The Law of the Looking Glass: Cinema in Poland; 1896ndash;1939 reveals the complex relationship between nationhood; national language; and national cinema in Europe before World War II. Author Sheila Skaff describes how the major issues facing the region before World War I; from the relatively slow pace of modernization to the desire for national sovereignty; shaped local practices in film production; exhibition; and criticism. She goes on to analyze local film production; practices of spectatorship in large cities and small towns; clashes over language choice in intertitles; and controversy surrounding the first synchronized sound experiments before World War I. Skaff depicts the creation of a national film industry in the newly independent country; the golden years of the silent cinema; the transition from silent to sound film mdash; and debates in the press over this transition mdash; as well as the first Polish and Yiddish ldquo;talkies.rdquo; She places particular importance on conflicts in majority-minority relations in the region and the types of collaboration that led to important films such as The Dybbuk and The Ghosts.The Law of the Looking Glass: Cinema in Poland; 1896ndash;1939 is the first comprehensive history of the countryrsquo;s film industry before World War II. This history is characterized by alternating periods of multilingual; multiethnic production; on the one hand; and rejection of such inclusiveness; on the other. Through it all; however; runs a single unifying thread: an appreciation for visual imagery.
#1471385 in eBooks 2016-06-01 2016-06-01File Name: B01G7A8ACQ
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