Nikita: French Film Guide (Ciné-File French Film Guides) - Softcover

Hayward, Susan

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1845114477 ISBN 13: 9781845114473

Publisher: I.B.Tauris, 2010

Synopsis

Nikita (1990) is the story of a nineteen-year old junkie, Nikita (Anne Parillaud) who is given a second chance in life through being trained to be - and becoming - a skilled assassin for the State. Nikita is a cult classic, directed by Luc Besson (with Thierry Arbogast as director of photography) in his hallmark powerful style. The film was an international hit, which spawned a TV series and a Hollywood remake. Susan Hayward develops here a fresh and provocative way of understanding Nikita's plot structure as a neo-baroque symphony. She goes in depth into key sequences of the film, examines its reception as a popular film by audiences and critics, and looks at The Assassin, the Hollywood remake of Nikita.

This is a wonderfully exciting book on an underrated film. It also shows that the woman placed at the center of a film noir can, as Susan Hayward points out, ""for once win - or at least 'get away with it.'""

About this title

About the Author

Susan Hayward is Professor of Cinema Studies, University of Exeter. Her many publications in French Cinema include French Film: Texts and Contexts; French National Cinema; Luc Besson: Filmmaker and Bard; Simone Signoret: The Star as Cultural Sign, and Les Diaboliques: French Film Guide (I.B. Tauris, 2005).

Review

""Ginette Vincendeau has assembled an elite corps of film scholars to address a marvellous array of modern and classic French films with the close-up scrutiny they deserve."" -- Dudley Andrew

""A rapid, enthusiastic, and very accessible style, which makes this study an excellent starting point for students approaching the film for the first time"" -- Guy Austin, French Studies

Edition details

• Publisher: I.B.Tauris
• Publication date: 2010
• ISBN 10: 1845114477
• ISBN 13: 9781845114473
• Binding: Paperback
• Language: English
• Number of pages: 128