Hollywood's Ancient Worlds

Hollywood's Ancient Worlds
Author: Jeffrey Richards
Publisher: A&C Black
Total Pages: 238
Release: 2008-09-01
Genre: Performing Arts
ISBN: 1847250076

A new, full analysis of the Ancient World epic and how this film genre continues to comment on modern-day issues.

Designs on the Past

Designs on the Past
Author: Lloyd Llewellyn-Jones
Publisher: Edinburgh University Press
Total Pages: 440
Release: 2018-07-13
Genre: Performing Arts
ISBN: 0748675655

The Epic in Film

The Epic in Film
Author: Constantine Santas
Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield
Total Pages: 258
Release: 2008
Genre: Performing Arts
ISBN: 9780742555297

In The Epic in Film, Constantine Santas argues that "blockbuster" and "artistic" are not mutually exclusive terms and, perhaps more importantly, that epic film is an inherently profound genre in its ability to tap into the dreams and fears of a nation, and sometimes those of the human race. Why do we see dozens and dozens of films based on the King Arthur legend? Why would a presidential hopeful borrow the phrase "Read my lips" from Clint Eastwood's Dirty Harry? Why do war epics proliferate in times of war or national crisis? Why are epics as a whole the most popular movie genre? Whether you love Gone with the Wind and hate Troy, find Akira Kurosawa's films brilliant or marvel over the depth of the Matrix trilogy, if you're a film buff, you will want to read this first book-length treatment of the epic-a wildly popular, infinitely fascinating, and critically underappreciated genre.

The Ancient World in the Cinema

The Ancient World in the Cinema
Author: Jon Solomon
Publisher: Yale University Press
Total Pages: 390
Release: 2001-01-01
Genre: Performing Arts
ISBN: 9780300083378

This entertaining and useful book provides a comprehensive survey of films about the ancient world, from The Last Days of Pompeii to Gladiator. Jon Solomon catalogues, describes, and evaluates films set in ancient Greece and Rome, films about Greek and Roman history and mythology, films of the Old and New Testaments, films set in ancient Egypt, Babylon, and Persia, films of ancient tragedies, comic films set in the ancient world, and more. The book has been updated to include feature films and made-for-television movies produced in the past two decades. More than two hundred photographs illustrate both the films themselves and the ancient sources from which their imagery derives.

Ancient Worlds

Ancient Worlds
Author: Michael Scott
Publisher: Basic Books
Total Pages: 388
Release: 2016-11-01
Genre: History
ISBN: 0465094732

"As panoramic as it is learned, this is ancient history for our globalized world." -- Tom Holland, author of Dynasty and Rubicon Twenty-five-hundred years ago, civilizations around the world entered a revolutionary new era that overturned old order and laid the foundation for our world today. In the face of massive social changes across three continents, radical new forms of government emerged; mighty wars were fought over trade, religion, and ideology; and new faiths were ruthlessly employed to unify vast empires. The histories of Rome and China, Greece and India-the stories of Constantine and Confucius, Qin Shi Huangdi and Hannibal-are here revealed to be interconnected incidents in the midst of a greater drama. In Ancient Worlds, historian Michael Scott presents a gripping narrative of this unique age in human civilization, showing how diverse societies responded to similar pressures and how they influenced one another: through conquest and conversion, through trade in people, goods, and ideas. An ambitious reinvention of our grandest histories, Ancient Worlds reveals new truths about our common human heritage. "A bold and imaginative page-turner that challenges ideas about the world of antiquity." UPeter Frankopan, author of The Silk Roads

Blockbusters and the Ancient World

Blockbusters and the Ancient World
Author: Chris Davies
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
Total Pages: 290
Release: 2019-03-21
Genre: History
ISBN: 1350105023

Following the release of Ridley Scott's Gladiator in 2000 the ancient world epic has experienced a revival in studio and audience interest. Building on existing scholarship on the Cold War epics of the 1950s-60s, including Ben-Hur, Spartacus and The Robe, this original study explores the current cycle of ancient world epics in cinema within the social and political climate created by September 11th 2001. Examining films produced against the backdrop of the War on Terror and subsequent invasions of Iraq and Afghanistan, this book assesses the relationship between mainstream cinema and American society through depictions of the ancient world, conflict and faith. Davies explores how these films evoke depictions of the Second World War, the Vietnam War and the Western in portraying warfare in the ancient world, as well as discussing the influence of genre hybridisation, narration and reception theory. He questions the extent to which ancient world epics utilise allegory, analogy and allusion to parallel past and present in an industry often dictated by market forces. Featuring analysis of Alexander, Troy, 300, Centurion, The Eagle, The Passion of the Christ and more, this book offers new insight on the continued evolution of the ancient world epic in cinema.

The Ancient World in Silent Cinema

The Ancient World in Silent Cinema
Author: Pantelis Michelakis
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Total Pages: 403
Release: 2013-08-15
Genre: History
ISBN: 110701610X

The first systematic attempt to focus on the instrumental role of silent cinema in early twentieth-century conceptualizations of the ancient Mediterranean and Middle East. It is located at the intersection of film studies, classics, Bible studies and cultural studies.

A Companion to Ancient Greece and Rome on Screen

A Companion to Ancient Greece and Rome on Screen
Author: Arthur J. Pomeroy
Publisher: John Wiley & Sons
Total Pages: 564
Release: 2017-08-07
Genre: Literary Criticism
ISBN: 1118741358

A comprehensive treatment of the Classical World in film and television, A Companion to Ancient Greece and Rome on Screen closely examines the films and TV shows centered on Greek and Roman cultures and explores the tension between pagan and Christian worlds. Written by a team of experts in their fields, this work considers productions that discuss social settings as reflections of their times and as indicative of the technical advances in production and the economics of film and television. Productions included are a mix of Hollywood and European spanning from the silent film era though modern day television series, and topics discussed include Hollywood politics in film, soundtrack and sound design, high art and low art, European art cinemas, and the ancient world as comedy. Written for students of film and television as well as those interested in studies of ancient Rome and Greece, A Companion to Ancient Greece and Rome on Screen provides comprehensive, current thinking on how the depiction of Ancient Greece and Rome on screen has developed over the past century. It reviews how films of the ancient world mirrored shifting attitudes towards Christianity, the impact of changing techniques in film production, and fascinating explorations of science fiction and technical fantasy in the ancient world on popular TV shows like Star Trek, Babylon 5, Battlestar Galactica, and Dr. Who.

Hollywood's Ancient Worlds

Hollywood's Ancient Worlds
Author: Jeffrey Richards
Publisher: A&C Black
Total Pages: 238
Release: 2008-07-01
Genre: History
ISBN: 0826435386

Jeffrey Richards examines the cultural, social, economic and technological circumstances that dictated the rise and decline of each successive cycle of Ancient World epics, from the silent film era, to the "golden age" of the 1950s, right up to the present day (Gladiator, 300, Rome). Analysis reveals that historical films are always as much about the time in which they are made as they are about the time in which they are set. The ancient world is often used to deliver messages to the contemporary audience about the present: hostility to totalitarian regimes both Fascist and Communist, concern at the decline of Christianity, support for the new state of Israel, celebrations of equality and democracy, and concern about changing gender roles. The whole adds up to a fresh look at a body of films that people think they know, but about which they will learn a good deal more.

Ancient Rome at the Cinema

Ancient Rome at the Cinema
Author: Elena Theodorakopoulos
Publisher:
Total Pages: 0
Release: 2010
Genre: History
ISBN: 9781904675280

Ancient Rome at the Cinema' is a lucid study of the worlds created in Roman historical epics. Based on analysis of the visual and narrative fabric of seven films set in Ancient Rome, 'Ancient Rome at the Cinema' demonstrates how cinematic versions of Ancient Rome have been able to captivate us, and inscribe their versions of the city and its history onto our imagination. Theodorakopoulos uses film theory and criticism to examine the ways in which historical drama creates the past through story-telling and visual effects. Particular emphasis is put on the tension between narrative and spectacle which is an inherent feature of cinema, and a long-standing preoccupation of film critics and theorists from the 1930s to the present. The book also examines the techniques and the rhetoric of realism which feature especially prominently in historical films. 'Ancient Rome at the Cinema' is a companion volume to 'Ancient Greece in Film and Popular Culture' by Gideon Nisbet (9781904675785, 2008, 2nd edition).