Michael Winterbottom

This is the first book-length study of the most prolific and most critically acclaimed director working in British cinema today. Michael Winterbottom has also established himself, and his company, Revolution Films, as a dynamic force in world cinema. No other British director has done such impressive work in such a variety of genres, from road movie to literary adaptation, from musical to sex film, to stories of contemporary political significance. The authors of this book use a range of critical approaches to analyze the filmmaker's eclectic interests in cinema and the world at large. With this in mind, the realist elements of such films asWelcome to Sarajevoare examined in the light of a long history of cinema's dealings with realism, as far back as post-war Italian neo-realist filmmaking; andJudeandThe Claimare approached as both literary adaptations (a continuing strand in British cinema history) and examples of other genres reworked (the road movie, the western). This lively study of his work, written in a wholly accessible style, will interest all those who have followed his career as well as those with a wide-ranging concern for British cinema.

Brian McFarlane is Honorary Associate Professor in the School of English, Communication and Performance Studies at Monash University, Melbourne, and Visiting Professor in Film Studies at University of Hull. Deane Williams is Head of Film and Television Studies at Monash University, Melbourne.

List plates * Series edito foreward * Acknowledgements * Introduction * Authorship: Winterbottom and a body of work *  The realist *  The adaptor: Winterbottom and the English novel * Genres reworked * Melodrama, sex, beaches and other interests * Conclusion: doing what you want to do * Epilogue * Filmography * Select bibliography * Index