Challenges all forms of fundamentalism and unexamined belief systems from a philosophical and sceptical viewpoint. Is unquestioning belief making a global comeback? The growth of religious fundamentalism seems to suggest so. For the sceptically minded, this is a deeply worrying trend, not just confined to religion. Political, economic, and scientific theories can demand the same unquestioning obedience from the general public. Stuart Sim outlines the history of scepticism in both the Western and Islamic cultural traditions, and from the Enlightenment to postmodernism. Setting out what a...

It has been about half a century since the end of the Greek civil war (1949) and the Stalinization of Poland (1949) as well as a decade since Poland's Democratization (1990). After the fall of Communism, the whole of Europe tends to integrate into a peaceful commonwealth. Thus Greek and Polish histories converge whereas most of the time they had diverged and went off in opposite directions. Greece was the first country to defeat communist aggression in Europe. Poland was the first Communist country to shake of Communist tyranny and set the stage for the collapse of the Soviet empire. Greece...

John Sayles is an inspiration to independent filmmakers in America and beyond, both for his engaged political filmmaking and as living proof that directors can survive and thrive without the need for mainstream financing. His 1980s films were the counter-punch to the special effects and blockbuster aesthetics of the Star Wars and Spielberg era, and this volume closely follows his career with analysis of all of his directed works. Through discussion of films such as Return of the Secaucus 7 (1980), The Brother from Another Planet (1984), Matewan (1987) and Sunshine...

The city is one of the greatest unsung heroes in cinema - a modernist inspiration for silent classics such as Metropolis (1926) and a dense urban jungle in The Matrix (1999) - yet there have been few attempts to grasp the cultural and aesthetic nature of its role in film. This volume is an ambitious collection of writings and photo-essays discussing this complex yet enduring relationship, and how early cinema, digital technology and changing urban geographies have all impacted upon notions and representations of the modern city. Amongst the films discussed are Peeping Tom (1960), Performance...

Ingmar Bergman Revisited is a collection of new essays based on a major international symposium held in Stockholm in 2005 on the legacy of one of cinema's most towering figures. Moving beyond simple auteurist readings of Bergman as a cinematic artist, the writings here evaluate the theatrical and literary sides of Bergman's work to reconsider the achievements of the Swedish director, up to his last film Saraband (2003). Several essays result from research in Bergman's own personal archive, and amongst the subjects discussed are Bergman's stage adaptations of Shakespeare, his...

Haunted Images takes a close look at a range of treatments of the Holocaust in film, using sustained textual analysis to radically rethink film as a witness to history. Questioning the legitimacy of persistent claims that the Holocaust remains 'unrepresentable', this volume seeks to redefine the singular challenges this event presents to filmmakers, suggesting that filmic representations address the Holocaust as much through what they leave unseen - through silences and ellipses - as through what they visualise directly. Discussing films such as Kapo (1960), Shoah (1985)...

The most internationally renowned of Irish film directors, Neil Jordan's diverse work has spanned gothic horror (The Company of Wolves, 1984, and Interview with the Vampire, 1994), Irish history (Michael Collins, 1996), literary adaptation (The End of the Affair, 1999) and sexual identity (The Crying Game, 1992, and Breakfast on Pluto, 2005), while retaining a distinctive stylistic flair for fantasy and the carnivalesque. The Cinema of Neil Jordan discusses his entire output as part of the first comprehensive study of Jordan's career, looking...

The Cinema of Jan Svankmajer explores the legacy of this legendary Czech surrealist filmmaker, a key influence on directors such as Terry Gilliam and Tim Burton, and one of the greatest animators in cinema history. This updated second edition - still the only full-length study of his work--features contributions from scholars and colleagues within the Czech Surrealist movement, as well as a new chapter on Svankmajer's feature films and an extended interview with Svankmajer himself. This volume is required reading for all budding animators and disciples of surrealism.

Building Bridges: The Cinema of Jean Rouch is the first title to fully explore the work and legacy of French documentary-maker Jean Rouch. A figure as comfortable in front of the camera as behind it, Rouch created some of the most enduring sociological films about French and francophone African culture, and his playful documentaries make him the spiritual ancestor of filmmakers such as Nick Broomfield and Michael Moore, and a precursor to the world of Big Brother and reality TV. Based on a major inter-national conference, this study contains over twenty new essays from a global cast of...

The family unit has been a central theme in movies since the earliest days of the medium- whether as a locus of domestic bliss, a dysfunctional source of drama, a collection of comic personalities or an inferno of repressed feelings. This new anthology brings the subject into sharp focus, collecting a range of multidisciplinary perspectives that attempt to directly penetrate the questions raised by the role of the family onscreen. Discussing a wide range of contemporary and classic films, from House of Strangers (1949) and Mary Poppins (1964) to Superstar (1987), The...