| Description |
209 pages : illustrations ; 23 cm. |
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text txt rdacontent |
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unmediated n rdamedia |
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volume nc rdacarrier |
| Series |
The Rutgers series in childhood studies |
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Rutgers series in childhood studies.
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| Bibliography |
Includes bibliographical references (pages 199-203) and index. |
| Summary |
Ghastly and ghostly children, "dirty little white girls", and the child as witness and as victim have always played an important part in the history of cinema, as have child performers. Yet the disruptive power of the child in films made for an adult audience has been a neglected topic. This work examines popular films such as Taxi Driver, Man on Fire, and contemporary Japanese horror, as well as "Art house" productions like Mirror, La Jetee, and Pan's Labyrinth, and questions why the figure of the child has such a significant impact on the visual aspects and storytelling potential of cinema. She argues that the child as a liminal yet powerful agent has allowed filmakers to play adventurously with cinema's formal conventions, with far-reaching consequences. She reveals how a child's relationship to time allows it to disturb conventional master-narratives and also explores how the concern for and investment in the child actor conceals the reality of film acting and the skills of the child performer. She addresses the expression of child sexuality, and questions existing assumptions as to who children "really are."--Back cover. |
| Contents |
Tears, fears and fairytales and other stories of childhood. Hide and seek : children and ghosts in contemporary Japanese film -- Dirty little white girls -- Mud and fairytales : children in films about war -- The impropriety of performance : children (and animals) first. |
| Subject |
Children in motion pictures.
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Child actors.
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Child actors. (OCoLC)fst00854279
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Children in motion pictures. (OCoLC)fst00855253
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| ISBN |
9780813548968 (pbk. ; alk. paper) |
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0813548969 (pbk. ; alk. paper) |
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9780813548951 (hardcover ; alk. paper) |
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0813548950 (hardcover ; alk. paper) |
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