📖 Overview
Irish Film: The Emergence of Contemporary Cinema examines the development of Ireland's film industry from the 1970s through the early 2000s. The book tracks major shifts in Irish cinema during a period of cultural transformation and economic growth known as the Celtic Tiger era.
McLoone analyzes key films and filmmakers while placing them within broader contexts of national identity, politics, and social change. The text includes discussion of works by Neil Jordan, Jim Sheridan, and other significant directors who shaped modern Irish cinema.
The book covers both commercial productions and independent art films, exploring how they engage with traditional Irish themes and storytelling approaches. McLoone examines production conditions, funding structures, and the role of organizations like the Irish Film Board in fostering domestic filmmaking.
The analysis reveals how Irish cinema grapples with questions of history, memory, and cultural authenticity in a rapidly modernizing society. Through close readings of individual films, McLoone traces the evolution of a national cinema seeking to define itself between local traditions and global influences.
👀 Reviews
There appear to be very limited public reader reviews available for this 2000 academic text on Irish cinema. The book has no ratings or reviews on Goodreads or Amazon.
The book is referenced in academic papers and syllabi but lacks consumer reviews. A handful of academic journal reviews note McLoone's thorough analysis of how Irish identity and nationalism are portrayed in film.
One review in the Canadian Journal of Irish Studies praised the detailed examination of Irish cinema's development through the 1980s-90s but noted the book could have included more about early Irish film history.
The text appears to be used primarily in university film studies courses rather than by general readers, which explains the lack of public reviews.
No aggregate ratings or review scores could be found across major book review platforms and websites.
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🤔 Interesting facts
🎬 The book was published in 2000 during a transformative period in Irish cinema, just as films like "The Crying Game" and "My Left Foot" had brought international attention to Irish filmmaking
🎯 Author Martin McLoone is a Professor Emeritus at Ulster University and pioneered the academic study of Irish media and cinema studies in Northern Ireland
📽️ The text examines how Irish films of the 1980s and 90s dealt with themes of national identity differently than earlier films, moving away from stereotypical "stage Irish" portrayals
🌟 "Irish Film" was one of the first comprehensive academic studies to examine both Northern Irish and Republic of Ireland cinema as interconnected traditions
🎥 The book reveals how the establishment of the Irish Film Board (now Screen Ireland) in 1980 revolutionized Irish cinema by providing crucial funding for domestic film production