This isn’t adequate though, even for a brief characterization of these types of films. Alternatively, it is important to understand the six conventions of western genre portrayed in the movie aforementioned earlier. This new theory leads Small to develop a case for the establishment of experimental film/video as a major genre. and the chief characters are frequently outlaws or underdogs. Genre and Genre Theory 2 Genre theory is a way to help one in the study of films in order to categorize the films, to give the viewers a better understanding of what type of film they will be watching before actually watching the film. Around the World in 80 Days (1956) In the 30s, this is represented by films like The Count of Monte Cristo(1912, 1934 1974, and 2002). Genre theory revolves around the ideas surrounding how we define and distinguish genres, and how we categorise films into genres based on usually conventional factors. There is something more about genre theory, and to that effect it is necessary to propose Kristen H. Perry's definition. The Flame and the Arrow (1950) These films were openly criticized for having too much violence and for glorifying criminal behavior. Uses genre theory to discuss the shift from film noir to neo-noir and describes genres as constantly evolving entities. During the span of years between 1975 and 1985 the boxing film, Rocky had enormous success at the box office prompting 5 more films over the years. Genre Theorists David Buckingham – Genre in Constant Process of Negotiation and Change: “Genre must respond to socio-economic and cultural change e.g. ), An emotionally self-destructive boxer’s journey through life, as the violence and temper, that leads him to the top in the ring,destroys his life outside it. Summarily, science fiction is a very diverse classification of film. “The fundamental problems or conflicts in the boxing film can be organized into four categories: body versus soul, opportunity versus difference; market values versus family values; and anger versus justice. For example, films like Flying Tigers (1942), Reunion In France (1942), The Fighting Seabees (1944), Back To Bataan (1945), & They Were Expendable (1945) were all made before the end of 1945 (the last year of World War II) and all starred John Wayne where he played a character that was a member of the US Military during the war. ISBN. When we watch a horror, we link it automatically to all we know of the horror genre, and with that we have certain expectations of the movie as well. The film completely changed the crime and gangster genre and elevated it to mainstream success. The narrative and the characters are secondary to the ideas that permeate the world they inhabit. Indy must have the agility and courage  to get through the first obstacle and then the faith to cross the gorge, the wisdom to cross the stone floor, and finally the humility and wisdom to choose the right cup to save his fathers. This article studies film genre theory and provides a brief assessment of genre theory in the twenty-first century. There is hard science fiction, which may be considered more highbrow, where the science takes center stage and the narrative is secondary. The Mark of Zorro (1920) (remade 1940) Here are some clips to a few of the good ones Rocky, Raging Bull, and The Fighter: The Epic/Historical Film Genre has an incredibly wide range of films that it can encompass. These films had very generic storylines that were continually repeated over and over. The Sea Hawk (1940) Thematically, the crime and gangster often portrays the twisted pursuit of the American Dream and promotes an ideal that even with the excessive wealth and power, the crime is not worth it. Leone’s greatest film, however, was Once Upon a Time in the West (1968), sometimes considered the best western ever made. Some people may group by period, country , director, or purpose. The characters in these movies are often materialistic self-destructive megalomaniacs. [1] The character of the undercover gangster was not changed, he was still ruthless and violent but he was a “good guy.” This type of subgenre can be found in films like G-Men (1935), Bullets or Ballots (1936), and The Amazing Dr. Clitterhouse (1938). ¹ Ambrose, Stephen E. “‘the Longest Day’ (1962): “blockbuster” History. 1�',�K�cQ#��N�im��\�f�d?#�v���ͬ�&�$;�Nگ`pͰ�� Grindon, Leger. Genre is the type of narrative, or story, being told. %PDF-1.6 %���� Film genre shares similarities in form and style, theme, and communicative function. They are a commentary on the systems we have in place and how making them exaggerated leads to new insights into their structure. By grouping these films together, it provides a structure by which they can be evaluated relative to each other and to the genre as a whole. The late 1940s through the 1960s featured such well known World War II films as Twelve O’Clock High (1949), Battleground (1949), Sands Of Iwo Jima (1949), Stalag 17 (1955), To Hell and Back (1955), The Enemy Below (1957), The Great Escape (1963), The Dirty Dozen (1967), Where Eagles Dare (1968) & Patton (1970). Rocky Balboa, a small-time boxer gets a supremely rare chance to fight the heavy-weight champion, Apollo Creed, in a bout in which he strives to go the distance for his self-respect. John Wayne ended his prolific career with more mature and complex films such as True Grit (1969), The Cowboys (1972), and The Shootist (1976). Rob Roy (1995) (119 mins. Over the years, it has been transformed and reinvented many a times and even today westerns are still made. Films including excitement, danger, traveling around the world, or to other worlds, overcoming challenges, with a main hero character are things that come to mind when thinking of the adventure film genre. Daniel C h a nd l er . These films showcased the violence of the gangster but never gained much popularity. Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981) Each film genre is associated with "conventions, iconography, settings, narratives, characters and actors". It describes genre as a response to a specific and recurrent social situation. They start out low work there way up and then get cocky and brought back down to Earth or they lose someone close to them which drives them to almost quit, and then they overcome the adversity to face there greatest challenge yet which is embodied in a lethal opponent. There are a variety of ways, reasons why, and how to define genre. North by Northwest (1959), More Recent Greatest Adventure Films: Crime and Gangster film narratives frequently depict the rise and fall of a criminal, a deadly conflict against a rival gang or faction, or the shrewd cat and mouse game between the criminals and respective law agencies. Hidalgo (2004) Most theories of film genre borrow from literary-genre criticism. ( Log Out /  Judge Dredd, Robo-Cop, and Elysium are grittier, more on-the-street versions of this kind of film. As discussed above, there is much variety. Gangster films, war films, and police procedural thrillers, certainly, often mark that appeal by drawing on and quoting "authentic" (and-authenticating) discourses, artifacts, and texts: maps, newspaper headlines, memoirs, archival documents, and so on. Subscribe Today! Both of these stories cover the topic of how social class divide could become more extreme as time goes on. Change ), You are commenting using your Twitter account. The late 1990s though witnessed the best the genre had to offer yet as directors began to combine the self-avowed glory of the WWII and post-WWII films with the trauma of the post-Vietnam films. [3] Another notable film during this period was The Searchers (1956), directed by John Ford. Another film that does this is the original Gojira where the destruction of Japan, the anger of the infamous kaiju monster, and the new weapon of mass destruction dubbed “Water Destroyer” are all commentary on the effects of nuclear war in a post World War II era. The Spirit of St. Louis (1957) Genres are dependent on various factors such as story line, whom the director is, and what are the audience expectations In using genre theory we create a short cut in how we describe films. Cliffhanger (1993) A Short Guide to Writing about Film. A Semantic/Syntactic Approach to Film Genre rick altman 27 4. The main characteristic of the genre is the use of science to portray a world that is different than known reality in some way. While others assign genre by story content, literature, performance, budget based, racial identity, artistic status, etc (Chandler 2). The word genre comes from the French (and originally Latin) word for ‘kind’ or ‘class’ ”. Film Genres. In this trilogy, Clint Eastwood is the “man with no name,” a quick-draw gunslinger with ambiguous morals. This is a funny scene with Jack Sparrow from the first movie, The Curse of the Black Pearl. The Empire Strikes Back (1980) Here, the scientific concepts are a convenient substitute for magic that is used to simply drive the plot forward or make it so that the world operates as the writer wishes. This movement started with Spielberg’s epic retelling of D-Day in Saving Private Ryan (1998) and was followed by films like The Thin Red Line (1998), Black Hawk Down (2001), Tears Of The Sun (2003), Jarhead (2005), Letters from Iwo Jima (2006), Flags of Our Fathers (2006), The Hurt Locker (2008), Act Of Valor (2012), & Lone Survivor (2014) bringing the film viewer to the present day depictions of the genre. [1] This genre often overlaps with noir films and sometimes even westerns. [3] The Hays Production Code changed the way these films were made. Martin Scorsese made classics such as Goodfellas (1990), Casino (1995), and The Departed (2006), while Quentin Tarantino made classics such as Reservoir Dogs (1992) and Pulp Fiction (1994). John Wayne had a long career appearing in some of the greatest westerns of all time such as Stagecoach (1939), Red River (1948), The Searchers (1956), and True Grit (1969), to only name a few. The Perfect Storm (2000) The following clip is the famous scene that begins Indiana Jones: Raiders of the Lost Ark. The films became increasingly complex with flawed outlaw-heroes and darker plotlines. A hybrid genre that fuses the moral landscape of the western and the urban settings of film noir and police procedurals, the action film as we know it today is a relatively new genre, having taken shape in the late 1960s and early 1970s and become a fully recognized and immensely popular cinematic form in the 1980s. We use genre to categorise different types of stories. This can be seen in the utopian society of Star Trek or the sense of wonder and achievement of discovery in works like Primer and Europa Report. The Crime and Gangster genre centers on the sinister actions of criminals or gangsters, or other shady characters who do not follow the law and lead violent lives. However, westerns have taken these seemingly simple conflicts and turned them into intricate and complex films. Genre Films and the Status Quo judith hess wright 42 5. (119 mins. The Thief of Bagdad (1940) In all of the boxing films the main character experiences a roller coaster effect. Social Implications in the Hollywood Genres jean-loup bourget 51 6. A film genre is a motion picture category based on similarities in either the emotional response to the film (namely, tragic, comic, etc.) The typical setting in this genre is in large cities or in exotic locations that showcase excessive wealth. Heres a great list from IMDB. This bar-code number lets you verify that you're getting exactly the right version or edition of a book. Braveheart (1995) ), Mountain Rivera is at the end of his boxing career after a knockout by Cassius Clay in the seventh round… (95 mins. Spartacus (1960) Moreover, it helps us predict where the story … To understand more about the genre, one should examine the history and evolution of the genre. However, the genre saw a resurgence in popularity and status in the early 1940’s through the renowned hit of John Ford’s Stage Coach (1939). John Ford dominated the 1940’s with the dark classic My Darling Clementine (1946) and the “cavalry” trilogy. For Those Looking to improve your knowledge of film here is a list of some of  the best films in the adventure genre throughout history. [1] Other notable films in the early crime and gangster were The Racket (1928), Little Caesar (1930), The Public Enemy (1931), and Scarface: The Shame of a Nation (1932). Charley’s mother doesn’t want him to fight…(104 mins. [2] Some of the best westerns of this type were made with director Anthony Mann and actor Jimmy Stewart. The Hunt for Red October (1990) This page will cover a few of the genres used in cinema today. The Mark of Zorro (1940) Other conventions that define the genre better are the use of speculative technologies that don’t exist in the real world or how a scientific discovery changes the way that societies carry out their lives. The cavalry trilogy, Fort Apache (1948), She Wore a Yellow Ribbon (1949), and Rio Grande (1950), was a set of films most notable for its beautiful landscape shots and glorification of taking the west from the Native Americans. The driving force behind horror has always been to draw inspiration from mythology, urban legends, fairy tales, and literature. In fact, The Racket was actually banned in Chicago due to its negative depiction of police. The genre as we know it today began to take shape though when World War II started. It also attempts to plan a reasonable course for the future of genre studies across the various disciplines of media studies. The Searchers is one of the great classic westerns and is considered to be one of the best westerns ever made. Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace (1999) The Abyss (1989) With CGI technology, special effects, and highly detailed and choreographed sets, directors took war films one step further by integrating a level of realism that film viewers had never experienced. The Idea of Genre in the American Cinema edward buscombe 12 3. [1] Within this frame, westerns usually have very archetypical plot conflicts such as good vs bad, man and revenge, law and order vs lawlessness, man vs nature, and Settlers vs Indians. Recurring social/rhetorical situations give rise to genres and genre, thus, depends heavily on the intertextuality of discourse (Devitt 576). While there are a multitude of genres in literature, a representative sampling of genres and their characteristics makes it easier to understand genre theory. 1. They Died With Their Boots On (1942) Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End (2007) Most Horse operas are set in a mainframe of 1800’s-1900’s giving them the natural state wild American frontier feel. The Adventures of Don Juan (1949)  The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957) Charley Davis wins an amateur boxing match and is taken on by promoter Quinn. Robin Hood, Prince of Thieves (1991) These films continued to project the morally superior Allies narrative that was, in the late 1960s, over 20 years old. He is somewhat of a loner and he rides his trusty steed from town to town. Please log in using one of these methods to post your comment: You are commenting using your WordPress.com account. A Fistful of Dollars, the first of the “Man with no name” trilogy. The films centered on likeable anti-heroes and were often very violent. It aims to show how the descriptive imperatives of genre criticism can be settled with the anthropological tasks of the present film genre theory. Part One: Theory 1. This was accomplished with “gangster-as-cop” films, where a law enforcement officer goes undercover and infiltrates a gang to take it down. The Western is the one of the most recognizable and enduring genres of film in the American film industry. Stephen Ambrose called it “…an epic spectacle of the turning point in the war in the West, The Longest Day remains one of Hollywood’s most remarkable logistical achievements.”¹. Swashbucklers of the 50s included Spartacus (1960) and nowadays the most popular would be the Pirates of the Carribean film series. The Mummy (1999) Early Classic Adventure Films: This subset of films was pioneered by director Sergio Leone, who brought about the classic “Man with no name” trilogy, starring Clint Eastwood. 468 0 obj <>stream Related: body genres - formula (as in formula fiction) - genre theory, corpus and tautology - rhetorics - trope - repetition. 14.4 (1994). King Solomon’s Mines (1950) Out of these, Bonnie and Clyde was the most successful and was a landmark film for its open portrayal of sex and violence, especially the brutal end scene. Studios in Hollywood moved away from focusing on the horrors of war and instead focused on the heroes of war. Robin Hood (1922) The boxing film has been a significant genre in Hollywood, with more than 150 full length films since 1930. (113 mins. The 13-digit and 10-digit formats both work. The word genre comes from the French (and originally Latin) word for 'kind' or 'class' ”. John Wayne’s retirement marked an end of era. Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (1989) Starting with All Quiet On The Western Front (1930), a film based on a book written by a soldier during World War I, war was presented to its audience as something terrible and difficult for the human psyche to cope with. (129 mins. First Knight (1995) In social communities. Genre studies have perhaps gained the most recognition in film theory, where the study of genre directly contrasts with auteur theory, which privileges the director's role in crafting a movie. Westerns also have certain identifiable characters and items like the cowboy/gunslinger/bounty hunter that wears a cowboy hat, spurs, and a bandanna. http://bit.ly/1P4GcrE Book Recommendation https://amzn.to/2XZynKwWhat is it about films that draw us to them. The Black Swan (1942) ��6��d�ھƷ!�%���M���A\�!���0�n��\w��gi/.�u@^V�s���˂�μ����ɋ�Ľ��L7�ɕ�f0��b����������~q�X �S�>2�y%1�)n���܅'�O6;��`+�~��nF�q���0�` H��S��ш���bn�Cߋ_��ڟǓ�#�. It is usually associated with other genres but signifies larger productions or thematic elements than those of other films in those genres. The War Genre of film is one where the narrative or primary plot of the movie is focused, or has in the background, a war that mankind has fought. Science fiction is a genre where ideas reign supreme. From Iconography to Ideology.  Blade Runner (1982) This general setting invokes certain themes westerns have in that they showcase the primitive and outdated ways of life and embody the spirit and struggle of the American frontier. There are other films that mix science fiction elements in but are not entirely science fiction. Standard genre characters vary according to the film genre; for film noir, for example, standard characters include the femme fatale and the "hardboiled" detective; a We… The basic genres include fiction and documentary, from which subgenres have emerged, such as docudrama. ( Log Out /  Deliverance (1972) They often are related to historical events or are made as more of a biography of the film’s protagonist. The list had 190 titles, so I’m only including the top 25. ), A mixture of original interviews and archival footage and photographs sheds light on the life experiences of Mike Tyson. 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