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Fwd: New book on Jules Verne film adaptations

From: Garmt de Vries-Uiterweerd <garmtdevries~at~gmail.com>
Date: Mon, 14 Mar 2011 21:52:23 +0100
To: Jules Verne Forum <jvf~at~gilead.org.il>

Hi all,

This press release was sent to the Dutch JV Society. It may be of
interest to you too.

Cheers,
Garmt.


---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Chaplin Books <chaplinbooks~at~virginmedia.com>
Date: 14 March 2011 18:46
Subject: New book on Jules Verne film adaptations
To: info~at~jules-verne.nl


PRESS RELEASE

NEW BOOK ABOUT JULES VERNE FILM ADAPTATIONS

THE FUTURE REVISITED, a new book that examines Hollywood adaptations
of Jules Verne stories, is an interdisciplinary study that offers a
fresh perspective on film history, French literature, science fiction
and America in the 1950s.

Written by Francoise Schiltz, the book is published as an illustrated
paperback by Chaplin Books this month (March 24). It is a fascinating
and authoritative account of how the stories of Jules Verne, a
distinguished French novelist better known around the world as the
father of science fiction and an accurate predictor of much of the
twentieth century, found particular resonance with US filmmakers in
the 1950s. Schiltz looks at four of the most popular films - Around
the World in 80 Days, 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, Journey to the
Center of the Earth and Mysterious Island - and argues that there were
many parallels between Verne’s technological adventures and postwar
America, with its themeparks, shopping malls, Levittowns and plethora
of consumer goods. Just as nineteenth-century readers of Verne’s books
could experience travel from the comfort of their seats, viewers of
these films could be swept away on an imaginary flight, a voyage in a
submarine, or a trek to the earth’s core, all in spectacular
widescreen and with ground-breaking special effects. Yet the pleasures
offered were ambivalent: encounters with exotic places and cultures
might have led the audience to question common assumptions such as
gender roles; seeing futuristic domestic spaces could highlight the
confusion of attitudes to private and public life in suburbia, and the
films’ blending of nostalgia and progress might draw attention to
society’s tug-of-war between innovation and conformity.
Francoise Schiltz is originally from Luxembourg and now lives in
London. She studied English literature at the University of Kent and
went on to do a PhD in Film Studies at the University of Southampton.

THE FUTURE REVISITED: JULES VERNE ON SCREEN IN 1950s AMERICA is a
232-page illustrated paperback priced at £14.99 (ISBN 9780956559524).

ends

High-resolution image of the front cover of this book is available on request.
For further information, or to request a review copy, contact Amanda
Field, Chaplin Books. Email: chaplinbooks~at~virginmedia.com or telephone
023 92 529 020.

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Received on Mon 14 Mar 2011 - 22:52:29 IST

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