{"product_id":"9781421408392","title":"Music in the Shadows: Noir Musical Films","description":"\u003cp\u003eSmoke. Shadows. Moody strains of jazz. Welcome to the world of \"noir musical\" films, where tormented antiheroes and hard-boiled musicians battle obsession and struggle with their music and ill-fated love triangles. Sultry divas dance and sing the blues in shrouded nightclubs. Romantic intrigue clashes with backstage careers. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eIn her pioneering study, \u003ci\u003eMusic in the Shadows\u003c\/i\u003e, film noir expert Sheri Chinen Biesen explores musical films that use film noir style and bluesy strains of jazz to inhabit a disturbing underworld and reveal the dark side of fame and the American Dream. While noir musical films like \u003ci\u003eA Star Is Born\u003c\/i\u003e include musical performances, their bleak tone and expressionistic aesthetic more closely resemble the visual style of film noir. Their narratives unfold behind a stark noir lens: distorted, erratic angles and imbalanced hand-held shots allow the audience to experience a tortured, disillusioned perspective.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eWhile many musicals glamorize the quest for the spotlight in Hollywood's star factory, brooding noir musical films such as \u003ci\u003eBlues in the Night, Gilda, The Red Shoes, West Side Story,\u003c\/i\u003e and \u003ci\u003eRound Midnight\u003c\/i\u003e stretch the boundaries of film noir and the musical as film genres collide. Deep shadows, dim lighting, and visual composition evoke moodiness, cynicism, pessimism, and subjective psychological points of view.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eAs in her earlier study of film noir, \u003ci\u003eBlackout: World War II and the Origins of Film Noir,\u003c\/i\u003e Biesen draws on extensive primary research in studio archives to situate her examination within a historical, industrial, and cultural context.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Johns Hopkins University Press","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47121932419312,"sku":"9781421408392","price":24.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0737\/7593\/9824\/files\/9781421408392_p0.jpg?v=1763739767","url":"https:\/\/shop-qa.barnesandnoble.com\/products\/9781421408392","provider":"Barnes \u0026 Noble (DEV)","version":"1.0","type":"link"}