Presents an overview of the literature on film costume together with a series of detailed case studies that highlight how costume is a key signifier in film. The author demonstrates how costume relates in fundamental ways to the study of film narrative and mise-en-scene through the study of such popular films as The Matrix and The Talented Mr Ripley. Presents an overview of the literature on film costume together with a series of detailed case studies that highlight how costume is a key signifier in film, arguing for a more sophisticated reading of cinematic fashions. The author demonstrates how costume relates in fundamental ways to the study of film narrative and mise-en-scene, in some case constituting a language of its own. In particular the book foregrounds the issues of adaptation and embodiment in a variety of genres through analysis of such popular films as The Matrix and The Talented Mr Ripley.

Author Biography

Sarah Street is a Senior Lecturer at the Dept of Drama, University of Bristol. She is the author of British National Cinema (Routledge, 1997) and British Cinema in Documents (Routledge, 2000)