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
La visione evoluzionista identifica così diverse
fasi del ciclo di vita di un genere: la nuova forma
prima consolida i suoi tratti essenziali
(iconografia, temi, modelli, ecc.), quindi
raggiunge una fase classica (o maturità) o "età
dell'oro", e in seguito inizia il suo processo di
decadenza, che può assumere varie forme (ad
esempio, una revisione delle sue caratteristiche
originarie, l'introduzione di questioni più
complesse che si discostano dalle sue forme
classiche, una riflessione sulle proprie
caratteristiche, cioè una messa in discussione del
proprio status, fino a raggiungere le forme più
estreme di parodia o satira dei suoi aspetti
specifici). Come vedremo, questa fase "finale"
può far cambiare, fondere o estendere il genere
originario a vari elementi dello stesso o di altri
generi, un processo che possiamo chiamare
"ibridazione". Per esempio,
"Il musical backstage fornisce un'illustrazione
da manuale dello sviluppo di un genere da un
periodo di sperimentazione in cui vengono
stabilite le convenzioni (1929-33) a un periodo
classico durante il quale regna un equilibrio
(1933-53) a un periodo di riflessività dominato
dalla contestazione sotto forma di parodia e
persino dalla decostruzione della lingua madre
di un genere." (Nota 1) (Per un'analisi dettagliata
si veda il Dossier sul Musical.)
Lo studioso di cinema André Bazin ha descritto
in termini simili l'evoluzione del western. Il
western come argomento, tema o ambientazione
era presente quasi dalla nascita del cinema, con
La grande rapina al treno (si veda il video qui
sotto) spesso citato come il primo "western",
sebbene all'epoca questo film fosse promosso
utilizzando altri termini, allora più in voga, come
"film di inseguimento", "film ferroviari" o "film
polizieschi" - in effetti, non esisteva un genere
"western" riconosciuto come tale.
stages in the life cycle of a genre: the new form
first consolidates its essential features
(iconography, themes, patterns, etc.), then
achieves a classic (or maturity) stage or "golden
age", and later begins its process of decadence,
which can take various forms (e.g., a revision of
its original features, the introduction of more
complex issues which depart from its classical
forms, a reflection on its own characteristics, i.e.
questioning its own status, until we reach the
more extreme forms of parody or satire of its
topical aspects). As we shall see, this "final"
stage can cause the original genre to change,
blend with or extend to various elements of the
same or other genres, a process which we can
call "hybridization". For example,
"The backstage musical provides a textbook
illustration of a genre's development from a
period of experimentation in which the
conventions are established (1929-33) to a
classical period during which a balance reigns
(1933-53) to a period of reflexivity dominated by
parody contestation and even deconstruction of a
genre's native tongue." (Note 1)(For a detailed
analysis, see the Dossier on the Musical.)
Film scholar André Bazin has described in
similar terms the evolution of the western.
Western as a topic, theme or setting had been
present almost since the birth of cinema, with
The great train robbery (watch the video below)
often mentioned as the first "western", although
at the time this film was promoted by using
other, then more fashionable terms, like "the
chase film", "the railroad film" or "the crime
film" - indeed, there was no "western" genre
recognized as such.
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