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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

cinemafocus.eu

aiutare. Il film offre ampio spazio al voyeurismo one of its main themes) and a profusion of sex

(che è in realtà uno dei suoi temi principali) e a and violence. Some could say that this is the

una profusione di sesso e violenza. Qualcuno triumph of the so-called "male gaze", i.e. the

potrebbe dire che questo è il trionfo del cosiddetto opportunity for men to watch female bodies at a

"sguardo maschile", cioè l'opportunità per gli safe distance (and at the time of its release the

uomini di guardare i corpi femminili a distanza di movie was actually fiercely attacked by both

sicurezza (e al momento della sua uscita il film è feminists and defenders of moral standards),

stato in realtà attaccato ferocemente sia dalle but on the other hand others were ready to

femministe che dai difensori di standard morali), point out director De Palma's virtuosistic

ma d'altronde altri erano pronti a sottolineare il treatment of the same "gaze" to unmask the

trattamento virtuosistico dello stesso "sguardo" da harsh realities of contemporary society (and in

parte del regista De Palma per smascherare le dure the meantime celebrate cinema's power to do

realtà della società contemporanea (e nel so).

frattempo celebrare il potere del cinema di farlo).

Trailer italiano English trailer

Omicidio a luci rosse/Body double (di/by Brian De Palma, USA 1984)

La tendenza a mescolare i generi per combinare le The tendency of mixing genres in order to both

qualità di successo dei film precedenti e attirare combine the successful qualities of previous

una varietà di pubblico è descritta in vividi films and attract a variety of audiences is

dettagli in I protagonisti (si veda il video qui described in vivid detail in The Player (watch

sotto), dove un produttore (Tim Robbins) deve the video below), where a producer (Tim

esaminare dozzine di sceneggiature che gli Robbins) has to go through dozens of scripts

vengono presentate quotidianamente, e così daily submitted to him, and in doing so tries to

facendo cerca di garantire che il maggior numero ensure that as many genres as possible are

possibile di generi sia soddisfatto in un unico film. catered for in a possible future movie. Thus he

Quindi deve considerare sceneggiature che has to consider scripts which he defines as "a

definisce come "una sorta di thriller politico kind of psychic political thriller comedy with a

psichico con un cuore", o come una combinazione heart", or as a combination of the "comedyromance-thriller

Ghost" with "a tingling

di un "thriller-commedia-romanzo tipo Ghost" con

"uno stuzzicante thriller di paranoia politica", o political paranoia thriller", or as "Out of

come "La mia Africa incontra Pretty woman", o Africa meets Pretty woman", or as a sequel to

come sequel di Il laureato, in cui la signora The graduate, in which Mrs Robinson, now an

Robinson, ora anziana e con un ictus, vive con la aged mother who has had a stroke, lives with

figlia e il genero ...... La brillante ironia di Altman her daughter and son-in-law ...... Director

cattura efficacemente lo sforzo di combinare il Altman's brilliant irony effectively captures the

maggior numero possibile di generi all'interno di effort to combine as many different genres as

un singolo film. Potremmo aggiungere che il film possible within a single movie. We might add

di Altman è di per sé un misto di commedia, that Altman's film is itself a mixture of comedy,

dramma e thriller con una chiara visione satirica drama and thriller with a clear satirical utlook

delle pratiche senza scrupoli di Hollywood... on Hollywood's unscrupulous practices ...

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