Czech and Slovak Cinema: Theme and Tradition

by Peter Hames

Overview

This book is the first study in English to examine some of the key themes and traditions of Czech and Slovak cinema, linking inter-war and post-war cinemas together with developments in the post-Communist period. It examines links between theme, genre, and visual style, and looks at the ways in which a range of styles and traditions has extended across different historical periods and political regimes. Czech and Slovak Cinema provides a unique study of areas of Central European film history that have not previously been examined in English.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780748620821
Publisher:	Edinburgh University Press
Publication date:	08/09/2010
Series:	Traditions in World Cinema
Edition description:	Reprint
Pages:	272
Product dimensions:	6.10(w) x 9.10(h) x 0.70(d)
Age Range:	18 Years

About the Author

Peter Hames is Honorary Research Associate in Film and Media Studies at the Staffordshire University

Table of Contents

Acknowledgements vi

Introduction 1

1 History 15

2 Comedy 32

3 Realism 55

4 Politics 75

5 The Holocaust 95

6 Lyricism 112

7 The Absurd 129

8 The Avant-Garde 144

9 Surrealism 168

10 Animation 188

11 Slovak Directions 206

Bibliography 229

Filmography 243

Index 254

Editorial Reviews

Draws on almost the entire corpus of Czech and Slovak cinema… Essential but formerly marginalised talents such as Jirí Trnka and Karel Zeman now rightly enjoy pride of place in the chapter on animation alongside the inevitable Jan Švankmajer… An invaluable book.

Sight and Sound - Michael Brooke

Czech and Slovak Cinema is an invaluable introduction for the novice as well as an extremely useful reference book for advanced research in the area. Hames offers not only a well-balanced overview of important themes, styles, and personalities in Czech and Slovak fi lm but does so in a spirit of good-humored critique that never mistakes hagiography for history or description for analysis.

Slavic Review - David Sorfa

A comprehensive and exciting look at at Czech and Slovak Cienma. it can be interesting and provocative to veterans of the region's cinemas, but it can also benefit students who are new to this topic.

Slavonic and East European Review - Lilla Töke

Peter Hames's monograph is an extremely important publication, providingguidance to the interested reader through the rich history of Czech andSlovak cinema. It will stimulate interest in the cinemas of East-Central Europe in the English-speaking world, undoubtedly becoming a catalyst for heated discussion, as this review has attempted to demonstrate.

Studies in East European Cinema - Jan Culik

A fascinating history of Czechoslovak cinema reveals Czech and Slovak film themes and a discussion of various traditions but it also offers, surprisingly, history seen through the prism of cinema... Innovative and fresh.

British Czech and Slovak Review - Angela Spindler-Brown

Czech and Slovak Cinema is an invaluable introduction for the novice as well as an extremely useful reference book for advanced research in the area. Hames offers not only a well-balanced overview of important themes, styles, and personalities in Czech and Slovak fi lm but does so in a spirit of good-humored critique that never mistakes hagiography for history or description for analysis.

— David Sorfa

Slavic Review

A comprehensive and exciting look at Czech and Slovak Cinema. it can be interesting and provocative to veterans of the region's cinemas, but it can also benefit students who are new to this topic.

Slavonic and East European Review - Lilla Töke