Christopher Frayling Bücher

Groundbreaking 'spaghetti westerns' such as the 'Dollars' trilogy (starring Clint Eastwood as 'The Man With No Name'), and the magisterial Once Upon A Time In The West, made Sergio Leone one of the most popular directors in world cinema. Christopher Frayling's biography of Sergio Leone lovingly explores his body of work, and casts light upon the previously little-known details of his life. Sergio Leone was born into movies, his father a popular director of the silent era. Obsessed by the illusory worlds of cinema and theatre, captivated by the myths of the American West, young Sergio embarked on a fabulous career of his own. He made an icon out of the initially reluctant Clint Eastwood, and dallied with the Hollywood studio system, but always stuck to his guns: the gangster epic Once Upon A Time In America consumed 15 years of his life. But Leone's passion made for extraordinary cinema: a widely-adored collection of films, about which Christopher Frayling provides an unprecedented wealth of extensively-researched analysis and anecdotage. In this revealing biography Christopher Frayling, the widely-acclaimed author of The Yellow Peril explores the life of Sergio Leone, the world-renowned director of the Good, the Bad and the Ugly, A Fist full of Dollars, Once Upon A Time in the West and Once Upon A Time in America.

In the mid-1960s, an unknown Italian film director, Sergio Leone, made A Fistful of Dollars, the first in a trilogy of films that came to define the spaghetti western. The films that complete the trilogy, For a Few Dollars More and The Good, the Bad and the Ugly, are, like the first film, violent, cynical and visually stunning, and together they form the backbone of an important film genre that has influenced many contemporary filmmakers. This book, newly available in paperback, is an authoritative, in-depth study of Leone and the ItalianWestern by film expert and cultural historian Sir Christopher Frayling. Featuring analyses of and interviews with all the key players, including Leone himself, it forms a wonderful tribute to one of the master filmmakers of the 20th century.

Cinema: The Whole Story takes a close look at the key time periods, genres and key works in world cinema. It places the burgeoning world of cinema in the context of social and cultural developments that have taken place since its beginnings. Organized chronologically, the book traces the evolution of cinematic development, from the earliest days of film projection to the multiscreen cinemas and super-technology of today. Illustrated, in-depth text charts every genre of cinema, from the first silent films to epic blockbusters, CGI graphics and groundbreaking effects of the 21st century. Cinema: The Whole Story is an indispensable book for all those who love watching and reading about films and who want to understand more about the world of cinema.

The French New Wave is one of the most important movements in the history of film. Its fresh energy and vision changed the cinematic landscape and it has had a seminal impact on pop culture. The poster artists tasked with selling these Nouvelle Vague films to the masses were at the forefront of a revolution in art, graphic design and photography. This volume is a visual celebration of their explosive and ground-breaking poster art.

Looking at Western art history from medieval times to the present day, this boxed set shows readers everything they need to know about great art and artists. Packed with colour reproductions, it contains many pull-out and pop-up elements which allow the reader to discover aspects in the history of art. The elements include a medieval masterpiece to take apart and reconstruct so you can see if you can improve the composition, a pull-out camera obscura to show how artists used it, a colour wheel to understand the full significance of the spectrum, a pop-up cubist painting and a mobile to make yourself. On a tape enclosed in the pack, the authors describe each painting in their top 20, explaining its significance, with a booklet to tell you about every word, name, concept, group, era and aspect of art.

This visual feast celebrates classic vampire cinema?mainstream and niche?through the many colorful ways in which the key films have been marketed and consumed.0F.W. Murnau's haunting film Nosferatu had its premiere in Berlin in March 1922. Bram Stoker's widow, Florence, tried hard to sue the production company for breach of copyright but had to settle in the end for a court order to destroy all prints and negatives. The film kept resurrecting, though, and is now considered the first, and one of the greatest, of all vampire movies?the founder of a dynasty of prints of darkness.0The bloodline has spread from Nosferatu to Hollywood's Dracula and progeny (1931?48); from Hammer's Dracula/Horror of Dracula and sequels (1958?74) to versions of Sheridan Le Fanu's story ?Carmilla? and other lesbian vampires (1970?2020); from the bestselling novels 'Salem's Lot and Interview with the Vampire to vampires who have shed their capes, hereditary titles and period trappings to become assorted smalltown oddballs, addicts, delinquents, psychopaths, rednecks, fashionistas, gay icons, comedians and even comic-book heroes (1975?2022).0This book is dripping with stills, posters, artworks, press books?many of which have not seen the light of day for a very long time?and is authored by cultural historian and connoisseur of the Gothic Christopher Frayling, who has been called ?the Van Helsing de nos jours.?

Mary Shelley's creation, Frankenstein, who emerged from a dream by a young woman who had just lost her first child, has transformed itself into a warning about the dangers of tampering with nature. The vampire started life as a sexual fantasy, and Bram Stoker's tale became a metaphor for dominance and dependence in sexual relationships. "Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde", perhaps the most psychological of all horror stories, examines the beast in man and the dark side of human nature. And "The Hound of the Baskervilles" is a tale of conflict between rationalism and folklore, and the skills of Sherlock Holmes. Exploring the world of the macabre and gothic in Victorian fantasy, this book examines why and how the great horror myths originated, and their popular appeal in the 19th century. It also investigates the way in which they have taken on new meanings and dimensions in our culture.