film aesthetics is based on systems of narrative logic, time and space. In Narration in the Fiction Film, the systems of syuzhet and style are foregrounded. Bordwell’s fascination with systems is rooted undoubtedly in their popularity in the 1970s. But do Bordwellian notions really fulfil the criteria of system theory, especially in its newer version, with such notions as chaos, feedback loop, self-regulation and others? Perhaps even Bordwell himself is not certain of that, since the word “system” disappears from recent editions of Film Art: An Introduction.

Through the looking glass: The Matrix franchise and interpretation

<p>This thesis analyses the reception of the Matrix trilogy by paying close attention to the work of film reviewers, and academic commentators who interpret the films from a religious perspective. The methodology of the project involves using a historical reception studies approach based on the work of Janet Staiger. The film reviews display an interest in the trilogy’s action sequences and its numerous cultural references. As the trilogy proceeds, the reviewers become increasingly concerned about the emphasis on spectacle. I argue that these interests can be understood in terms of debates in Film Studies around the 'cinema of attractions' and the tensions between narrative and spectacle in contemporary Hollywood cinema. The Christian, Buddhist and Gnostic religious academic commentaries all utilise an allegorical approach to the trilogy. As a result, they interpret the films through the prism of good versus evil. They also stress the importance of the acquisition of knowledge. In my opinion, the film reviews and religious interpretations share an interest in unity or singularity. This parallels the narrative of the trilogy, specifically the quest for 'the One'.</p>

Through the looking glass: The Matrix franchise and interpretation

<p>This thesis analyses the reception of the Matrix trilogy by paying close attention to the work of film reviewers, and academic commentators who interpret the films from a religious perspective. The methodology of the project involves using a historical reception studies approach based on the work of Janet Staiger. The film reviews display an interest in the trilogy’s action sequences and its numerous cultural references. As the trilogy proceeds, the reviewers become increasingly concerned about the emphasis on spectacle. I argue that these interests can be understood in terms of debates in Film Studies around the 'cinema of attractions' and the tensions between narrative and spectacle in contemporary Hollywood cinema. The Christian, Buddhist and Gnostic religious academic commentaries all utilise an allegorical approach to the trilogy. As a result, they interpret the films through the prism of good versus evil. They also stress the importance of the acquisition of knowledge. In my opinion, the film reviews and religious interpretations share an interest in unity or singularity. This parallels the narrative of the trilogy, specifically the quest for 'the One'.</p>

Author's cinematograph of new Hollywood

The paper is devoted to the problems of director's self-fulfilment in the cinematograph of New Hollywood. The study examines such a unique phenomenon of the artistic culture of the 20th century as American author's cinematograph. The relevance of this study is determined by the trends in the development of New Hollywood, which have radically changed the essence of modern cinematograph. The purpose of the study is to identify the specifics of New Hollywood cinema, which resonated in the work of modern Hollywood directors as an influential and competitive area. The main emphasis in this study is placed on the attempts of both historians and film theorists, as well as practitioners themselves to find clear boundaries between American independent and mass Hollywood cinematograph, as well as on the reasons why film critics and culturologists consider a particular American film to be independent, author's, or mass cinema (the so-called mainstream). At the same time, the main areas and trends of American author's cinematograph are studied from the point of view of director's self-fulfilment. Examples from films by American directors and authors were analysed. Methods of scientific analysis, comparison, and generalisation were used in the study of the topic.

A Road Less Travelled: The American Biker Film of the 1960s and 1970s

<p>In the period 1966-1974 there were at least forty independent, low-budget feature films made in the United States about motorcycle gangs. These films were inspired by media coverage of the notorious exploits of actual gangs in the post-War period. They depict bikers as violent libertines who live non-conformist lives and engage frequently in anti-social behaviour. The films are marked by motorcycle 'runs,' wild parties, brawls, and sexual violence. While the biker film has received some critical attention, it has not been analysed to the same extent as that more reputable and better known genre of the same period, the road movie. This thesis will expand on existing research by initially examining the factors that shaped the biker film, such as the media panic about real gangs, the influence of the counterculture, exploitation filmmaking, and New Hollywood cinema. The project will also investigate the narrative features of the genre, and link this analysis to debates around post-classical narration. Finally, the thesis will interpret the representation of gender in the biker film. This thesis will argue that the biker film should be situated within a continuum of male-oriented genres that involve violent spectacle. It will also make a contribution to the ongoing research on New Hollywood cinema.</p>

A Road Less Travelled: The American Biker Film of the 1960s and 1970s

<p>In the period 1966-1974 there were at least forty independent, low-budget feature films made in the United States about motorcycle gangs. These films were inspired by media coverage of the notorious exploits of actual gangs in the post-War period. They depict bikers as violent libertines who live non-conformist lives and engage frequently in anti-social behaviour. The films are marked by motorcycle 'runs,' wild parties, brawls, and sexual violence. While the biker film has received some critical attention, it has not been analysed to the same extent as that more reputable and better known genre of the same period, the road movie. This thesis will expand on existing research by initially examining the factors that shaped the biker film, such as the media panic about real gangs, the influence of the counterculture, exploitation filmmaking, and New Hollywood cinema. The project will also investigate the narrative features of the genre, and link this analysis to debates around post-classical narration. Finally, the thesis will interpret the representation of gender in the biker film. This thesis will argue that the biker film should be situated within a continuum of male-oriented genres that involve violent spectacle. It will also make a contribution to the ongoing research on New Hollywood cinema.</p>

Introduction

In film culture of the late sixties and seventies, often between the cracks of more dominant forms and topics of discourse, we can locate a concern with the historical past as a complex field of imagined experiential presence. This concern was fueled by and found expressive purchase in the era commonly known as the New Hollywood cinema. This “presence” of the past played out not just as cultural allegory, but as a complex dialectic of presence and absence that became tangible in diverse genres and aesthetic sensibilities. These sensibilities were mutually inscribed into broader culture discourses of the sixties and seventies, as well as into the transformational changes of film culture, criticism, theory, and industrial filmmaking. Stylistically, they also become significant to the increasing diversity and eclecticism of film music and the development of the creative category of sound design.