ReFocus: the Films of William Wyler (Refocus: the American Directors Series)

Price, John (EDT)

Edinburgh University Press（2023/03発売）

Edinburgh University Press（2023/03発売）

• 製本 Hardcover:ハードカバー版／ページ数 304 p.
• 言語 ENG
• 商品コード 9781399510462
• DDC分類 791.430233092

Full Description

Examines the extensive and diverse oeuvre of American filmmaker William Wyler

Explores Wyler's work in connection with current themes and topics in film studies
Provides cultural and political contexts for Wyler's films, including representations of class, gender, and race
Assesses the relationship between classic Hollywood's studio system and the auteur theory and Wyler's hybrid influence on the history of cinema

In his forty-five-year career, William Wyler not only traversed the silent and the sound eras, but also connected classic Hollywood to new Hollywood." The range of his films also spans a wide spectrum of genres: from westerns to adaptations of classic literature, from crime thrillers to rom-coms, and from controversial topics to musicals. His three Oscars for Best Director are an achievement surpassed only by John Ford. His life experience as one of Hollywood's early immigrant artists also speaks to the foreign influence on classic Hollywood. Yet despite his awards and commercial success, artistic recognition has mostly eluded Wyler. This volume of the ReFocus series attempts to analyze this Wyler paradox and also seeks to contextualize and theorize selections from Wyler's canon and his relationship to American cinematic history and American culture. This collection has gathered contributions from international authors from extremely diverse backgrounds, and therefore differing perspectives on Wyler and his work.

"

Contents

Wyler FilmographyAcademy Awards for Acting under WylerNotes on ContributorsAcknowledgments

Introduction: William Wyler - Chariot Races and Flower Shows - John Price

Part 1 Style

1. Wyler's Early Films: Evolution of the "Styleless Style" - John Price

2. More than Meets the Eye: Perspectives on William Wyler and the Auteur Theory - Kyle Barrowman

3. Traumatic History and the Prosthesis of Myth in Wyler's The Best Years of Our Lives - Carol Donelan

4. Persistent Presence: Space and Time in the Films of William Wyler - Francis Mickus

Part 2 Collaboration, Genre & Adaptation

5. Clash of the Titans: The Hidden Collaboration of William Wyler and David O. Selznick on Carrie (1952) - Milan Hain

6. Narratives of Failure: Dead End (1937), The Desperate Hours (1955), and Gangsters in Distress - Terrance McDonald

7. Wyler's Wuthering Heights: Genre, Transnationalism, and the Adaptation of the Victorian Novel - Gabrielle Stecher

Part 3 Gender & Sexuality

8. William Wyler's The Heiress (1949) and the Unknown Woman - Agustin Zarzosa

9. These Three: Wyler and His Two Adaptations of The Children's Hour - Matthias Smith

Part 4 War & Peace

10. A War of the People: Destruction, Community, and Hope in William Wyler's Wartime Films - Robert Ribera

11. Turning the Other Cheek: Wyler's Pacifism Trilogy - Friendly Persuasion (1956), The Big Country (1958) and Ben-Hur (1959) - John Price

Part 5 Global Wyler

12. William Wyler's Voyage to Italy: Roman Holiday, Progressive Hollywood, and the Cold War - Anthony Smith

13. "Down Eros, Up Mars!": Post-Colonialism, Imperial Violence, and the Corrupting Influence of Hate in William Wyler's Ben-Hur (1959) - Kaitlin Pontzer

14. Life Isn't Always What One Likes: The Unbearable Lightness of Royalty, and Other Stereotypes in Roman Holiday (1953) - Etienne Boumans