Visions of the past : the challenge of film to our idea of history

Author(s)

Bibliographic Information

Visions of the past : the challenge of film to our idea of history

Robert A. Rosenstone

Harvard University Press, 1995

  • : pbk

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Note

Includes bibliographical references (p. [259]-260) and index

Description and Table of Contents

Volume

ISBN 9780674940970

Description

Can filmed history measure up to written history? What happens to history when it is recorded in images, rather than words? Can images convey ideas and information that lie beyond words? Taking on these questions, Robert Rosenstone offers a direction in the relationship between history and film. Rosenstone moves beyond traditional approaches, which examine the history of film as art and industry, or view films as texts reflecting their specific cultural contexts. This essay collection makes a venture into the investigation of a concern: how a visual medium, subject to the conventions of drama and fiction, might be used as a serious vehicle for thinking about our relationship with the past. Rosenstone looks at history films in a way that reconceptualizes what we mean by "history". He explores the innovative strategies of films made in Africa, Latin America, Germany and other parts of the world. He journeys into the history of film in a wide range of cultures, and traces the contours of the postmodern historical film. In essays on specific films, including "Reds", "JFK" and "Sans Soleil", he considers such issues as the relationship between fact and film and the documentary as visionary truth.

Table of Contents

  • Introduction - personal, professional and (a little) theoretical. Part 1 History in images: history in images/history in words - reflections on the possibility of really putting history onto film
  • the historical film - looking at the past in a postliterate age. Part 2 The historical film: "Reds" as history
  • "The Good Fight" - history, memory, documentary
  • "JFK" - historical fact/historical film
  • "Walker" - the dramatic film as (postmodern) history
  • "Sans Soleil" - the documentary as (visionary) truth. Part 3 The future of the past: re-visioning history - contemporary filmmakers and the construction of the past
  • film and the beginnings of postmodern history
  • what you think about when you think about writing a book on history and film.
Volume

: pbk ISBN 9780674940987

Description

Can filmed history measure up to written history? What happens to history when it is recorded in images, rather than words? Can images convey ideas and information that lie beyond words? Taking on these timely questions, Robert Rosenstone pioneers a new direction in the relationship between history and film. Rosenstone moves beyond traditional approaches, which examine the history of film as art and industry, or view films as texts reflecting their specific cultural contexts. This essay collection makes a radical venture into the investigation of a new concern: how a visual medium, subject to the conventions of drama and fiction, might be used as a serious vehicle for thinking about our relationship with the past. Rosenstone looks at history films in a way that forces us to reconceptualize what we mean by "history." He explores the innovative strategies of films made in Africa, Latin America, Germany, and other parts of the world. He journeys into the history of film in a wide range of cultures, and expertly traces the contours of the postmodern historical film. In essays on specific films, including Reds, JFK, and Sans Soleil, he considers such issues as the relationship between fact and film and the documentary as visionary truth. Theorists have for some time been calling our attention to the epistemological and literary limitations of traditional history. The first sustained defense of film as a way of thinking historically, this book takes us beyond those limitations.

Table of Contents

Introduction: Personal, Professional, and (a Little) Theoretical PART 1: HISTORY IN IMAGES 1. History in Images / History in Words: Reflections on the Possibility of Really Putting History onto Film 2. The Historical Film: Looking at the Past in a Postliterate Age PART 2: THE HISTORICAL FILM 3. Reds as History 4.The Good Fight: History, Memory, Documentary 5. JFK: Historical Fact / Historical Film 6.Walker: The Dramatic Film as (Postmodern) History 7.Sans Soleil: The Documentary as (Visionary) Truth PART 3: THE FUTURE OF THE PAST 8. Re-visioning History: Contemporary Filmmakers and the Construction of the Past 9.Film and the Beginnings of Postmodern History 10. What You Think about When You Think about Writing a Book on History and Film Notes Sources Acknowledgments Index

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