European Cinemas in the Television Age is a radical attempt to rethink the post-war history of European cinemas. The authors approach the subject from the perspective of television's impact on the culture of cinema's production, distribution, consumption and reception. Thus they indicate a new direction for the debate about the future of cinema in Europe. In every European country television has transformed economic, technological and aesthetic terms in which the process of cinema production had been conducted. Television's growing popularity has drastically reshaped cinema's audiences and forced governments to introduce policies to regulate the interaction between cinema and television in the changing and dynamic audio-visual environment. It is cinematic criticism, which was slowest in coming to terms with the presence of television and therefore most instrumental in perpetuating the view of cinema as an isolated object of aesthetic, critical and academic inquiry. The recognition of the impact of television upon European cinemas offers a more authentic and richer picture of cinemas in Europe, which are part of the complex audiovisual matrix including television and new media. Features *Contains detailed case studies of Britain, France, Germany, Spain, Poland, Italy and Denmark. *Includes contributions from leading scholars in the fields of cinema and television studies: Pierre Sorlin, Luisa Cignoetti, Valeria Camporesi, Gunhild Agger, Magrit Grieb, Malgorzata Radkiewicz and Will Lehman. *Will appeal to students and researchers in a wide range of fields, including cinema, television, media and communication studies.

One of the most important movements in cinema history, the French New Wave of directors such as Jean-Luc Godard and Alain Resnais not only revitalised French cinema, but permanently shifted cinema's aesthetic horizons by incorporating the narrative complexities of emerging modernist literature such as Alain Robbe-Grillet, Marguerite Duras and Jean Cayrol. This volume is the first title to comprehensively analyse these links between the New Wave and the New Novel, exploring intellectual figures such as Roland Barthes and Jorge Luis Borges, and their relationship with French cinema and its theorists, including Christian Metz and Noel Burch, as well as discussing groundbreaking films such as "Hiroshima mon amour" (1959) and "L'Ann?e derni?re ? Marienbad" (1962). Examining these connections between the cinematic and the literary avant gardes, "Reading the French New Wave" locates France's filmmaking revolution as a part of a wider artistic reevaluation of the mid-twentieth century.

The continued interest in the social and cultural life of the former Warsaw pact countries - looking at but also beyond their socialist pasts - encompasses a desire to know more about their national cinemas. Yet, despite the increasing consumption of films from these countries - via DVD, VOD platforms and other alternative channels - there is a lack of comprehensive information on this key aspect of visual culture. This important book rectifies the glaring gap and provides both a history and a contemporary account of East Central European cinema in the pre-WW2, socialist, and post-socialist periods. Demonstrating how at different historical moments popular cinema fulfilled various roles, for example in the capacity of nation-building, and adapted to the changing markets of a morphing political landscape, chapters bring together experts in the field for the definitive analysis of mainstream cinema in the region.Celebrating the unique contribution of films from Hungary, the Czech Republic/Czechoslovakia and Poland, from the award-winning Cosy Dens to cult favourite Lemonade Joe, and from 1960s Polish Westerns to Hollywood-influenced Hungarian movies, the book addresses the major themes of popular cinema. By looking closely at genre, stardom, cinema exhibition, production strategies and the relationship between the popular and the national, it charts the remarkable evolution and transformation of popular cinema over time.

One of the most important movements in cinema history, the French New Wave of directors such as Jean-Luc Godard and Alain Resnais not only revitalised French cinema, but permanently shifted cinema's aesthetic horizons by incorporating the narrative complexities of emerging modernist literature such as Alain Robbe-Grillet, Marguerite Duras and Jean Cayrol. This volume is the first title to comprehensively analyse these links between the New Wave and the New Novel, exploring intellectual figures such as Roland Barthes and Jorge Luis Borges, and their relationship with French cinema and its theorists, including Christian Metz and Noel Burch, as well as discussing groundbreaking films such as "Hiroshima mon amour" (1959) and "L'Ann?e derni?re ? Marienbad" (1962). Examining these connections between the cinematic and the literary avant gardes, "Reading the French New Wave" locates France's filmmaking revolution as a part of a wider artistic reevaluation of the mid-twentieth century.

The continued interest in the social and cultural life of the former Warsaw pact countries - looking at but also beyond their socialist pasts - encompasses a desire to know more about their national cinemas. Yet, despite the increasing consumption of films from these countries - via DVD, VOD platforms and other alternative channels - there is a lack of comprehensive information on this key aspect of visual culture. This important book rectifies the glaring gap and provides both a history and a contemporary account of East Central European cinema in the pre-WW2, socialist, and post-socialist periods. Demonstrating how at different historical moments popular cinema fulfilled various roles, for example in the capacity of nation-building, and adapted to the changing markets of a morphing political landscape, chapters bring together experts in the field for the definitive analysis of mainstream cinema in the region.Celebrating the unique contribution of films from Hungary, the Czech Republic/Czechoslovakia and Poland, from the award-winning Cosy Dens to cult favourite Lemonade Joe, and from 1960s Polish Westerns to Hollywood-influenced Hungarian movies, the book addresses the major themes of popular cinema. By looking closely at genre, stardom, cinema exhibition, production strategies and the relationship between the popular and the national, it charts the remarkable evolution and transformation of popular cinema over time.