John Belton
American Cinema/American
Culture
McGraw-Hill
Humanities/Social Sciences/Languages; 2 edition (August 10, 2004)
480 pages
ISBN 0-07-288627-7 (paperback)
Dimensions: 0.8×7.2×8.8 inches
John Belton’s
American Cinema/American Culture (Second Edition) was published in
2005 as a revised version of the 1994 (first) edition. As the title
suggests, the book deals with the interplay of the American cinema and
culture and in a way is subjected to the method of “The New Film History.”
As Belton puts it, this approach does not apply the “time-worn format of
chronological narrative of events” but rather tries to give an “updated map
of the terrain of American cinema”
intertwined with cultural history. Thus, the aim of the book is to cover,
show and analyze the amalgam of American cinema and culture starting out
“from the emergence of the cinema as an institution” “into the twenty-first
century.” Belton claims that after cultural and historical crises of the 20th
century, a coherent national identity had to be maintained (or re-created?)
and it was precisely the American cinema that served as a kind of social
bridge. Recommended for film studies, American studies and cultural studies
courses, the book is divided into three parts and subdivided into sixteen
chapters that still follow a quasi-chronological order.
After the
preface and the introduction, the first part (“The Mode of Production”)
opens with the above-mentioned chapter, “The Emergence of the Cinema as an
Institution”, in which Belton - a bit hectically - tries to grab the
phenomenon of cinema from several points-of-view (historical, technical,
social, economic, etc.). Unsurprisingly, cinema is claimed to be the ‘magic’
of the “wizard of Menlo Park”, which is a common conviction of American film
theorists. European ones would stand up and chant the name of the Lumière
brothers instead that of Edison – and they are most probably not mistaken.
Belton spares not more than a line to the Lumières and quickly continues
with the following subchapter. Not only in this specific case but in
general, we can state for sure that Belton does not deal with European film
industry or film history and practically shows cinema as a pure American
invention with no roots in the Old Continent. (Considering his claim on the
relationship of the cinema and coherent national identity in the preface,
his ‘exclusively-American’ approach may be understandable, yet it is far
from the complete picture.)
Following a
chronological order from the kinetoscope through the nickelodeons to movie
palaces, the reader gets a hint of American social relations at the turn of
the century, accompanied with the appearance of film narratives (6-20).
Inasmuch theory or theories are concerned, Belton puts them aside as much as
he can, and even if he tries to pin down his examples to some film theories
he does so by referring to American, not so well-known or key-note
theorists. Even though Belton does not accept (or at least does not promote)
the European version of the origins of film and the cinema, he should apply
or tend to refer to European film theorists, semioticians or philosophers in
his argumentation. The lack of theoretical background is often disturbing
and gives a sense of discredit to some parts of the book, since this
background could be a string Belton’s otherwise inspiring and colorful
examples would be placed on.
Subsequently,
in the first part of the book, we have a chapter on narration in classical
Hollywood cinema (22-44). Starting out from a general, structural
description of narratives, Belton summarizes the way film narratives can be
analyzed and introduces the term “segmentation.” Segmenting three films as
illustrations of the method (30-41), I assume Belton did a good job, still I
miss the articulation of the distinction between the notions ‘story’ and
‘plot’ (or ‘fabula’ vs. ‘sujet’), which does have a place here. In chapter 3
(45-65) we get an unarguably clear definition of mise-en-scène, camera
movements, lightning, sound and editing – a brilliantly well-structured
chapter with great illustrations of the 180-degree rule and the three-point
lightning system.
Chapters 4
and 5 deal with the studio and star systems in Hollywood (66-125). The
listing and introduction of the major and minor studios throughout the 20th
century somewhat remind me of the entries of an encyclopedia: titles,
actors, actresses, dates – seemingly unimportant facts gathered just for the
sake of the ‘necessary’ length of the chapter. The films mentioned are
hardly known and, what is more important, too old to be easily available for
those who would like to watch them (at least in this part of the world).
Belton picked the wrong horse with this listing approach since this chapter
turns out to be one of the least exciting ones in the book. Moreover, the
useful and important information on the Hollywood studio system get
oppressed by this load of data – the only exception may be the subchapters
dealing with vertical integration and block booking, blind bidding, runs,
zones and clearances. The following chapter has a somewhat similar approach
– more than necessary examples are piled upon one another. Yet, the
subchapter “Mechanics of Stardom” gives a pretty clear overview of the
financial, economic and social background of being a star. With case studies
of Tom Hanks, Marilyn Monroe and others, Belton turns again to his
encyclopedia-building approach and slows down (or even breaks) the flow of
the chapter; the historical overview of stardom even seems a bit
old-fashioned. However, the last two parts entitled “Different Faces: The
Rise of Black Stars” (119-122) and “Economics and Contemporary Stardom”
(122-124) are probably the most inspiring to students since the names and
films mentioned here are the ones known to most students today.
In the second
part of the book six different types of genres are introduced and analyzed,
namely: silent film melodrama, musical, American comedy, war movies, film
noir, western. The reason why Belton decided on these particular genres is
not articulated, but reading through the introductory paragraphs of the
second part, we get the hint that Belton considers these genres ‘as American
as apple pie.’ The introductory pages are otherwise a good summary of what
genres are and what (financial) necessities of them can be mentioned.
In Silent
Film Melodrama (chapter 6) Belton introduces the genre by referring to
E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial (1982) and A. I.: Artificial Intelligence
(2001), which are definitely not silent films, but their applying is a great
way to give students an idea what melodrama is. The author points out that
melodrama is a modal genre and thus “exists primarily as an attitude or
method of treatment,” (134) therefore films like The Godfather (1972)
or Spider-Man (2002) can be coined as melodramatic. In this respect,
Belton’s argumentation might seem a bit loose, which does not necessarily
mean that it is false; yet, the application of theories concerning the
working-pattern of melodrama or melodramatic films would certainly back up
Belton’s argumentation.
Belton starts
with the silent film period presumably to maintain a sort-of chronological
order (the reason of which is not perfectly clear to me since in the very
beginning of the book he claims that the book is written in the method of
“The New Film History”, i.e. neglecting the what-happened-when, strict
chronological order). Emphasizing the social factors of melodrama, the
author connects film and culture up to the point where he claims that
“melodramas embodied the American dream, offering success to anyone with the
courage and strength to pursue it” (139). After turning to the political
side of melodramas, Belton draws under scrutiny Griffith’s The Birth of a
Nation (1915) and proves the melodramatic nature of the film and, at the
same time, calls the reader’s attention to the racial issue raised by the
film. Actually, the aim of the chapter to emphasize the strict relation of
(melodramatic) film and culture is wittily fulfilled, although the
theoretical background is still missing, or vaguely mentioned.
Dancing,
singing and the ‘realistic’ world of musicals are presented in chapter 7
(150-169). Structured on the basis of musical forms, the chapter gives an
extensive overview of this genre – an easy-to-understand categorization of
musicals is presented to the reader. Although most people would claim that
musicals are seemingly unrealistic or fantasy-like, Belton soon convinces
the reader that in its context, the musical is just as realistic as any
other genre (therefore should not be prejudged). Brightly, the author adds
at the end of the chapter that animated features for children prepared the
stage for the comeback of musicals (yet it is worth considering whether this
comeback would be as successful and long-lasting as it was decades ago).
Belton argues
in chapter 8 (170-199) that American comedy and culture cannot be separated
since it is precisely culture or rather the tensions within culture that
generates comedy. Referring (wittily) to Freud and a quasi-psychoanalytic
approach to comedies, he legitimizes the existence and importance of
comedies as a genre that is never taken seriously, therefore has the
possibility to articulate unspeakable problems within culture and society
without being attacked for it (170-171). Belton constructs this chapter so
that he can mention all the matters that generate the finally articulated
tensions: racism, social integration/disintegration, sex and politics. This
summary is a brilliantly composed one with just the necessary amount of
examples. The second part of the chapter gives introspection into the
history of American comedy starting from the silent film era (Charlie
Chaplin, Buster Keaton, etc.) through screwball comedies to the more
up-to-date animal and ironic romantic comedies.
The reader is
guided to the “world of extremes” in chapter 9: “War and Cinema” (200-224).
Belton claims that war film is the maximization of spectacles and emotions.
He approaches the topic from several points-of-view, partly concentrating on
structural differences (“deviant narratives” (202-204)), psychoanalytical
factors (204-208) and partly focusing on the ideological background of war
films. The topic of race and ethnicity comes back again. A historical
approach also appears (quite rightly), focusing on the Vietnam War, the Gulf
War and World War II. Belton concludes with the war film as the mediator
between us and (the possibility of) wars: “all contemporary wars are waged
on two fronts – on the battlefield and on the screen” (223). War films serve
as educators, inasmuch as they tell us why wars are necessary, how to bear
defeat or victory; but moreover to emphasize our right to wars even though
we may not be the winner.
Providing a
historical and ideological background of film noir, Belton introduces
probably his best composed and most to-the-point chapter in the book
(225-247). The author acknowledges that film noir lacks the
institutional status of traditional genres and can be defined in several
ways. To provide the clearest picture of it, he approaches film noir
from several stands, including aesthetics, themes, archetypical characters
and cultural background (production code, censorship, etc.). The
illustrative subchapter on noir and its literary origins (236-239)
serves as the penultimate piece in the film noir puzzle; the picture
gets completed with the outstandingly informative subchapter on women
characters’ social and psychological role and effect on the audience
(239-242). Applying the theories of Laura Mulvey and Sigmund Freud helps
Belton pinning down his argumentation on women, especially on the character
of the femme fatale.
Originating
from the nineteenth-century, the myth of the Western is just as important
and strong these days as it used to be – that is the claim of the author in
chapter 11 (248-276). Belton articulates the American-ness of the genre in a
couple of pages, gathering more and more historical and ideological proof.
He repeatedly refers to Frederick Jackson Turner and his frontier thesis as
a kind of theoretical base of the Western (250-251). Turner’s idea about the
closing of the western frontier got revised in the 1960s when outer space
becomes the next (final?) frontier – this approach can also be detected in
film studies. However odd it might seem, it is true, and Belton manages to
prove it pretty well: science-fictions like Star Wars are also
Westerns in the sense of iconography.
The third
part of the book investigates postwar American cinema. Including the
subchapters on the Cold War era, the age of television, the significant and
transforming role of counterculture, the film school generation and the
changes towards the twenty-first century, this part leads the reader to
nowadays American film culture.
The thorough
historical review of the Cold War period is of great help for non-American
readers especially for those who were born at around the end of it. This
period is far in space and time for young readers and as a matter of fact
the activity of Hollywood related to this topic is even more out of the
spectrum in the case of students coming from post-socialist countries. For
political and ideological reasons American anti-Communist films were cut off
from the peoples of the Soviet Union and the Eastern Block. Because of this
very reason, this chapter proves to be the most informative for these
students. Belton first gives an overview of the historical and ideological
background of the Cold War and then turns towards the ‘screen’ to illustrate
how anti-Communist ideology got projected in American films and what the
effects of the era were on film industry. Though not closely connected to
today’s film industry, the description of the Cold War-period film making is
outstanding in its coherence.
Chapter 13
depicts “Hollywood in the Age of Television” (304-323). After losing much of
its audience due to social changes, Hollywood had to come up with a couple
of technological inventions to attract people. The mechanisms of these new
phenomena (Cinerama system, 3-D, CinemaScope,Todd-AO, etc.) are explained by
Belton in a very clear and accessible way, yet the subchapter on making
CinemaScope Fit on TV seems to be a bit vague. Belton concludes with a
remark on the fact that movie-goers have lower and lower expectations
towards the cinema, since it has not been changed fundamentally in the last
30 years, whereas – as previous subchapters point out – home entertainment
is getting more and more advanced and spectacular (even awesome) (322).
The clash of
the marginal and the mainstream is in the focus of chapter 14: “The 1960s:
The Counterculture Strikes Back” (324-347). Belton points out several
political factors that generated an overwhelming change in the American
cinema: the Vietnam War, heightened tension within society, movements, etc.
When these problems surfaced in the 1960s, the cinema had to accommodate
itself to the new waves. This change, with the explicit articulation of
taboos (drugs, sex, etc.), soon led to a different kind of audience (with a
different kind of morality). Hair, Bonnie and Clyde or Easy
Rider are just three of this prolific period, and great examples to
explain the distinctive features of counterculture cinema. Belton reminds
the reader that a split in the cinema can be detected in the 1960s: the
conservative, middle-aged, middle-class movie-goers attended the
once-mainstream films; the younger generation watched the taboo-less
youth-cult ones.
Belton
examines the “Film School Generation” in chapter 15 (348-374). After the
introductory part (in which he describes how European films and, alongside,
film theories ‘conquered’ the United States), he turns to Andrew Sarris and
his auteur theory, but unfortunately gives just some hints of this important
phenomenon. The otherwise smooth flow of the chapter is (again) disturbed by
the hundreds of unnecessary data (which are actually collected at the end of
the chapter in a table format).
Concluding
with the chapter “Into the Twenty-First century” (375-413), the author tries
to provide the ideological background working behind today’s American
cinema. The challenge is great, since the films presented are so recent that
it seems to be hard to pinpoint any clear-cut ideology behind them. Belton
tries as hard as he can to define the influencing factors and does have some
brilliant observations but the coherence of the chapter is a bit off
balance. The subchapters on digitalization and fantasy films are detailed
thoroughly; the linking between the fantasy-related subchapters and the
following “Prefiguring September 11, 2001” (407-410) is amusing (by citing
Adorno and Freud, Belton wins the day). In my opinion, dealing with the
effects of 9/11 on American cinema is a great challenge, one that is now
almost impossible to be carried out – Belton tries it only by referring to
film related to this topic (some theoretical backup would certainly be of
Belton’s help here).
John Belton’s
American Cinema/American Culture is a great accompanying book to
introductory film studies courses. Its language is smooth, the pictures
are illustrative and its logically built up structure helps the students get
initiated to the field of film studies step by step. The concluding tables
(“Select Filmography” and “Select Bibliography”) at the end of each chapter
are of great help to the reader; the glossary at the very end of the book is
necessary to have the clear definitions of technical terms, since they often
do not get articulated in the relevant chapters. Due to the very limited
amount of theoretical background, Belton’s argumentation and interpretations
prove to be somewhat baseless several times.
The book is
useful not only for American students but for others as well; yet, a great
percentage of the films mentioned and/or analyzed in the book (mostly the
older ones) are hardly accessible in countries like Hungary.
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