Film genres: features, functions, evolution
This Interactive workshop aims at exploring the origin of genres, their functions in cinema and their evolution, with particular emphasis on the latest developments. We first ask why we need genres at all and examine the variety of classification criteria that can be used. Then we focus on the specific features of genre films, analysing their conventions and their narrative structures. We then explore how different agents (from producers to audiences, from critics to film scholars) have used and still use genres, and highlight their economic, sociocultural and communicative functions. Finally, by taking a historical perspective, we explore how genres have evolved in the course of time and how modern cinema extensively use genre mixing and hybridization, thus pointing to the future of this important but complex category of film analysis. Part of the www.cinemafocus.eu research materials.
This Interactive workshop aims at exploring the origin of genres, their functions in cinema and their evolution, with particular emphasis on the latest developments. We first ask why we need genres at all and examine the variety of classification criteria that can be used. Then we focus on the specific features of genre films, analysing their conventions and their narrative structures. We then explore how different agents (from producers to audiences, from critics to film scholars) have used and still use genres, and highlight their economic, sociocultural and communicative functions. Finally, by taking a historical perspective, we explore how genres have evolved in the course of time and how modern cinema extensively use genre mixing and hybridization, thus pointing to the future of this important but complex category of film analysis. Part of the www.cinemafocus.eu research materials.
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I generi cinematografici: caratteristiche, funzioni, evoluzione
Film genres: features, functions, evolution
qualche tempo in Francia per riferirsi a romanzi
che avevano connotazioni "da giallo" (piuttosto
che semplicemente "nere"). Quando l'etichetta
"film noir" ha iniziato ad essere utilizzata e ha
rapidamente acquisito lo "status" di genere, è
stata adottata dall'industria come un modo
conveniente per descrivere (e commercializzare)
determinati tipi di film - e il genere ha quindi
raggiunto nel tempo un'identità coerente,
specialmente nella "New Hollywood" e, in
seguito, con la tendenza "neo-noir" degli anni
'80.
Il ruolo della critica è alquanto mutato nel
tempo, ed è ora integrato dal lavoro svolto dagli
utenti di Internet che, in siti web, blog, chat
online, social network, ecc., definiscono e
ridefiniscono continuamente i generi
cinematografici, mostrando come il pubblico è
ora, in un certo senso, molto più attivo di un
tempo, poiché contribuisce al discorso corrente
sui film, con elevati livelli di popolarità,
influenzando le scelte, le opinioni e i giudizi
degli spettatori in aggiunta e al di là del lavoro
svolto da critici e giornalisti cinematografici.
Più in generale, anche i movimenti culturali
hanno contribuito in modo significativo al
riconoscimento dei film come "generi" specifici:
il movimento LGBTQ+ è un ovvio esempio, ma
lo stesso si può dire dei movimenti femministi,
nel contribuire a stabilire la categoria piuttosto
ampia dei "film al femminile", e dei movimenti
per i diritti civili, nell'introdurre la
"blaxploitation", termine che acquista
periodicamente nuova risonanza, come mostra
chiaramente il recente movimento "Black Lives
Matter".
Abbiamo già accennato alle classificazioni che i
film danno da istituzioni come lo Stato, la
Chiesa e altri organismi, ovvero i risultati della
censura, che ha implicazioni molto diverse per i
diversi paesi e nel tempo. Il modo in cui i film
sono etichettati in relazione ai limiti di età ha
ovviamente implicazioni per il genere a cui
dovrebbero appartenere, specialmente se sono
qualificati come film "per adulti". I produttori di
solito sminuiscono l'importanza delle
valutazioni nei loro materiali pubblicitari, fatta
describing (and marketing) certain kinds of
movies - and the genre then achieved quite a
consistent nature, in time too, with the "New
Hollywood" and, later the "neo-noir" trend of the
1980s using it repeatedly.
The role of critics has somewhat changed over
time, and is now complemented by the work
carried out by Internet users who, in web sites,
blogs, online chats, social networks, etc.,
continually define and re-define film genres,
showing how audiences are now, in a way, far
more active than they used to be, since they
contribute to the on-going discourse about films
and are often very popular, influencing viewers'
choices, opinions and judgments in addition to
and beyond the work carried out by critics and
film journalists.
More generally speaking, cultural movements
have also contributed in a significan way to the
recognition of films as specific "genres":
LGBTQ+ is an obvious example for gay movies,
but the same could be said of feminist movements
in helping to establish the (rather broad)
category of "women's films" and civil rights
movements in introducing "blaxploitation", a
term which periodically gains new resonance, as
the recent "Black Lives Matter" movement
clearly shows.
We have already mentioned the ratings films are
given by institutions like the State, the Church
and other bodies, i.e. the results of censorship,
which has vastly different implications for
different countries and across time. The way
films are labelled in relation to age restrictions
obviously has implications for the genre they are
supposed to belong, especially if they are
qualified as "adult" movies. Producers usually
downplay the importance of ratings in their
publicity materials, except, of course, for
exclusively adult movies (e.g. the XXX films),
which benefit fror their rating being clearly
displayed, as a sign of belonging to a particular,
well-defined genre.
Genre significance also varies across time, and
as new genres come to the fore, old labels fade
away, or, perhaps even worse, assume a sort of
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