Mutated Cinema: The New Aesthetics of Comic Book Film – The Case of the “X-Men” by Bryan Singer
Abstract
Cinema and comics remained in the orbit of mutual interest for most of the 20th century, and the effects of these mutual inspiration varied depending on the prevailing fashions of artistic and technological capabilities. This article aims to outline the historical evolution of film adaptations of comics, for which a pivotal moment came in 2000 with the premiere of Bryan Singer’s adaptation of the X-Men. The film, widely regarded as the symbolic beginning of the “golden” era of comic book film adaptations introduced into this specific film genre new narrative and aesthetic elements, the aftermath of which can be found in almost every contemporary film adaptation of a comic book story. Initiating a veristic trend, that is one that is as close as possible to the graphic and ideological comic book original, into the comic book related cinematography, X-Men prove to be an important point of reference for the analysis of later comic book adaptations, that are closer or more distant mutations of the ideas contained in Singer’s original film.
Keywords:
comics, Bryan Singer, adaptationReferences
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Authors
Tomasz Żaglewskikwartalnik.filmowy@ispan.pl
Adam Mickiewicz University, Poznań Poland
Dr, adiunkt w Instytucie Kulturoznawstwa UAM. Publikował m.in. w „Kulturze Współczesnej”, „Przeglądzie Kulturoznawczym”, „Panoptikum” i „Studiach Kulturoznawczych”. Obecnie zajmuje się teorią komiksu w kontekście współczesnej kultury medialnej i audiowizualnej, czego efektem ma być książka poświęcona filmowym adaptacjom komiksu. Laureat stypendium Fundacji Uniwersytetu im. Adama Mickiewicza w Poznaniu.
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