Description
Re-viewing Hitchcock approaches Alfred Hitchcock's prolific career in film and television from a reception focus, charting the changing fortunes of the master auteur's work from 1927's silent The Lodger to his penultimate film, the controversial Frenzy of 1972.
Each of the chapters, written by eminent international film scholars, critics and historians, offers a detailed analyses of the historical reception of key Hitchcock films. These include films that have enjoyed consistent critical success, such as Rebecca (1940), Rear Window (1954), and North by Northwest (1959), as well as those that have received shifting degrees of critical and scholarly praise, such as Sabotage (1936), Rope (1949), Strangers on a Train (1951), Vertigo (1958), Psycho (1960), and The Birds (1963). The contributors assess the significance of these changing critical perspectives and the extent to which they influence the meaning and significance of Hitchcock's films and filmmaking.
The book also sheds light on Hitchcock's lesser-known television work of the 1950s and the 60s, reassessing its relationship to his film career. In addition, it expands the focus beyond Anglo-American contexts to consider how Hitchcock's films have been received and interpreted in Europe, Latin America, and Asia.
Leading international film scholars chart the changing critical reception of Alfred Hitchcock's film and TV works over nearly a century and in a range of international contexts
About the Author
Robert E. Kapsis is Professor Emeritus of Sociology and Film Studies at City University of New York, USA. He is author of Hitchcock: The Making of a Reputation (1992) and editor of Nichols and May: Interviews (2020), Conversations with Steve Martin (2014), and Charles Burnett: Interviews (2011).
Reviews
In addition to wide-ranging reassessments of Hitchcock's key films, this innovative collection offers game-changing analyses of his TV shows and ground-breaking chapters dealing with his impact outside the English-speaking world. It is a windfall for cinema scholars and movie buffs alike. -- David Sterritt, author of 'The Films of Alfred Hitchcock' (1993) and 'Simply Hitchcock' (2017), USA
Robert E. Kapsis is the go-to scholar regarding the reception of Alfred Hitchcock's oeuvre. For this volume, he has assembled an A-team for taking stock of Hitchcock's international reputation, and to for provide critical reconsiderations of both individual films and their authorship. A must read. -- Jan Olsson, Professor Emeritus (Cinema Studies), Stockholm University, Sweden
This book illuminates the full breadth of Alfred Hitchcock's metaverse, with in-depth discussions of his films and
television series framed within the context of audience reactions (and rejections) around the world. Robert E. Kapsis is to be commended for undertaking the deconstruction and analysis of Hitchcock's massive oeuvre in a new and refreshing format that will enhance film studies.
Book Information
ISBN 9781839026201
Author Robert E. Kapsis
Format Hardback
Page Count 472
Imprint BFI Publishing
Publisher Bloomsbury Publishing PLC
