The supernatural in neo-Baroque Hollywood
The supernatural in neo-Baroque Hollywood
Stylistic traits of the neo-baroque: fluid navigational rather than decoupage; multi-layered soundtracks; composition in depth, frequently achieved through multi-plate compositing; visual spaces veering towards the indecipherable; characters gifted with a kind of spatial omnivoyance; semantic structures raised on themes of narcissism; all suggesting that the neo-baroque uses allegories of immersion as a response to a real or felt crisis of power and its symbolic systems, notably of cause and effect. These result in a pattern-making aesthetic characterised by the modularisation and spatialisation of narrative, voiced in themes of eternity and predestination. The chapter will open with a comparison between the Freund Mummy of 1931 and Sommers' versions The Mummy and The Mummy Returns of 1999 and 2001 respectively. The chapter will go on to test its theses against other films including Sommers' Van Helsing, Hellboy, Batman Begins, the Blade and Pirates of the Caribbean cycles and other popular action films voicing supernatural themes.
9780415962629
47-65
Cubitt, Sean
aad644d3-3b69-4ca8-a999-9b0f809eb729
26 May 2009
Cubitt, Sean
aad644d3-3b69-4ca8-a999-9b0f809eb729
Cubitt, Sean
(2009)
The supernatural in neo-Baroque Hollywood.
In,
Buckland, Warren
(ed.)
Film Theory & Contemporary Hollywood Movies.
(American Film Institute Film Readers)
Abingdon, GB.
Routledge, .
Record type:
Book Section
Abstract
Stylistic traits of the neo-baroque: fluid navigational rather than decoupage; multi-layered soundtracks; composition in depth, frequently achieved through multi-plate compositing; visual spaces veering towards the indecipherable; characters gifted with a kind of spatial omnivoyance; semantic structures raised on themes of narcissism; all suggesting that the neo-baroque uses allegories of immersion as a response to a real or felt crisis of power and its symbolic systems, notably of cause and effect. These result in a pattern-making aesthetic characterised by the modularisation and spatialisation of narrative, voiced in themes of eternity and predestination. The chapter will open with a comparison between the Freund Mummy of 1931 and Sommers' versions The Mummy and The Mummy Returns of 1999 and 2001 respectively. The chapter will go on to test its theses against other films including Sommers' Van Helsing, Hellboy, Batman Begins, the Blade and Pirates of the Caribbean cycles and other popular action films voicing supernatural themes.
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Published date: 26 May 2009
Identifiers
Local EPrints ID: 179937
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/179937
ISBN: 9780415962629
PURE UUID: a99ac768-aaa6-4dd5-b46d-2ba5cc630820
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Date deposited: 07 Apr 2011 10:40
Last modified: 08 Jan 2022 08:40
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Contributors
Author:
Sean Cubitt
Editor:
Warren Buckland
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