Author: Andrew Knighton
Where did Storm go?: Representing Race and Gender in Superhero films
Superhero films and the comics that spawned them are famous for their traditionally white male fan-base. It’s a fan-base to which the creators play, with the vast majority of superheroes, and particularly the high profile ones, being white men. This raises issues for the balanced representation of gender and race and for the diversity of…
Film as thesis: 3 Depictions of the Nature of History
As a history graduate and a film lover I’ve long been aware of the complex relationship between cinema and the past. Films can reflect our history, the way we reconstruct a story of the past from the evidence around us. They can also shape popular understanding of history, as shown by both Hollywood blockbusters and…
There And Back Again: Fantasy Cinema and Literary Legacy
Fantasy cinema, taking the themes and ideas of fantasy literature and putting them up on the big screen, is an increasingly powerful force in cinema. Like superhero films, this genre has been driven by recent successful adaptations, starting with The Fellowship of the Ring (2001). And just as J. R. R. Tolkien’s Lord of the…
Marvel and DC: Comics as Cinematic R&D
There’s no avoiding comic book movies. Though they are most obvious in the big screen superhero blockbusters, comic adaptations now cross all genres. There are historical epics like 300 (2007), horror films like 30 Days of Night (2007), crime dramas like Sin City (2005) and Road to Perdition (2002), even quirky comedies like Scott Pilgrim…
It’s True Because It Works: Historical Storytelling in Lincoln
Steven Spielberg’s Lincoln (2012) may seem at first glance a straightforward historical film, narrating how President Abraham Lincoln ensured the liberation of the slaves at the end of the American Civil War. But closer examination of the characterisation of this great president, impeccably played by Daniel Day-Lewis, reveals a script that forces us to challenge…