French Westerns
On the Frontier of Film Genre and French Cinema
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Book Presentation:
The production of films that may be called both ‘French’ and ‘western’ spans the history of cinema, and includes the films by celebrated stars and directors. However, with the exception of early silent production, French westerns are overlooked in studies of French cinema, of film genre and even of the ‘transnational’ western.
French Westerns: The Frontier of Film Genre and French Cinema is the first scholarly monograph dedicated to these films. This study advances the recovery of popular European cinema, and adds new dimension to the understanding of the western genre. However, the purpose is not to stretch existing definitions of the genre or the national cinema to accommodate this production. Instead, these films expose and exploit the acts of imagination to which the logics of ‘French Cinema’ and ‘Western’ owe their coherence: acts that fail repeatedly, productively, and at times spectacularly.
About the Author:
Timothy Scheie is Professor of French at University of Rochester, where he researches and teaches courses on cinema, theatre and performance, and French literature. His first book, Performance Degree Zero: Roland Barthes and Theatre, was published in 2006, and his articles may be found in Screen, Studies in French Cinema, French Forum, Theatre Journal, Modern Drama, College Literature, and Essays in Theater / Etudes théatrales.
Press Reviews:
Provocative and engaging, Timothy Scheie’s discussion sheds new light on the French Western’s history, Bardot Westerns, and French cinema’s contemporary encounters with the American frontier. Carefully researched, this volume is essential for scholars and fans of the Western. A must have for readers interested in French film and popular culture.
-- Sue Matheson, University College of the North, Canada
A refreshing interrogation of screen texts, motifs, and production practices that both cut to the heart of ideas of nation and genre on screen, and perch on their very margins. -- Gemma King ― French Studies: A Quarterly Review
Uncovering an uncharted micro-history, French Westerns complements other analyses that have troubled French cinema’s traditional image as historically inimical to genre production -- Mary Harrod ― French Screen Studies
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