Research Catalog

Title

David Bowie and film : hooked to the silver screen / Stephen Glynn.

Author

Glynn, Stephen

Publication

Cham : Palgrave Macmillan, [2022]

Items in the Library & Off-site

Details

Description

x, 253 pages : illustrations (black and white, and colour); 21 cm

Summary

David Bowie and Film: Hooked to the Silver Screen is an important book. It analyses Bowies crossover stardom and provides new knowledge of not only Bowie as a cultural figure but also of the films Bowie acted in. As such, the book also offers a very useful and original case study of the ways in which one star can have a profound impact on British cinema history and cultural history. - Paul Newland, University of Worcester, UK This book constitutes the first monograph dedicated to an academic analysis of David Bowies appearances in film. Through close textual analysis together with production and reception histories, Bowies silver screen career is explored in full. The book covers performance documentaries such as Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars, star vehicles ranging from the eulogised The Man Who Fell to Earth to the excoriated Just a Gigolo, plus roles from the horror chic of The Hunger and cult fantasy of Labyrinth to the valiant high-brow Baal and vainglorious high-budget Absolute Beginners, ending with Bowie as Bowie in Bandslam and others as Bowie in Velvet Goldmine and Stardust. Alongside showing his willingness to experiment (and at times fail) across a variety of genres, this study investigates Bowies performative style that, while struggling to accommodate the requirements of cinematic realism, fits more harmoniously with alternative production codes and aesthetics. More broadly, by exploring the commercial, socio-cultural and ideological significance of Bowie on film, the book demonstrates how notions of gender, sexuality and identity formation, plus commodity and cultural capital, function and fluctuate in contemporary society. Stephen Glynn lectures in Film and Television at De Montfort University, UK. His previous investigations of the connections between pop music and film include The British Pop Music Film (Palgrave, 2013) and The Beatles and Film (2021).

Subject

• Bowie, David
• Musicians in motion pictures
• Motion pictures and music

Bibliography (note)

• Includes bibliographical references (pages 231-240), discography (pages 229-230) and index.

Contents

1. Sound and Vision: Introduction -- 2. Ziggy Played Guitar: Bowie as Concert Performer -- 3. Loving the Alien: Bowie as Star(man) -- 4. Cracked Actor: Bowie Goes to War -- 5. Scary Monsters (and Super Creeps): Bowie does Fantasy -- 6. Man of Words, Man of Music: Bowie does Musicals -- 7. Chameleon, Comedian, Corinthian, Caricature: Bowie does Genres -- 8. Watch That Man: Bowie does Biopics -- 9. How the Others Must See the Faker: Bowie as Biopic -- 10. A Crash Course for the Ravers: Conclusion.

Call Number

JMD 23-81

ISBN

• 3031134001
• 9783031134005

OCLC

1334721569

Author

Glynn, Stephen, author.

Title

David Bowie and film : hooked to the silver screen / Stephen Glynn.

Publisher

Cham : Palgrave Macmillan, [2022]

Type of Content

text

still image

Type of Medium

unmediated

Type of Carrier

volume

Bibliography

Includes bibliographical references (pages 231-240), discography (pages 229-230) and index.

Other Form:

ebook version : 9783031134012

Research Call Number

JMD 23-81