Jason Barr

Kaiju Film

A Critical Study of Cinema's Biggest Monsters

• Broschiertes Buch

Produktbeschreibung

The Kaiju (strange monster or strange beast) film genre has a number of themes that go well beyond the "big monsters stomping on cities" motif. Since the seminal King Kong 1933) and the archetypal Godzilla (1954), kaiju has mined the subject matter of science run amok, militarism, capitalism, colonialism, consumerism and pollution. This critical examination of kaiju considers the entirety of the genre--the major franchises, along with less well known films like Kronos (1957), Monsters (2010) and Pacific Rim (2013). The author examines how kaiju has crossed cultures from its original folkloric inspirations in both the U.S. and Japan and how the genre continues to reflect national values to audiences.

Produktdetails

• Verlag: McFarland and Company, Inc.
• Seitenzahl: 212
• Erscheinungstermin: 27. Januar 2016
• Englisch
• Abmessung: 229mm x 152mm x 13mm
• Gewicht: 352g
• ISBN-13: 9780786499632
• ISBN-10: 078649963X
• Artikelnr.: 44522768

Autorenporträt

Jason Barr is an associate professor at Blue Ridge Community College. His work has appeared in African American Review, Explicator, The Journal of Continuing Higher Education, and The Journal of Caribbean Literatures, among others. He lives in Harrisonburg, Virginia.

Inhaltsangabe

Table of Contents Acknowledgments Preface Introduction: A Genre Apart Toward a New Definition 8; The Field of Study 18; Background the Genre 21; The Impact on Cultures 1.
The Japanese Origins of the Kaiju Yokai 26; Bunraku 28; Kabuki 32; Noh 2.
Disasters, Manmade and Natural Nuclear Disasters 37; Natural Disasters 49; Terrorism 52; Pollution 3.
International and Domestic Politics The End of Empires 70; Internal Politics 76; Modern International Relationships 4.
Science and the Weapons of Mass Destruction Science as Destroyer 106; The Japanese Self-Defense Forces 5.
America and Kaiju Violence 123; American Size and Might 6.
The Body, Gender, and Kaiju Women in Kaiju Cinema 156; Body Horror 7.
The Role of Nostalgia Conclusion: What's Next? Filmography Chapter Notes Bibliography Index