When the World Laughs: Film Comedy East and West
- ISBN-10
- 0190924993
- ISBN-13
- 9780190924997
- Category
- Performing Arts
- Pages
- 385
- Language
- English
- Published
- 2020
- Publisher
- Oxford University Press, USA
- Author
- William V. Costanzo
Description
When the World Laughs is a book about the intersection of humor, history, and culture. It explores how film comedy, one of the world's most popular movie genres, reflects the values and beliefs of those who enjoy its many forms, its most enduring characters and stories, its most entertaining routines and funniest jokes. What people laugh at in Europe, Africa, or the Far East reveals important truths about their differences and common bonds. By investigating their traditions of humor, by paying close attention to what kinds of comedy cross national boundaries or what gets lost in translation, this study leads us to a deeper understanding of each other and ourselves. Section One begins with a survey of the theories and research that best explain how humor works. It clarifies the varieties of comic forms and styles, identifies the world's most archetypal figures of fun, and traces the history of the world's traditions of humor from earliest times to today. It also examines the techniques and aesthetics of film comedy: how movies use the world's rich repertoire of amusing stories, gags, and wit to make us laugh and think. Section Two offers a close look at national and regional trends. It applies the concepts set forth earlier to specific films-across a broad spectrum of sub-genres, historical eras, and cultural contexts-providing an insightful comparative study of the world's great traditions of film comedy.
Get the book
Other editions
Similar books
-
The Business of American Theatre
By William GrangeScheurer, Timothy E. The Nineteenth Century and Tin Pan Alley. Bowling Green, OH: Bowling Green ... Timberlake, Craig. The Bishop of Broadway: The Life ...
-
Shooting Action Sports: The Ultimate Guide to Extreme Filmmaking
By Todd GrossmanDeal. with. Them. There«s one constant in the world of action sports, and that«sthe recurring issue with authority figures. The concernis justifiable when ...
-
Mycommunicationkit Student Access Code Card
By Bryan A Pearson, Pearson Education, Inc., Prentice Hall PearsonMycommunicationkit Student Access Code Card
-
Reframing Culture: The Case of the Vitagraph Quality Films
By William Uricchio, Roberta E. Pearson... Rare Books Room, and Ruth Senior and the staff, interlibrary loan, Pattee Library, Penn State; Elaine Burrows, Jackie Morris, Roger Holman, Markku Salmi ...
-
Star Trek and American Television
By Roberta Pearson, Máire Messenger DaviesWith the exception of the actors, the majority of the Star Trek production staff were male, except for the wardrobe staff whom we've mentioned.
-
Leadership in the Performing Arts
By Tobie S. SteinTodd of course has been leading the Roundabout since 1983 and, after many years at the helm, ... Notes 1 Terrence E. Deal and Allan A. Kennedy, Corporate.
-
The Complete Films of Alfred Hitchcock
By Robert A. Harris, Michael S. Lasky... and it took eight years to complete his four - picture deal . ... Money was no object Valli , Ann Todd , and Hitchcock during filming of The Paradine ...
-
Broadway Plays and Musicals: Descriptions and Essential Facts of More Than 14,000 Shows through 2007
By Thomas S. HischakMichael Todd's Peep Show [28 June 1950] musical revue by Bobby Clark, ... an emergency and the crew has to deal with the two women on board for some time, ...
-
Timberlake Wertenbaker Plays 1: New Anatomies; Grace of Mary Traverse; Our Country's Good; Love of a Nightingale; Three Birds Alighting...
By Timberlake WertenbakerNew Anatomies, Grace of Mary Traverse, Our Country's Good, Love of a Nightingale & Three Birds Alighting on a Field
-
The Ash Girl
By Timberlake WertenbakerIn this wondrous drama Timberlake Wertenbaker explores the beauty and terror inherent in growing up. The Ash Girl premiered at Birmingham Rep in 2001.