Traditional criticism on German post-war cinema tends to define rubble films as simplistic texts of low artistic quality which serve to reaffirm the spectator's image of him or herself as "a good German" during "bad times." Yet this study asserts that some rubble films are actually informed by a type of visual and narrative Romantic discourse which aims at provoking a critical discussion on German national identity and its reconstruction in the aftermath of the Third Reich. Considering the lack of previous analyses with regard to the key aspects of Romantic visual style, narration and...

Postnaturalism offers an original account of human-technological coevolution and argues that film and media theory, particularly, needs to be reevaluated from the perspective of material interfaces in a constantly changing environment. Extrapolating from Frankenstein films and the resonances they establish between a hybrid monster and spectator hooked into the machinery of cinema, Shane Denson engages debates in science studies and the philosophy of technology to rethink histories of cinema, media, and technology and the affective channels of our own embodiment. The book includes a foreword...

This volume examines the challenges which cinemas in small European countries have faced since 1989. It explores how notions of scale and "small cinemas" relate to questions of territory, transnational media flows and globalization. Employing a variety of approaches from industry analysis to Deleuze & Guattari's concept of the "minor," contributions address the relationship of small cinemas to Hollywood, the role of history and memory, and the politics of place in post-Socialist cinemas.

The monsters of the horror genre never remain dead--they invariably return in new and terrifying shapes for another installment. In this study, Christian Knoppler explores the phenomenon of horror film remakes. He argues that even though these derivative films typically earn little praise from critics, their constant refiguration of monsters and horror scenarios serves to access and update otherwise obscure cultural fears. With an in-depth examination of six sample sequences of films and remakes, this book aims to shed new light on a much maligned and often neglected type of film and promises...