David Bowie and Film: Hooked to the Silver Screen

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1. Sound and Vision: Introduction.-
2. Ziggy Played Guitar: Bowie as Concert Performer.-
3. Loving the Alien: Bowie as Star(man).-
4. Cracked Actor: Bowie Goes to War.-
5. Scary Monsters (and Super Creeps): Bowie does Fantasy.-
6. Man of Words, Man of Music: Bowie does Musicals.-
7. Chameleon, Comedian, Corinthian, Caricature: Bowie does Genres.-
8. Watch That Man: Bowie does Biopics.-
9. How the Others Must See the Faker: Bowie as Biopic.-
10. A Crash Course for the Ravers: Conclusion.

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This book constitutes the first monograph dedicated to an academic analysis of David Bowie’s appearances in film. Through close textual analysis together with production and reception histories, Bowie’s ‘silver screen’ career is explored in full. The book covers performance documentaries such as Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars, star vehicles ranging from the eulogised The Man Who Fell to Earth to the excoriated Just a Gigolo, plus roles from the horror chic of The Hunger and cult fantasy of Labyrinth to the valiant high-brow Baal and vainglorious high-budget Absolute Beginners, ending with Bowie as Bowie in Bandslam and others as ‘Bowie’ in Velvet Goldmine and Stardust. Alongside showing his willingness to experiment (and at times fail) across a variety of genres, this study investigates Bowie’s performative style that, while struggling to accommodate the requirements of cinematic realism, fits more harmoniously with alternative production codes and aesthetics. More broadly, by exploring the commercial, socio-cultural and ideological significance of Bowie on film, the book demonstrates how notions of gender, sexuality and identity formation, plus commodity and cultural capital, function and fluctuate in contemporary society.

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