Apocalypse in Film (eBook)

Dystopias, Disasters, and Other Visions about the End of the World

Angela Krewani, Karen A. Ritzenhoff (Herausgeber)

eBook Download: EPUB

2015
254 Seiten
Rowman & Littlefield Publishers (Verlag)
978-1-4422-6029-0 (ISBN)

Infos

Apart from well-established Hollywood blockbusters that imagine the end of the world, there is a new wave of zombie narratives and independent films about Armageddon that were released around the predicted Maya calendar’s apocalypse in 2012. This volume offers an overview of the depiction of the Apocalypse in film past to present, and the essays discuss how the films reflect social anxieties that are linked to economic, ecological, and cultural factors.

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We live in a world at risk. Dire predictions about our future or the demise of planet earth persist. Even fictional representations depict narratives of decay and the end of a commonly shared social reality. Along with recurring Hollywood blockbusters that imagine the end of the world, there has been a new wave of zombie features as well as independent films that offer various visions of the future. The Apocalypse in Film: Dystopias, Disasters, and Other Visions about the End of the World offers an overview of Armageddon in film from the silent era to the present. This collection of essays discusses how such films reflect social anxietiesones that are linked to economic, ecological, and cultural factors. Featuring a broad spectrum of international scholars specializing in different historical genres and methodologies, these essays look at a number of films, including the silent classic The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, the black comedy Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb, the Mayan calendar disaster epic, 2012, and in particular, Lars Von Trier's Melancholia, the focus of several essays.As some filmmakers translate the anxiety about a changing global climate and geo-political relations into visions of the apocalypse, others articulate worries about the planet's future by depicting chemical warfare, environmental disasters, or human made destruction. This book analyzes the emergence of apocalyptic and dystopic narratives and explores the political and social situations on which these films are based. Contributing to the dialogue on dystopic culture in war and peace, The Apocalypse in Film will be of interest to scholars in film and media studies, border studies, gender studies, sociology, and political science.

Autor

Karen A. Ritzenhoff is professor in the Department of Communication at Central Connecticut State University and is also affiliated with the Women, Gender and Sexuality Studies Program. She is the co-editor of Screening the Dark Side of Love: From Euro-Horror to American Cinema (2012) and Selling Sex on Screen: From Weimar Cinema to Zombie Porn (Rowman & Littlefield, 2015).Angela Krewani is professor for Media Studies at Philipps University in Marburg, Germany. She is the co-editor of Hollywood – Recent Developments (2005) and McLuhan’s Global Village Today (2014).

Inhalt

AcknowledgementsIntroductionKaren A. Ritzenhoff and Angela Krewani PART ITHE EARLY DEPICTIONS OF DISASTERChapter 1World War One and Hollywood’s First Modern Armageddon: Understanding Wartime and Post-Conflict Representations of a Global Cataclysm in Civilization (1916) and The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse (1921)Clémentine Tholas-DissetChapter 2The End of the World: Loss and Redemption in Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse (1921)Karen RandellPART IIGLOBAL DEMISE AND COLD WARChapter 3‘Radiation’s rising, but one mustn’t grumble too much’: Nuclear Apocalypse Played as Farce in Richard Lester’s The Bed-Sitting Room (1969)Thomas PraschChapter 4The Legacy of Dr. Strangelove: Stanley Kubrick, Science Fiction Blockbusters and the Future of HumanityPeter KrämerChapter 5‘Gentleman, You Can’t Fight in Here’: Gender Symbolism and the End of the World in Dr. Strangelove and MelancholiaCatriona McAvoyPART IIIMELANCHOLIA AND OTHER REPRESENTATIONS OF THE APOCALYPSEChapter 6 Is There an End to It? Fictional Shelters and Shelter-FictionSolvejg NitzkeChapter 7Melancholia and the Apocalypse WithinPierre FloquetChapter 8Eco Apocalypse: Environmentalism, Political Alienation and Therapeutic AgencyPhilip Hammond and Hugh Ortega BretonPART IVPOLITICS OF SHOWING THE UNTHINKABLEChapter 9Disaster Films: The End of the World and the Risk Society HeroFrederick WasserChapter 10 The (Gender) Politics of Disaster in 2012 (2009)Charles Antoine CourcouxChapter 11Tarkovsky’s The Sacrifice: A Religious Humanist ApocalypseTatjana LjujićChapter 12Dead Narratives: Defining Humanity Through StoriesA. Fiona Pearson and Scott Ellis PART VMOVING BEYOND THE END OF THE WORLDChapter 13Opposing Thatcherism: Filmic Apocalypse as a Political Strategy in 1980s BritainAngela KrewaniChapter 14Painting in Time: On the Use of Digital Visual Effects in Melancholia (2011)Andreas KirchnerChapter 15The Corporate and Corporeal: Min(d)ing the Body—Conscience and Consumption in Early 21st Century Hollywood DystopiaWendy SterbaIndexAbout the Editors and Contributors

Produkt-Details

• Erscheint lt. Verlag: 30.12.2015
• Zusatzinfo: 6 Illustrations including: - 6 Halftones, Black & White including Black & White Photographs.
• Sprache: englisch
• Themenwelt: Kunst / Musik / Theater ► Film / TV
• Themenwelt: Kunst / Musik / Theater ► Theater / Ballett
• Themenwelt: Sozialwissenschaften ► Kommunikation / Medien ► Medienwissenschaft
• Schlagworte: 2012 • Apocalypse • Disaster Epic • Disaster Films • Doctor Strangelove • Dystopia • Dystopian films • End of the World Films • Lars von Trier • Melancholia • Soctor Strangelove
• ISBN-10: 1-4422-6029-7 / 1442260297
• ISBN-13: 978-1-4422-6029-0 / 9781442260290