ReFocus: The Films of Lindsay Anderson
Will be published approx. on 31. December 2025
Book
Hardback
226 pages
978-1-3995-3705-6 (ISBN)
Description
Following the centenary of Lindsay Anderson's birth (1923-94), this edited collection of original essays re-examines the work of one of British cinema's most iconoclastic and challenging directors. Building upon existing scholarship and authorial frameworks, the chapters included engage with a range of highly contemporary interpretive themes and approaches, including regionalism, reception, trauma, queer theory, genre, collaboration and gender representation. Addressing a number of methods and key themes which have arisen in the years following Anderson's death, ReFocus: The Films of Lindsay Anderson offers a diverse exploration of his screen work from a contemporary critical perspective. The chapters provide fresh insights into some of the most significant texts in the history of British cinema, including films, concepts, and creative relationships that have shaped modern screen culture.
Reviews / Votes
Anderson was famously cynical about the growth of academic Film Studies, but he might surely have relished this collection of in-depth scholarly essays: authors ranging widely in nationality as in age, from Scotland to Japan, from Sweden to Australia, testify to the freshness of his films and his legacy. An important book on a major figure in British cinema. * Charles Barr, Emeritus Professor, University of East Anglia *More details
Series
Language
English
Place of publication
Edinburgh
United Kingdom
Target group
Professional and scholarly
Product notice
sewn/stitched
Cloth over boards
Illustrations
9 black and white illustrations
Dimensions
Height: 234 mm
Width: 156 mm
Thickness: 14 mm
Weight
513 gr
ISBN-13
978-1-3995-3705-6 (9781399537056)
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
Person
Will Kitchen taught film, media and cultural industries at the University of Southampton, the University of Chichester and Arts University Bournemouth. He is the author of several books, including Culture, Capital and Carnival: Modern Media and the Representation of Work (2025), Film, Negation and Freedom: Capitalism and Romantic Critique (2023) and Romanticism and Film: Franz Liszt and Audio-Visual Explanation (2020).
Content
Figures
Acknowledgements
Notes on Contributors
Foreword - Erik Hedling
Introduction - Will Kitchen
1. "Usual stimulating awful marvellous Northern urban landscape": Authorship, Poetry & Placemaking in Lindsay Anderson's 1960s Filmography - Jonny Smith
2. The White Bus and Townscape - Kevin M. Flanagan
3. "A poetic version of a News of the World story": Gender, Realism and Single Motherhood in This Sporting Life - Isabelle Kemp
4. Boarding School Stories: A Critical Reflection on Lindsay Anderson's If.... - Adam Locks
5. Ego and Alter Ego: Malcolm McDowell in the Films of Lindsay Anderson - Robert Shail
6. The Angry Young Man Strikes: An Exploration into Lindsay Anderson's Political Satires - Sony Jalarajan Raj and Adith K. Suresh
7. "He's not what people expect a working-class writer to be": Class, Region and Realism in the work of David Storey and Lindsay Anderson - David Forrest
8. In Celebration of a Brilliant Craftsman: The Strange Likeness of Lindsay Anderson, William Wyler and Anthony Asquith - Brian Hoyle
9. "Crass stupidity": The Critics and The Old Crowd - Julian Petley
10. Spine-Chilling Possibilities: Britannia Hospital and British Horror Production - James Leggott
11. Becoming Flesh: Queer Vulnerabilities in Britannia Hospital - Benedict Morrison
12. If You Were There...: The Legacy of Free Cinema - Will Edwards
13. The Popularity of The Whales of August and a Short History of Lindsay Anderson in Japan -Sawako Omori
14. Bette, Lilian and Lindsay - and The Whales of August - Brian McFarlane
Index
Acknowledgements
Notes on Contributors
Foreword - Erik Hedling
Introduction - Will Kitchen
1. "Usual stimulating awful marvellous Northern urban landscape": Authorship, Poetry & Placemaking in Lindsay Anderson's 1960s Filmography - Jonny Smith
2. The White Bus and Townscape - Kevin M. Flanagan
3. "A poetic version of a News of the World story": Gender, Realism and Single Motherhood in This Sporting Life - Isabelle Kemp
4. Boarding School Stories: A Critical Reflection on Lindsay Anderson's If.... - Adam Locks
5. Ego and Alter Ego: Malcolm McDowell in the Films of Lindsay Anderson - Robert Shail
6. The Angry Young Man Strikes: An Exploration into Lindsay Anderson's Political Satires - Sony Jalarajan Raj and Adith K. Suresh
7. "He's not what people expect a working-class writer to be": Class, Region and Realism in the work of David Storey and Lindsay Anderson - David Forrest
8. In Celebration of a Brilliant Craftsman: The Strange Likeness of Lindsay Anderson, William Wyler and Anthony Asquith - Brian Hoyle
9. "Crass stupidity": The Critics and The Old Crowd - Julian Petley
10. Spine-Chilling Possibilities: Britannia Hospital and British Horror Production - James Leggott
11. Becoming Flesh: Queer Vulnerabilities in Britannia Hospital - Benedict Morrison
12. If You Were There...: The Legacy of Free Cinema - Will Edwards
13. The Popularity of The Whales of August and a Short History of Lindsay Anderson in Japan -Sawako Omori
14. Bette, Lilian and Lindsay - and The Whales of August - Brian McFarlane
Index