{"title":"Series: BFI Film Classics","description":"\u003cp\u003eThe \u003cstrong\u003eBFI Film Classics\u003c\/strong\u003e series invites readers to explore cinema's timeless masterpieces with insightful analysis and engaging commentary. Each book delves into the artistry, themes, and cultural impact of iconic films, offering a rich perspective for both casual viewers and dedicated cinephiles.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eRooted in thoughtful criticism, these volumes illuminate the enduring relevance of film as an art form and a reflection of society. 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The legends begin here …\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eAmes reconstructs the film as an experiment in visualising the past from the viewpoint of the present. \u003ci\u003eAguirre\u003c\/i\u003e is not a history film in the narrow sense, but it does engage a specific episode in the conquest of the New World, and it explores that history in terms of vision. 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Its story of a great white shark terrorising a New England beach town struck a primal chord with audiences. Under extreme pressure from a difficult location shoot, Universal's 27-year-old prodigy crafted a thriller so effective that for some time \u003ci\u003eJaws\u003c\/i\u003e was the highest-grossing film of all time. It was instrumental in establishing the concepts of the event movie and the summer blockbuster.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003eJaws\u003c\/i\u003e exerts an extraordinary power over audiences. Apparently simplistic and manipulative, it is a film that divided critics into two broad camps: those who dismissed it as infantile and sensational, and those who saw the shark as freighted with complex political and psychosexual meanings. Antonia Quirke, in an impressionistic response, argues that both interpretations obscure the film's success simply as a work of art. In \u003ci\u003eJaws\u003c\/i\u003e, Spielberg's ability to blend genres combines with his precocious technical skill to create a genuine masterpiece, which is underrated by many, including its director. 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In doing so, he attempts to understand what it is about the film that lingers so disturbingly, long after the credits have rolled.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"Bloomsbury Publishing PTY Ltd","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47423993282796,"sku":"9781839025945","price":29.99,"currency_code":"NZD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0705\/7784\/8556\/files\/9781839025945.jpg?v=1774769465"},{"product_id":"grave-of-the-fireflies-by-alex-dudok-de-wit-9781838719241","title":"Grave of the Fireflies","description":"\u003cdiv class=\"book-description\"\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eOn its release in 1988, \u003ci\u003eGrave of the Fireflies\u003c\/i\u003e riveted audiences with its uncompromising drama. Directed by Isao Takahata at Studio Ghibli and based on an autobiographical story by Akiyuki Nosaka, the story of two Japanese children struggling to survive in the dying days of the Second World War unfolds with a gritty realism unprecedented in animation.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003eGrave of the Fireflies\u003c\/i\u003e has since been hailed as a classic of both anime and war cinema. In 2018, USA Today ranked it the greatest animated film of all time.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eYet Ghibli’s sombre masterpiece remains little analysed outside Japan, even as its meaning is fiercely contested—Takahata himself lamented that few had grasped his message. In the first book-length study of the film in English, Alex Dudok de Wit explores its themes, visual devices and groundbreaking use of animation, as well as the political context in which it was made.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eDrawing on untranslated accounts by the film’s crew, he also describes its troubled production, which almost spelt disaster for Takahata and his studio.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"Allen \u0026 Unwin","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47424206897388,"sku":"9781838719241","price":29.99,"currency_code":"NZD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0705\/7784\/8556\/files\/9781838719241.jpg?v=1774768866"},{"product_id":"grey-gardens-by-dr-matthew-tinkcom-9781839029295","title":"Grey Gardens","description":"\u003cdiv class=\"book-description\"\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe Maysles brothers’ documentary film \u003ci\u003eGrey Gardens\u003c\/i\u003e (1975) chronicles the everyday lives of two eccentric upper-class women, Edith Bouvier Beale and her mother Edith. 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Because more than any other film before or since, it reminds us that we give our time to a film; and in making us look both harder and for longer it asks us to feel time slipping away, for ourselves as much as for its protagonist.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"Bloomsbury Publishing PTY Ltd","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47424423657708,"sku":"9781839022821","price":29.99,"currency_code":"NZD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0705\/7784\/8556\/files\/9781839022821.jpg?v=1774768495"},{"product_id":"lost-in-translation-by-professor-suzanne-ferriss-9781839024917","title":"Lost in Translation","description":"\u003cdiv class=\"book-description\"\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eSofia Coppola’s \u003cem\u003eLost in Translation\u003c\/em\u003e (2003) brings two Americans together in Tokyo, each experiencing a personal crisis. 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The tale of combative friends and small-time crooks is set amid the bars, pool halls, tenements and streets of Manhattan’s Little Italy. Scorsese has said of his childhood neighbourhood, ‘its very texture was interwoven with organised crime’, and this quality would dramatically inform the tone and restless energy of his seminal film.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eDemetrios Matheou’s insightful study considers \u003cem\u003eMean Streets\u003c\/em\u003e’ production history in the context of the New Hollywood period of American cinema, noting also the key roles played by John Cassavetes and Roger Corman. 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