Nonprofessional Film Performance

This book offers a critical account of film performances by nonprofessional actors. Nonprofessional actors actors without previous acting training or experience have performed in films since the days of the Lumière brothers. Generally associated with currents such as Early Soviet Cinema, Italian Neorealism and New Argentine Cinema, nonprofessional actors also feature prominently in the works of celebrated directors including Pier Paolo Pasolini, Robert Bresson and Joanna Hogg. Since the turn of the century and the rise of digital filmmaking, the performances of nonprofessional actors have remained a staple of independent cinemas from all over the world, including films associated with the loose trend often referred to as Slow Cinema. Despite their enduring presence in acclaimed and widely discussed films, nonprofessional actors have received scant scholarly attention. This book proposes to analyse exemplary nonprofessional performances from across the history of cinema as a means of illuminating their significance and celebrating the performers' contributions to the films.

Offers the first comprehensive study of performances by nonprofessional actors in fiction cinema Examines and compares performance in films ranging from early silent cinema to contemporary works Discusses iconic filmmakers such as Sergei Eisenstein, Roberto Rossellini and Pier Paolo Pasolini

Autorentext

Miguel Gaggiotti is a filmmaker and Lecturer in Film and Television at the University of Bristol, UK. His writings on film have been published in Screen, Movie: A Journal of Film Criticism and The Routledge Companion to European Cinema, among others.

Inhalt

1. Introduction.- Part I Historical Perspectives.- 2. Naturshchiki, Types and Non-actors: Nonprofessional Performance in Early Soviet Cinema.- 3. Italian Neorealism and the Nonprofessional Protagonist.- 4. The Corruption of Nonprofessional Performance in Pasolini's Cinema.- Part II Contemporary Approaches.- 5. Misael Saavedra in La libertad: The Work of Gestures.- 6. Lluis Serrat and Lluis Carbó in Honor de Cavalleria: Nonprofessional Performance and the Quixotic.- 7. Honor Swinton Byrne in The Souvenir: Self-Consciousness and Privilege.- 8. Conclusion.