London on Film

Description

This book, a collection of essays by expert film researchers and lecturers, contributes to the growing body of scholarship on cinematic cities by looking at how one city—London—has been represented on film. In particular, the collection examines how films about London have responded to social, material and political change in the city, either by capturing and so influencing how we think about London, or by acting as catalysts (intentionally or otherwise) for public debate. Individual essays explore films ranging from the earliest actualities of the late nineteenth century to contemporary blockbusters. The book will appeal to film scholars and students, as well as to readers interested in the history of London and its changing image. Front Matter ....Pages i-xv Introduction: Film Londons (Pam Hirsch, Chris O’Rourke)....Pages 1-13 ‘Local Film Subjects’: Suburban Cinema, 1895–1910 (Roland-François Lack)....Pages 15-26 Glamour and Crime: The London Nightclub in Silent Film (Mara Arts)....Pages 27-39 Hitchcock’s Sabotage (1936): Conspirators and Bombs in Actual, Literary and Filmic London (Pam Hirsch)....Pages 41-56 ‘A Relic of the Bad Old Days’: Hollywood’s London in None but the Lonely Heart (1944) (Mark Glancy)....Pages 57-71 London Can Take It: Documentary Reconstructions of the City (Michael McCluskey)....Pages 73-86 From the Docks to Notting Hill: Cinematic Mappings of Imperial and Post-Imperial London (Eleni Liarou)....Pages 87-101 Wanting More: Gender, Space and Desire in Darling and Four in the Morning (Rose Hepworth)....Pages 103-116 Queer London on Film: Victim (1961), The Killing of Sister George (1968) and Nighthawks (1978) (Chris O’Rourke)....Pages 117-131 Housing Policy and Building Types: From High Hopes to High-Rise (Amy Sargeant)....Pages 133-146 A Melancholy Topography: Patrick Keiller’s London (David Anderson)....Pages 147-162 From Dogpower to Ratropolis: London in Animated Film (Rui Tang, David Whitley)....Pages 163-176 Skateboard City: London in Skateboarding Films (Iain Borden)....Pages 177-192 Shaun of the Dead and the Construction of Cult Space in Millennial London (Paul Newland)....Pages 193-203 The Cinematic Revival of ‘Low London’ in the Age of Speculative Urbanism (Malini Guha)....Pages 205-219 London in Transition: Sites of Melancholy (Charlotte Brunsdon)....Pages 221-237 East–West: Reflections on the Changing Cinematic Topography of London (Ian Christie)....Pages 239-252 Back Matter ....Pages 253-257