Cities in Transition: The Moving Image and the Modern Metropolis

The city is one of the greatest unsung heroes in cinema – a modernist inspiration for silent classics such as Metropolis (1926) and a dense urban jungle in The Matrix (1999) – yet there have been few attempts to grasp the cultural and aesthetic nature of its role in film. This volume is an ambitious collection of writings and photo-essays discussing this complex yet enduring relationship, and how early cinema, digital technology and changing urban geographies have all impacted upon notions and representations of the modern city. Amongst the films discussed are Peeping Tom (1960), Performance (1970), Sans Soleil (1983) and Amores perros (2000). Contributions come from the fields of film studies, cultural theory, architecture and design, as well as filmmakers Patrick Keiller and Chris Petit.

Andrew Webber is Reader in Modern German and Comparative Culture at Churchill College, University of Cambridge. He is the author of The European Avant-garde (2004). Emma Wilson is Reader in Contemporary French Literature and Film at Corpus Christi College, University of Cambridge. She is the author of Cinema's Missing Children (2003) and Alain Resnais (2006).