What do you think?
Rate this book
Undressing Cinema
From Audrey Hepburn in Givenchy, to sharp-suited gangsters in Tarantino movies, clothing is central to film. In Undressing Cinema , Stella Bruzzi explores how far from being mere accessories, clothes are key elements in the construction of cinematic identities, and she proposes new and dynamic links between cinema, fashion and costume history, gender, queer theory and psychoanalysis.
Bruzzi uses case studies drawn from contemporary popular cinema to reassess established ideas about costume and fashion in cinema, and to challenge conventional interpretations of how masculinity and femininity are constructed through clothing. Her wide-ranging study encompasses:
* haute couture in film and the rise of the movie fashion designer, from Givenchy to Gaultier
* the eroticism of period costume in films such as The Piano and The Age of Innocence
* clothing the modern femme fatale in Single White Female , Disclosure and The Last Seduction
* generic male chic in Goodfellas , Reservoir Dogs , and Leon
* pride, costume and masculinity in `Blaxploitation' films, Boyz `N The Hood and New Jack City
* drag and gender confusion in cinema, from the unerotic cross-dressing of Mrs Doubtfire to the eroticised ambiguity of Orlando .
Bruzzi uses case studies drawn from contemporary popular cinema to reassess established ideas about costume and fashion in cinema, and to challenge conventional interpretations of how masculinity and femininity are constructed through clothing. Her wide-ranging study encompasses:
* haute couture in film and the rise of the movie fashion designer, from Givenchy to Gaultier
* the eroticism of period costume in films such as The Piano and The Age of Innocence
* clothing the modern femme fatale in Single White Female , Disclosure and The Last Seduction
* generic male chic in Goodfellas , Reservoir Dogs , and Leon
* pride, costume and masculinity in `Blaxploitation' films, Boyz `N The Hood and New Jack City
* drag and gender confusion in cinema, from the unerotic cross-dressing of Mrs Doubtfire to the eroticised ambiguity of Orlando .
248 pages, Hardcover
First published November 6, 1997
5 people are currently reading
94 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
May 2, 2024
How interesting the chapters are, differs considerably.
The two on the gangster film and blackness are very insightful, those on gender identities are drowned in the jargon common to these fields of study.
In general diligent analyses of central scenes in films (what I appreciate), but not a general overview on the function of dress in cinema.
The two on the gangster film and blackness are very insightful, those on gender identities are drowned in the jargon common to these fields of study.
In general diligent analyses of central scenes in films (what I appreciate), but not a general overview on the function of dress in cinema.
August 25, 2008
On the function of clothing in films. Interesting, though it deals with mostly modern films. Discusses costume film, haute couture, gangster, Blaxploitation, Femme Fatale, cross dressing, and androgyny
August 4, 2011
Incredibly interesting and full of interesting psychological theories. I'll definitely be looking at movies in a different way from now on.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews