Table Of ContentTRADITIONS IN WORLD CINEMA
TRADITIONS IN WORLD CINEMA
General Editors
Linda Badley (Middle Tennessee State University)
R. Barton Palmer (Clemson University)
Founding Editor
Steven Jay Schneider (New York University)
Titles in the series include:
Traditions in World Cinema
by Linda Badley, R. Barton Palmer and Steven Jay Schneider (eds)
0 7486 1862 7 (hardback)
0 7486 1863 5 (paperback)
Japanese Horror Cinema
by Jay McRoy (ed.)
0 7486 1994 1 (hardback)
0 7486 1995 X (paperback)
New Punk Cinema
by Nicholas Rombes (ed.)
0 7486 2034 6 (hardback)
0 7486 2035 4 (paperback)
Forthcoming titles include:
African Filmmaking: North and South of the Sahara
by Roy Armes
0 7486 2123 7 (hardback)
0 7486 2124 5 (paperback)
American Commercial-Independent Cinema
by Linda Badley and R. Barton Palmer
0 7486 2459 7 (hardback)
0 7486 2460 0 (paperback)
Italian Neorealist Cinema
by Peter Bondanella
0 7486 1978 X (hardback)
0 7486 1979 8 (paperback)
The Italian Sword-and-Sandal Film
by Frank Burke
0 7486 1983 6 (hardback)
0 7486 1984 4 (paperback)
Czech and Slovak Cinema: Theme and Tradition
by Peter Hames
0 7486 2081 8 (hardback)
0 7486 2082 6 (paperback)
TRADITIONS IN WORLD CINEMA
Edited by
Linda Badley, R. Barton Palmer and
Steven Jay Schneider
EDINBURGH UNIVERSITY PRESS
© in this edition Edinburgh University Press, 2006
© in the individual contributions is retained by the authors
Edinburgh University Press Ltd
22 George Square, Edinburgh
Typeset in 10/12.5 Adobe Sabon
by Servis Filmsetting Ltd, Manchester, and
printed and bound in Great Britain by
MPG Books Ltd, Bodmin, Cornwall
A CIP record for this book is available from the British Library
ISBN 0 7486 1862 7 (hardback)
ISBN 0 7486 1863 5 (paperback)
The right of the contributors
to be identified as authors of this work
has been asserted in accordance with
the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
CONTENTS
Acknowledgements ix
Preface xi
Toby Miller
Notes on contributors xvii
Introduction 1
Linda Badley and R. Barton Palmer
PART I EUROPEAN TRADITIONS
1 German Expressionism 15
J.P. Telotte
2 Italian Neorealism 29
Peter Bondanella
3 The French New Wave 41
Richard Neupert
4 The British New Wave 52
R. Barton Palmer
PART II CENTRAL, EASTERN AND NORTHERN EUROPEAN
TRADITIONS
5 The Czechoslovak New Wave 67
Peter Hames
TRADITIONS INWORLD CINEMA
6 Danish Dogma 80
Linda Badley
7 Post-Communist Cinema 95
Christina Stojanova
PART III SOUTH AMERICAN TRADITIONS
8 Post-Cinema NovoBrazilian Cinema 117
Randal Johnson
9 New Argentine Cinema 130
Myrto Konstantarakos
PART IV AFRICAN AND MIDDLE EASTERN TRADITIONS
10 Early Cinematic Traditions in Africa 143
Roy Armes
11 Israeli Persecution Films 160
Nitzan Ben-Shaul
12 New Iranian Cinema 176
Negar Mottahedeh
PART V ASIAN TRADITIONS
13 Popular Hindi Cinema and the Film Song 193
Corey Creekmur
14 Chinese Melodrama 203
Stephen Teo
15 Japanese Horror Cinema 214
Jay McRoy
PART VI AMERICAN AND TRANSNATIONAL TRADITIONS
16 The ‘New’ American Cinema 231
Robert Kolker
17 The Global Art of Found Footage Cinema 241
Adrian Danks
Index 254
vi
Traditions in World Cinema is a series of books devoted to the analysis of cur-
rently popular and previously underexamined or undervalued film movements
from around the globe. The volumes in this series have three primary aims: (1)
to offer undergraduate- and graduate-level film students accessible and com-
prehensive introductions to diverse and fascinating traditions in world cinema;
(2) to represent these both textually and contextually through attention to
industrial, cultural and socio-historical conditions of production and reception;
and (3) to open up for academic study and general interest a number of previ-
ously underappreciated films.
The flagship volume for the series offers chapters by noted scholars on tra-
ditions of acknowledged importance (the French New Wave, German expres-
sionism), recent and emergent traditions (New Iranian, post-Cinema Novo),
and those whose rightful claim to recognition has yet to be established (the
Israeli persecution film, global found footage cinema). Other volumes concen-
trate on individual national, regional or global cinema traditions. As the intro-
ductory chapter to each volume makes clear, the films under discussion form a
coherent group on the basis of substantive and relatively transparent, if not
always obvious, commonalities. These commonalities may be formal, stylistic
or thematic, and the groupings may, although they need not, be popularly iden-
tified as genres, cycles or movements (Japanese horror, Chinese wenyi pian
melodrama, Dogma). Indeed, in cases in which a group of films is not already
commonly identified as a tradition, one purpose of the volume may be to estab-
lish its claim to importance and make it visible.
Each volume in the series includes:
• an introduction that clarifies the rationale for the grouping of films
under examination;
• concise history of the regional, national or transnational cinema in
question;
• summary of previous published work on the tradition;
• contextual analysis of industrial, cultural and socio-historical condi-
tions of production and reception;
• textual analysis of specific and notable films, with clear and judicious
application of relevant film theoretical approaches.
For Bill and Carla
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Steven Jay Schneider conceived and founded the Traditions in World Cinema
series, and his knowledge of international film genres and passion for the
cinema are reflected in this volume’s scope and shape. Without his groundwork
and energetic leadership in the project’s initial stages, neither the book nor the
series would exist. We regret that he has had to withdraw from the final stages
of the project, but we hope he finds that the resulting volume reflects in some
way the vision he had for it.
A huge debt of gratitude is owed to Sarah Edwards at Edinburgh University
Press, whose encouragement and support have been unfailing. For her assis-
tance, efficiency and especially for her patience, we are profoundly grateful.
Working on a collaborative book of this kind is always both an adventure and
an education. The experience of editing this volume has been especially grati-
fying because of the prodigious range, expertise and talents of the contributors.
For the privilege of learning from and working with them, and for their gen-
erosity and patience, we extend our heartfelt thanks.
We are indebted to Middle Tennessee State University for providing Linda
Badley with a Summer Salary Grant and to the Calhoun Lemon Endowment at
Clemson University for supporting Barton Palmer’s released time from teach-
ing and research expenses. Special thanks are owed to Karine Gavand, our tire-
less graduate research assistant at Middle Tennessee State University who,
during the project’s final stages, read and responded to drafts and checked
factsand titles. Her proficiency in several languages and first-hand knowledge
of international cultures have proven to be especially valuable assets. She
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