Beauty and the Beast

Italianness in British Cinema

Elisabetta Girelli

• Publisher: Intellect Books
• Year: 2009
• Print ISBN: 9781841502441
• eBook ISBN: 9781841503035
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Media & Performing Arts
• Subtopic: Film & Video

Scholarly interest in issues of national identity and representation has been increasing for years, and cinema is a major resource for that work, as it allows for cross-cultural dialogue and the portrayal of different layers of representation and cultural stereotypes. Beauty and the Beast takes a look at the depictions of Italy and the Italians in British cinema.

Elisabetta Girelli draws upon cultural and social history to assess the ongoing representation of "Italianness" in British film, and its crucial role in defining and challenging British national identity. Girelli provides an original survey of archival material such as World War II footage, and an analysis of significant British films like Summer Madness and A Room With A View. Drawing on British literary and filmic tradition to analyze the rise of specific images of the Italian other, Beauty and the Beast is a noteworthy and unique contribution to film and cultural studies.

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title Page
• Copyright
• Contents
• Abstract
• Acknowledgements
• Introduction
• Chapter 1. History and Representation of Italian Immigrants in Britain
• Chapter 2. Italianness in 1940s British Cinema
• Chapter 3. Italianness and Masculinity in 1950s British Cinema
• Chapter 4. The New Italian Glamour: Italian Film Stars in British Cinema from the Early 1950s to the Mid-1960s
• Chapter 5. Italianness, British Cinema, and Thatcherism
• Conclusion
• Filmography
• Works Cited