Routledge Library Editions: Cinema

244 Pages·2013·49.546 MB·English

by  Various

ROUTLEDGE LIBRARY EDITIONS:
CINEMA
Volume 11
THE EPIC FILM
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THE EPIC FILM
Myth and History
DEREK ELLEY
Firstpublishedin1984
Thiseditionfirstpublishedin2014
byRoutledge
2ParkSquare,MiltonPark,Abingdon,Oxon,OX144RN
SimultaneouslypublishedintheUSAandCanada
byRoutledge
711ThirdAvenue,NewYork,NY10017
RoutledgeisanimprintoftheTaylor&FrancisGroup,aninformabusiness
©1984DerekElley
Allrightsreserved.Nopartofthisbookmaybereprintedorreproducedorutilisedinany
formorbyanyelectronic,mechanical,orothermeans,nowknownorhereafterinvented,
includingphotocopyingandrecording,orinanyinformationstorageorretrievalsystem,
withoutpermissioninwritingfromthepublishers.
Trademarknotice:Productorcorporatenamesmaybetrademarksorregisteredtrademarks,
andareusedonlyforidentificationandexplanationwithoutintenttoinfringe.
BritishLibraryCataloguinginPublicationData
AcataloguerecordforthisbookisavailablefromtheBritishLibrary
ISBN:978-0-415-83865-8(Set)
eISBN:978-1-315-85201-0(Set)
ISBN:978-0-415-72677-1(Volume11)
eISBN:978-1-315-85583-7(Volume11)
Publisher’sNote
Thepublisherhasgonetogreatlengthstoensurethequalityofthisbookbutpointsoutthat
someimperfectionsfromtheoriginalmaybeapparent.
Disclaimer
Thepublisherhasmadeeveryefforttotracecopyrightholdersandwouldwelcome
correspondencefromthosetheyhavebeenunabletotrace.
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Cinema and Society
General Editor
Jeffrey Richards
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Myth and History
Derek Elley
Routledge & Kegan Paul
London, Boston, Melbourne and Henley
First published in 1984
by Routledge & Kegan Paul pic
39 Store Street, London WC1E 7DD,
9 Park Street, Boston, Mass. 02108, USA,
464 St Kilda Road, Melbourne,
Victoria 3004, Australia and
Broadway House, Newtown Road,
Henley-on-Thames, Oxon RG9 1EN
Set in Century 9/llpt by
Columns, Reading
and printed in Great Britain by
St Edmundsbury Press,
Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk
© Derek Elley 1984
No part of this book may be reproduced in
any form without permission from the
publisher, except for the quotation of brief
passages in criticism.
Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data
Elley, Derek.
The epic film.
(Cinema and society)
Filmography: p.
Bibliography: p.
Includes indexes.
1. Historical films - History and criticism. 2. Bible
films - History and criticism. 3. Heroes in motion
pictures. I. Title. II. Series.
PN1995.9.H5E4 1983 791.43WW358 83-9535
ISBN 0-7100-9656-9
Contents
General Editor’s Preface xi
Acknowledgments xiii
Author’s Note xv
Introduction 1
1 An Epic by Any Other Name 9
2 Epic into Film 13
3 Biblical: The Old Testament 25
4 Biblical: The New Testament 42
5 Greece: Gods and Heroes 52
6 Greece: From Marathon to Alexander 67
7 Rome: From Myth to Republic 76
8 Imperial Rome: Crisis and Civil War 87
9 Imperial Rome: Slaves and Barbarians 103
10 Imperial Rome: Christian Conflicts 115
11 Early Medieval: Norsemen, Saxons,
and the Cid 136
12 Epic Aftertastes: Misnomers and
Modern Myth 160
Filmography 167
Critical Bibliography 205
Index of Names 207
Index of Film Titles 215