Publisher's Synopsis
Remaking Film: in History, In Theory undertakes a detailed exploration of the place of the remake in the history of cinema and examines the theoretical significance of remaking as both a cinematic practice and an intellectual activity.
The remake emerged as an area of interest within academic Film Studies during the late 1980s and early 1990s, influenced very much by prevailing debates in relation to postmodernism. Interest in the remake is currently enjoying something of a renaissance; however, much of the work being done remains focussed on the contemporary alone, thereby not only ignoring the remake's rich history but also accounting for its ubiquity in terms that are wholly insufficient. Remaking Film seeks to address these concerns and to redress the balance by asserting the longevity of the remake as key to achieving any informed understanding of its current place in film culture. Remaking Film will have a dual purpose: to account for and to analyse the place of remaking in history and in theory. Such an approach will thereby position remaking at the very heart of film culture while simultaneously establishing a number of innovative theoretical perspectives on the remake and in relation to remaking.
The various chapters comprising Part I of Remaking Film consider the historical significance of the remake, charting its importance at the point of cinema's origin to its continued visibility in the contemporary cinematic, filmic and media landscape.
Part II seeks to explore and extend the attempts to theorise the remake (and by extension remaking), proposing a theory of spectatorship allied to the concept of remaking and concluding with a consideration of the relationship between the remake and new forms of media. Informed by teaching as well as intellectual concerns, and studded with a wide range of examples--from Les Vampires and King Creole to Laura Croft: Tomb Raider and Batman Begins--Remaking Film is a versatile teaching text that showcases the many forms and guises of the remake from the days of early cinema to the age of new media.
