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Citizen Kane

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Citizen Kane is widely revered as one of the greatest films ever made. Laura Mulvey's insightful analysis offers a fresh perspective on this cinematic masterpiece, delving into its thematic complexity and stylistic innovation. Her critique situates the film within Orson Welles’s political milieu and historical era, exploring the psychoanalytic framework that shapes Kane’s biography. The book also highlights the film's political resonance, drawing connections to the economic and media crises of both past and present.
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Ideal for film students, cinephiles, and anyone interested in film theory, political cinema, or the work of Orson Welles. This thoughtful critique appeals to readers seeking a deeper understanding of classic cinema's social and historical dimensions.

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Laura Mulvey offers a fresh and original reading of one of the greatest films in all cinema. This new edition of Mulvey's study is published in the Film Classics 20th anniversary series of special editions, with a new foreword by the author, and a stunning new jacket design by Eric Skillman.

Book Hero Magic formatted this description to make it easier to read. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! Description

Citizen Kane's reputation as one of the greatest films of all time is matched only by the accumulation of critical commentary that surrounds it. What more can there be to say about a masterpiece so universally acknowledged?

Laura Mulvey, in a fresh and original reading, illuminates the richness of the film, both thematically and stylistically, relating it to Welles's political background and its historical context. In a lucid and perceptive critique, she also investigates the psychoanalytic structure that underlies the film's presentation of Kane's biography, for once taking seriously what Orson Welles himself disparagingly referred to as 'dollar-book Freud.'

In her foreword to this special edition, published to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the BFI Film Classics series, Laura Mulvey focuses on the film's politics, highlighting the contemporary 'rhymes' in Kane's portrayal of a scandal-prone press baron in a time of economic crisis.

Series: BFI Film Classics

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Book Details

INFORMATION

ISBN: 9781844574971

Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing PLC

Format: Paperback / softback

Date Published: 31 July 2012

Country: United Kingdom

Imprint: BFI Publishing

Edition: 2nd edition

Illustration: 32 b/w photos

Audience: General / adult, Tertiary education

DIMENSIONS

Spine width: 8.0mm

Width: 136.0mm

Height: 190.0mm

Weight: 185g

Pages: 104

About the Author

LAURA MULVEY is Professor of Film and Media Studies at Birkbeck College, University of London. She is the author of Fetishism and Curiosity (1996), Death Twenty-four Times a Second: Stillness and the Moving Image (2006), and Visual and Other Pleasures (2nd edition, 2010).

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  • Afterimages
    This book marks a return for Laura Mulvey to questions of film theory and feminism, as well as a reconsideration of new and old film technologies. Its title, Afterimages, alludes to the dislocation of time that runs through many of the films and works in this book, and the way we view them. Structured in three main parts, the book...
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