Genre/Film & Representation: An Easy Guide to Cinema's Prime Mover and Its Political Potential

We mostly think we understand the films we are watching. When we see a city, tommy guns, moonshine and explosions, for example, we know it's a gangster movie. But often this is as far as our understanding goes. Many 'experts' sniff at such genre films, declaring that they are formulaic, low-brow entertainment. Others hold that genres are hybrids and evolve in ever interesting ways. And we grapple with the argument, unable to shame the elitists by joining the worldwide discussion on cinema's prime mover - GENRE. Whether you are at school or university, a lecturer, casual cinema goer or square-eyed cinephile, Genre/Film will not catch dust on your book shelf but grow dog ears, instead, as it presents an invaluable introduction to cinema's ultimate force and main bone of contention. Genre/Film complements established textbooks by demonstrating how an appreciation of genre is crucial for the understanding of film representations. Besides providing the methodological tool kit for this important first step into film analysis, Genre/Film also exposes our society's main genre, melodrama and gives up an up-to-date overview of the gangster idiom with its neo-noir inflection.