| Description |
1 online resource (vii, 140 pages) |
| Series |
Quick takes: movies and popular culture |
| Contents |
Frontmatter -- CONTENTS -- INTRODUCTION -- 1 THE MUSICAL AS ARCHIVE -- 2 THE MUSICAL AS SOCIETY -- 3 THE MUSICAL AS MEDIATION -- ACKNOWLEDGMENTS -- FURTHER READING -- REFERENCES -- INDEX |
| Summary |
"With the release of each new musical film, critics ask, "Has the musical returned?" The very frequency of the question would seem to belie its implication. Indeed, while musicals have changed over time, they have never truly gone away. This point becomes especially clear if we look beyond the "golden age" of the 1940s and 50s, beyond Hollywood, and even beyond the United States. The Movie Musical is a thematic exploration of the genre with a focus on how the musical changes and adapts in order to preserve its own relevance. From The Jazz Singer (1927), The Sound of Music (1965) to La La Land (2016) and The Greatest Showman (2017) and many more, the book traverses time and space, from the classical period of musical film production at midcentury to the present, and from Hollywood to Europe, the United Kingdom, and Asia. Chapters explore the genre as an archive of its own formation, its engagement with race, ethnicity, and gender, and its relationship to ever evolving technologies and media. Ultimately, the book tells a story of the musical's evolution that denies the familiar narrative that the genre is in crisis; instead, The Movie Musical demonstrates that, if we look beyond the familiar places, we see that the musical is dynamic, capacious, and always with us"-- Provided by publisher. movie musical is often regarded as a classic Hollywood genre whose heyday was long in the past. In reality, however, musicals remain a vital part of both Hollywood and world cinema, and the genre continues to evolve in fascinating ways. Spotlighting iconic musicals like Singin' in the Rain and La La Land alongside smaller films like La Bamba, Once, and Dancer in the Dark, this book demonstrates the flexibility and durability of the genre, as it takes steps to preserve its relevance for new generations and new cultures. Putting Asian and European movie musicals in conversation with their Hollywood counterparts, it examines how the genre references its own history while mediating between a nostalgic impulse and an embrace of new technologies. It also challenges stereotypes of the musical as merely a form of escapism by examining how many of these films engage with social issues and foreground the experiences of women, immigrants and people of color. This broad-ranging study of the genre helps to explain why the movie musical still gets audiences across the world tapping their feet and singing along |
| Notes |
Description based upon print version of record |
| Bibliography |
Includes bibliographical references (pages 123-128) and index |
| Subject |
Musical films -- United States -- History and criticism
|
|
Musical films -- History and criticism.
|
|
PERFORMING ARTS / General.
|
|
Musical films
|
|
United States
|
| Genre/Form |
Criticism, interpretation, etc.
|
| Form |
Electronic book
|
| ISBN |
9781978803824 |
|
1978803826 |
|
9781978803800 |
|
197880380X |
|
