Jane Campion

by Fox, Alistair

• ISBN13: 9780253223012
• ISBN10: 0253223016
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2011-03-28
• Publisher: Indiana Univ Pr

Summary

Alistair Fox explores the dynamics of the creative process involved in cinematic representation in the films of Jane Campion, one of the most highly regarded of contemporary filmmakers. Utilizing a wealth of new material -- including interviews with Campion and her sister and personal writings of her mother -- Fox traces the connections between the filmmaker's complex background and the thematic preoccupations of her work. He establishes how Campion's deep investment in family relationships informs her aesthetic strategies, revealed in everything from the handling of shots and lighting, to the complex system of symbolic images repeated from one film to the next.

Author Biography

Alistair Fox is Professor of English and Director of the Centre for Research on National Identity at the University of Otago.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments	p. xi
Introduction: Authorship, Creativity, and Personal Cinema	p. 1
Origins of a Problematic: The Campion Family	p. 25
The ôTragic Underbellyö of the Family: Fantasies of Transgression in the Early Films	p. 48
Living in the Shadow of the Family Tree: Sweetie	p. 69
ôHow painful it is to have a family member with a problem like thatö: Authorship as Creative Adaptation in An Angel at My Table	p. 88
Traumas of Separation and the Encounter with the Phallic Other: The Piano	p. 107
The Misfortunes of an Heiress: The Portrait of a Lady	p. 133
Exacting Revenge on ôCunt Menö: Holy Smoke as Sexual Fantasy	p. 154
ôThat which terrifies and attracts simultaneouslyö: Killing Daddy in In the Cut	p. 177
Lighting a Lamp: Loss, Art, and Transcendence in The Water Diary and Bright Star	p. 201
Conclusion: Theorizing the Personal Component of Authorship	p. 215
Notes	p. 233
Works Cited	p. 249
Filmography	p. 259
Index	p. 263
Table of Contents provided by Ingram. All Rights Reserved.