Viewing Positions
Ways of Seeing Film
Movies & Mass Culture
Silent Film
Representing Blackness
Issues in Film and Video
Defining Cinema
Controlling Hollywood
Censorship and Regulation in the Studio Era
Film Adaptation
Screening Violence
Graphic cinematic violence is a magnet for controversy. From passionate defenses to outraged protests, theories abound concerning this defining feature of modern film: Is it art or exploitation, dangerous or liberating? Screening Violence provides an even-handed examination of the history, merits, and effects of cinematic “ultraviolence.”
The Historical Film
History and Memory in Media
Film and Nationalism
Film and Nationalism examines the ways in which cinema has been considered an arena of conflict and interaction between nations and nationhood. Each section of this volume explores a crucial aspect of the discussion. Is film an effective form of national propaganda? Are films losing the very notion of nationhood, in favor of a generalized, "global" cinematographic culture? What is films influence over "national character"? In addition, the volume explores the cultural and economic interactions between developed and underdeveloped countries. How have third world nations defined themselves in relation to hegemonic first world cultures, and how have their relations been changed through the dissemination of Western films? Throughout, Alan Williams chooses essays that enhance our understanding of how films help shape our sense of nationhood and self.