Men's cinema : masculinity and mise en scène in Hollywood

## The first full length study of masculinity and film style Men’s Cinema offers a fresh theorisation of men in Hollywood cinema via a theoretical discussion of definitions of masculinity and the close textual analysis of classic and contemporary films. Through an examination of mise-en-scène, Men’s Cinema moves beyond discussions of representation and narrative to an exploration of the physical or instinctive effects of cinema and how we are invited to engage with, desire or identify with Hollywood's vision of men and masculinity. By delineating how Hollywood has built up and refined the language of men's cinema through a series of recurrent, refined tropes, this book critically explores masculinity and the concept of a male aesthetic within film. Films discussed include: __The Deer Hunter, Dirty Harry, Goodfellas, Inception, Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol, Once Upon a Time in the West, Point Break, Raging Bull, Rebel Without A Cause, Reservoir Dogs, Sherlock Holmes, There’s Always Tomorrow, The Wild Bunch.__ This is the first full-length study of masculinity and film style. Cinema is not just an intellectual or cerebral experience. They also make us feel: especially popular movies. This is a book about one aspect of how cinema makes us feel as well as think. Although all these aspects are interwined, Men's Cinema is about identification as well as analysis, about mise-en-scene alongside representation and narrative. Men's Cinema reflects on how we as spectators are invited to understand, desire or identify with Hollywood's vision of men and masculinity via mise-en-scene, from the classical era to the present day, and how more recently Hollywood has built up and refined the 'language' of 'men's cinema' via a series of recurrent, refined tropes that evoke masculinity, from a posse of men walking - often in slow motion - towards the camera to the ecstatically fast editing of the classic action sequence. It offers a new theorisation of men in Hollywood cinema via close textual analysis. It is structured around case studies which exemplify and illustrate the distinctive aspects and tropes of men's cinema. It is written in an accessible style. -- Publisher description.

Men's Cinema offers a fresh theorisation of men in Hollywood cinema via a theoretical discussion of definitions of masculinity and the close textual analysis of classic and contemporary films. Through an examination of mise-en-scène, Men's Cinema moves beyond discussions of representation and narrative to an exploration of the physical or instinctive effects of cinema and how we are invited to engage with, desire or identify with Hollywood's vision of men and masculinity. By delineating how Hollywood has built up and refined the language of men's cinema through a series of recurrent, refined tropes, this book critically explores masculinity and the concept of a male aesthetic within film.

Films discussed include: The Deer Hunter, Dirty Harry, Goodfellas, Inception, Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol, Once Upon a Time in the West, Point Break, Raging Bull, Rebel Without A Cause, Reservoir Dogs, Sherlock Holmes, There's Always Tomorrow, The Wild Bunch.