ReFocus: The Films of Jane Campion
Published on 28. February 2025
Book
Paperback/Softback
216 pages
978-1-3995-0027-2 (ISBN)
Description
Jane Campion's work shines a spotlight on gender relations, often through complex female characters and an innovative approach to the screen representation of women functioning at the edges of society. Campion is vocal about the under-representation of women in the film industry more generally, though her commitment to the notion of feminism is tempered by an ambivalence towards the term. Despite this ambiguity, Campion's continued focus on women merits an exploration of her work through a feminist lens particularly in the wake of #MeToo, which has had a wide-ranging impact on the film industry.
Reviews / Votes
This impressive and timely book is a welcome addition to the scholarship on Jane Campion, a filmmaker whose work, despite her significance, remains under-researched. The essays revisit her early, often neglected, films as well as offering new insights into canonical texts such as The Piano, and exploring more recent films, including The Power of the Dog. -- Estella Tincknell, University of the West of England The essays Bowler and Jones have gathered look at Campion's film and television work against the backdrop of debates about feminism. Highly recommended. Upper-division undergraduates through faculty. -- K. M. Flanagan * CHOICE connect *More details
Series
Language
English
Place of publication
Edinburgh
United Kingdom
Illustrations
14 black and white illustrations
Dimensions
Height: 157 mm
Width: 234 mm
Thickness: 23 mm
Weight
344 gr
ISBN-13
978-1-3995-0027-2 (9781399500272)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Persons
Alexia L. Bowler is a Senior Lecturer at Swansea University. She co-edited, with Jess Cox, a special issue of Journal of Neo-Victorian Studies on adaptation. Her most recent article on Jane Campion and In the Cut was published in Feminist Theory (2018). Adele Jones is a Tutor at Swansea University. She has published on Sarah Waters, Michele Roberts, and neo-Victorianism, and co-edited Sarah Waters and Contemporary Feminisms (2016, with Claire O'Callaghan).
Content
List of FiguresAcknowledgementsNotes on Contributors
Introduction: Unruly Filmmaker, Fellow Traveller - Alexia L. Bowler and Adele Jones
1. Claiming Campion: The Question of Jane Campion's Politics Revisited - Stephen Kuster
2. Two Friends: Circumstances of a Historic Feminist Collaboration - Zachary Zahos
3. Unsettling Presences: Agentic Embodiment in Jane Campion's Films - Catherine Fowler
4. 'The Mood That Passes Through You': Reverberations of Music and Meaning in The Piano - Leanne Weston
5. 'Only another man': Homosociality in Jane Campion's Bright Star and The Power of the Dog - Alexia L. Bowler
6. 'I don't think so, Jan, that's just another fantasy': Practice, Paratext and the Power of Women's Talk in Jane Campion's Filmmaking - Rona Murray
7. Articulating Feminism(s): Voicelessness, (In)Visibility, and Agency in Top of the Lake - Adele Jones
8. Jane Campion's Palimpsestuous Gothic: Kinship in Top of the Lake: China Girl - Johanna Schmertz
9. Photosensitive Primetime: Race and Recovery in Top of the Lake: China Girl - Blythe Worthy
Afterword: Unsettling Feminism - Annabel Cooper
Bibliography Filmography
Introduction: Unruly Filmmaker, Fellow Traveller - Alexia L. Bowler and Adele Jones
1. Claiming Campion: The Question of Jane Campion's Politics Revisited - Stephen Kuster
2. Two Friends: Circumstances of a Historic Feminist Collaboration - Zachary Zahos
3. Unsettling Presences: Agentic Embodiment in Jane Campion's Films - Catherine Fowler
4. 'The Mood That Passes Through You': Reverberations of Music and Meaning in The Piano - Leanne Weston
5. 'Only another man': Homosociality in Jane Campion's Bright Star and The Power of the Dog - Alexia L. Bowler
6. 'I don't think so, Jan, that's just another fantasy': Practice, Paratext and the Power of Women's Talk in Jane Campion's Filmmaking - Rona Murray
7. Articulating Feminism(s): Voicelessness, (In)Visibility, and Agency in Top of the Lake - Adele Jones
8. Jane Campion's Palimpsestuous Gothic: Kinship in Top of the Lake: China Girl - Johanna Schmertz
9. Photosensitive Primetime: Race and Recovery in Top of the Lake: China Girl - Blythe Worthy
Afterword: Unsettling Feminism - Annabel Cooper
Bibliography Filmography