The Cinema of Michael Winterbottom ― Borders, Intimacy, Terror

This comprehensive study of prolific British filmmaker Michael Winterbottom explores the thematic, stylistic, and intellectual consistencies running through his eclectic and controversial body of work. Within an overview of his career, this volume undertakes a close analysis of fifteen of Winterbottom's films ranging from TV dramas to transnational coproductions featuring Hollywood stars, and from documentaries to costume films. This analysis is grounded in a consideration of Winterbottom's collaborative working practices, the political and cultural contexts of the work, and its critical reception. Arguing that Winterbottom's work comprises a 'cinema of borders', it examines its treatment of sexuality, class, ethnicity, national and international politics. The book argues that what is evident in Winterbottom's oeuvre is the search for an adequate means of narrating inequality, injustice, and violence. Drawing out the tensions, contradictions, and border-crossing strategies of these films, The Cinema of Michael Winterbottom highlights the complex political aesthetic that structures the work of this singular director.

Bruce Bennett is Director of Film Studies at Lancaster University. He is coeditor of Cinema and Technology: Cultures, Theories, Practices (2008). Other publications include articles on celebrity culture, photography, Georges Bataille, the cinema of James Cameron and the Hollywood blockbuster, and the war on terror in film and television.