Realism and popular cinema

Julia Hallam is Director of English and Communication Studies at Liverpool University. Margaret Marshment is Senior Lecturer in Media and Cultural Studies at Liverpool John Moores University

This groundbreaking study engages with the theoretical aspects of realism - a long neglected area in film studies.. Contributes to an understanding of how popular films use realist forms to address contentious social and political issues such as social exclusion, war and violence.. Focusing on key moments in film history the authors examine the uses of realism in national cinemas as a context for their in-depth analysis of contemporary popular films.. A series of case studies examines the hybrid styles of realism used in recent filmmaking practice and the politics of these forms in relation to topics such as urban youth and domestic violence (Boyz N the Hood, La Haine, Once Were Warriors, Ladybird, Ladybird, Nil By Mouth), government conspiracies and war (Cry Freedom, JFK, Schindler's List), and serial killers (Henry, Portrait of a Serial Killer, Man Bites Dog, Natural Born Killers).. Will give rise to new directions in the theorisation of both popular film and realism in the cinema.

IntroductionPart 1
1. Realism and film: discursive formations
2. Realist moments: representation and reality
3. Realism and genre: realising fantasy
4. The epic of everyday: notes towards a continuum
5. Discerning viewers: cognitive theory and identification
Part Two
6. Revisioning history: realism and politics
7. Space, place and identity: re-viewing social realism
8. Violent appropriations: realising death