A Companion to the Biopic
- Submitting institution
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De Montfort University
- Unit of assessment
- 33 - Music, Drama, Dance, Performing Arts, Film and Screen Studies
- Output identifier
- 33027
- Type
- B - Edited book
- DOI
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- Publisher
- Wiley-Blackwell
- ISBN
- 978-1-119-55481-3
- Open access status
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- Month of publication
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- Year of publication
- 2019
- URL
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- Supplementary information
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- Request cross-referral to
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- Output has been delayed by COVID-19
- No
- COVID-19 affected output statement
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- Forensic science
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- Criminology
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- Interdisciplinary
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- Number of additional authors
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1
- Research group(s)
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- Proposed double-weighted
- No
- Reserve for an output with double weighting
- No
- Additional information
- The collection of 23 chapters is the first of its kind to provide a historical, theoretical and thematic approach to what is often regarded as the most despised of all film genres: the biopic. Its main competitors are George Custon (1992) and Dennis Bingham (2010). The former concentrates on the period 1927-60, the latter on contemporary biopics up until 2010. Other competing collections are Tom Brown and Belén Vidal (2013) and Márta Minier and Maddalena Pennacchia (2014) which provide case studies drawn from the contemporary period. There has not been a volume previously produced which offers the extent of coverage that is provided by this Companion. This collection covers a period from the beginning of cinema to 2019 and includes a wide range of biopics, including musicians, politicians, activists, authors, criminals, emperors and royalty. It brings together a range of scholars in historical, literary and film studies, with an overall interdisciplinary approach to the biopic genre. Cartmell commissioned and edited the chapters, co-wrote the introduction and contributed two chapters. The first chapter provides an analysis of twentieth‐century biopics and the evolution of the genre from its earliest incarnations and its persistent dependency on stars for its appeal and endurance. The second chapter is the first extended reading of what is identified as the quintessential biopic: The Barretts of Wimpole Street, produced by the same director in 1934 and 1957. These two adaptations made at the beginning and end of the Golden Hollywood period are seen to adhere to a formula which has come identified with biopics in general, whereby complex and productive lives are transformed into Hollywood love stories.
- Author contribution statement
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- Non-English
- No
- English abstract
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