The Musicality of Narrative Film (Palgrave Studies in Audio-Visual Culture) - Hardcover

'In this provocative and ground-breaking study, Kulezic-Wilson considers how film itself can be "musical". This book does not simply highlight the importance of music in film or even the importance of music to filmmakers, but rather demonstrates the centrality of rhythm, gesture, movement, flow, timing and space to the very medium of film, revealing musicality as one of its most important driving forces.' - Miguel Mera, City University London, UK

'The idea that cinema is, in a way, "sort of" like music has been around for quite a while, but Kulezic-Wilson digs more deeply into the art forms' shared qualities than anyone before her. This book is an invitation to experience at least certain films in a whole new way.' - James Wierzbicki, University of Sydney, Australia

Film is often compared to music, explained by the use of musical terms and even conceived and structured using music as a model. The Musicality of Narrative Film is the first book to offer an in-depth examination of the film/music analogy through comparative analysis of both arts' common denominators: time, rhythm and movement. Drawing on a number of examples from contemporary art-house and mainstream cinema, Kulezic-Wilson argues that film's musical potential can be realized through various cinematic devices, with or without music. The book's final section contains detailed case studies of Darren Aronofsky's π, Jim Jarmusch's Dead Man and Joe Wright's Anna Karenina, which demonstrate how various factors contribute to achieving the effect of musicality in a large-scale form and how contrasting approaches to film time, rhythm and movement can create very different examples of film musicality.