FILM ARTICLES: Papers On Specific Films - Exploring movies using psychology, semiology (semiotics), cultural studies and history

AVATAR (2009)

'YOU ARE NOT IN KANSAS ANYMORE': POLITICS, PLOT AND GENRE OF A SCI-FI EPIC

An extract from the book 'The Film Reader's Guide to James Cameron's Avatar' in which we place the film within the history of its genre and come to understand how it reflects its historical and cultural context.

Read the article HERE. For more on this subject view our Further Reading section.

EYES WIDE SHUT (1999)

J.E.W.S: JEWISH EYES WIDE SHUT
EXPLORING JEWISH IDENTITY IN LATE 20TH CENTURY AMERICA THROUGH THE EYES OF STANLEY KUBRICK
Exploring Kubrick’s swansong through dream logic in order to discover what it can reveal about Jewish identity in late 20th century America.

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EYES WIDE SHUT (1999)

GRIPPING KUBRICK'S PHALLUS
THE OEDIPAL ODYSSEY OF EYES WIDE SHUT: EXPLORING THE PSYCHOSEXUAL DYNAMICS OF A MASTERPIECE
“Kubrick himself was an early and messianic reader of Freud”, so we investigate the motivations of Dr. Bill, the protagonist, in Eyes Wide Shut using his theories.

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FAHRENHEIT 451 (1966)

BURNING THE BOOK ONTO FILM: AUTHORITY, TECHNOLOGY AND HISTORICAL CONTEXT - ADAPTING THE BOOK AND MARKETING THE FILM

The mid twentieth century witnessed a wave of fictional social criticism first expressed in books, then transferred on to film. Fahrenheit 451 has continued to be popular alongside other works of the genre such as 1984 and Brave New World.

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HUMAN TRAFFIC (1999)

'HAN SOLO IS AN INTERGALACTIC SMACK DEALER': HOW HUMAN TRAFFIC EXPLORES THE POST-MODERN PERSPECTIVE OF AMBIGUOUS REALITY

A British cult classic, Human Traffic helped define an era in the lives of young adults at the end of the 20th century.

'A DIFFERENT BREED': RACIAL PREJUDICE AND SEXISM OF THE 1960s

By examining the world in a role reversal that sees human beings as subservient to apes, the film is able to explore issues as controversial as civil rights, race and war. However, although it is set in a distant future, the film is still a product of its generation and is therefore inherent with a value system and prejudices that were prevalent at the time.

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WATCHMEN (2009)

'HUMAN BEAN JUICE': POST-MODERNISM, GENDER AND SEXUALITY - HOW WATCHMEN PORTRAYS SUPERHEROES AND REFLECTS AMERICAN HISTORY

Watchmen (2009) is a film based on twelve-issue comics by graphic novel auteurs Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons. But it is no mere children's spectacle. We investigate the darker side of the superhero satire.

Read the article HERE.