The Cinema of Michael Winterbottom [Paperback]

Deborah Allison has grasped [Winterbottoms] distinctive modus operandi, which no other filmmaker would dare imitate, or could afford to. Her tour of Winterbottoms glorious ups and occasional downs, a mid-career assessment, confirms Winterbottoms place as the most versatile and prolific director of his generation. The reader can decide whether Winterbottoms determination to take on so many varied challenges is courageous or crazy, or both.Michael Winterbottom is terrifically prolific and diverse in his cinematic output. It is difficult to write about someone who is still producing work, and Allison makes no claim to offer definitive statements. It remains to follow Winterbottoms career in the years ahead, and the growth of critical analysis of his work, to which The Cinema of Michael Winterbottom makes a sterling contribution.The Cinema of Michael Winterbottom is. . . traditional in terms of methodology, but. . . eloquent and explicit on the question of value.The Cinema of Michael Winterbottom, by Deborah Allison, examines eight films by the contemporary British director Michael Winterbottom. This study explores the ways his inflection of established genre traditions partake in a personal, idiosyncratic style of film-making. Across a career encompassing both mainstream and art house cinema, the potency and integrity of his authorship unites films as generically diverse as the road film Butterfly Kiss, western drama The Claim, science fiction movie Code 46, and docudrama The Road to Guantanamo.Acclaimed British director Michael Winterbottom is renowned for the abundance and diversity of his output. His films span a wide range of genres in art house and mainstream cinema alike, from the heritage film to neo-noir. Working with different genres gives Winterbottom a framework in which to explore favored themes, while incorporating new ideas and taking on new challenges. At the same time, his manner of undermining familiar generic qualities and frustrating audience exlc"