4 minute read
British Film Institute
BFI FILM CLASSICS
“An indispensable part of every cineaste’s bookcase” - Total Film
NEW TO THE SERIES
The Silence of the Lambs
9781839023675 7th Oct 2021 Blue Velvet
9781839023712 7th Oct 2021 The Thing
9781839023590 7th Oct 2021 Trouble in Paradise
9781839022036 7th Oct 2021 Duck Soup
9781839022258 7th Oct 2021
FILM & MEDIA – BFI ADTrainspotting 9781839022166 18th Nov 2021 Jeanne Dielman, 23, quai du commerce, 1080 Bruxelles 9781839022821 18th Nov 2021 I Know Where I'm Going! 9781839023811 18th Nov 2021
A Matter of Life and Death 9781839023897 18th Nov 2021 Explore the entire series at www.bloomsbury.com/BFIFilmClassics
Ian Christie, Birkbeck, University of London, UK Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger's A Matter of Life and Death (1946) stars David Niven as an RAF pilot poised between life and death, his love for the American radio operator June (Kim Hunter) threatened by medical, political and ultimately celestial forces. The film is a magical, profound fantasy and a moving evocation of English history and the wartime experience, with virtuoso Technicolor special effects. Ian Christie's study of the film shows how its creators drew upon many sources and traditions to create a unique form of modern masque, treating contemporary issues with witty allegory and enormous visual imagination.
UK November 2021 • US November 2021 • 112 pages • 60 colour illus PB 9781839023897 • £11.99 / $15.95 ePub 9781839023903 • £10.79 / $14.32 ePdf 9781839023873 • £10.79 / $14.32 Series: BFI Film Classics • British Film Institute
I Know Where I'm Going!
Pam Cook, University of Southampton, UK I Know Where I'm Going! (1945) is widely regarded as one of Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger's most remarkable achievements and a cinematic tour de force. The film follows the journey of a headstrong young woman forced by her encounter with the magical, mythic world of the Scottish Highlands to revise her materialistic priorities. Pam Cook traces the film's production history, exploring its place in Powell and Pressburger's canon and showing how it wove into its narrative the memories and aspirations of an international group of film-makers working in 1940s Britain.
UK November 2021 • US November 2021 • 104 pages • 58 bw illus PB 9781839023811 • £11.99 / $15.95 ePub 9781839023828 • £10.79 / $14.32 ePdf 9781839023798 • £10.79 / $14.32 Series: BFI Film Classics • British Film Institute
Trouble in Paradise
David Weir, The Cooper Union, New York, USA In his study of Ernst Lubitsch’s Trouble in Paradise, regarded by some as ushering in The Golden Age of Hollywood, author David Weir details the cultural impact of this iconic film. To achieve this, Weir provides an in-depth analysis of the film. He also explores the other films in Lubitsch’s career that led to the making of Trouble in Paradise, the larger context in which he was directing, the development of his technique and the emergence of the 'Classic Hollywood Style'.
UK October 2021 • US October 2021 • 112 pages • 55 bw illus PB 9781839022036 • £11.99 / $15.95 ePub 9781839022043 • £10.79 / $14.32 ePdf 9781839022050 • £10.79 / $14.32 Series: BFI Film Classics • British Film Institute
Trainspotting
Murray Smith, University of Kent, UK In 1996 Trainspotting was the biggest thing in British culture. Brilliantly and aggressively marketed, it crossed into the mainstream despite being a black comedy set against the backdrop of heroin addiction in Edinburgh. The film is crucial for understanding British culture in the context of devolution and the rise of ‘Cool Britannia’. In his afterword to this new edition, Murray Smith reflects on the original film 25 years after its release, and its 2017 sequel T2: Trainspotting also directed by Danny Boyle. Smith also considers Boyle's subsequent directorial career, with highlights including Slumdog Millionaire (2008) and the 2012 London Olympics opening ceremony.
UK November 2021 • US November 2021 • 104 pages • 60 colour illus PB 9781839022166 • £11.99 / $15.95 ePub 9781839022173 • £10.79 / $14.32 ePdf 9781839022180 • £10.79 / $14.32 Series: BFI Film Classics • British Film Institute
Catherine Fowler, University of Otago, New Zealand Drawing on original footage, interviews and documents, Catherine Fowler explores the making of Chantal Akerman's 1975 film Jeanne Dielman. Analysing the performance of Delphine Seyrig in the title role, the film's unique representation of domestic space and the materiality of women's time, Fowler illuminates why the film is seen as a significant precursor for what came to be known as 'Slow Cinema' and why it continues to be seen as a landmark of feminist film-making.
UK November 2021 • US November 2021 • 96 pages • 60 colour illus PB 9781839022821 • £11.99 / $15.95 ePub 9781839022838 • £10.79 / $14.32 ePdf 9781839022845 • £10.79 / $14.32 Series: BFI Film Classics • British Film Institute
Duck Soup
J. Hoberman, film critic, journalist and author, New York, USA J. Hoberman's study of Duck Soup (1933) traces the film's reputation, from the initial disappointment of its release, to its rise to cult status in the 1960s when the Marx’s anarchic, anti-establishment humor seemed again timely. Hoberman places Duck Soup in its cinematic context, alongside analogous comedies—Dr. Strangelove (1964), the Beatles films, Morgan! (1966), The President’s Analyst (1967) and The Producers (1968). It attained canonical stature as a touchstone for Woody Allen and would be recognized by the Library of Congress in the 1990s.
UK October 2021 • US October 2021 • 104 pages • 40 bw illus PB 9781839022258 • £11.99 / $15.95 ePub 9781839022265 • £10.79 / $14.32 ePdf 9781839022272 • £10.79 / $14.32 Series: BFI Film Classics • British Film Institute
