Genre Study

What is it?

• Genre means type or category
• To study a film as a genre involves grouping together a large body of films according to characteristics that they all share.
• There are two approaches to identify these characteristics; the descriptive approach and the functional approach.

The two approaches

• A descriptive approach to genre study mean simply describing the attributes of a film, such as theme, mood, and setting, and assigning it to a genre on that basis (eg film noir)
• A functional approach means defining the function or purpose of a film and linking it to other films trying to do the same thing (e.g. blockbuster)

Genre study Vs. Auteurism

• There seems to be a contrast between these two approaches
• Genre study is all about thinking what makes a particular film the same as many others, regardless for director
• Auteurism is all about thinking what makes a particular film different from any other according to who directed it.

Why study films according to genre?

1. simplifying and making sense of film (convenience)
2. comparison of particular characteristics of films
3. Tracing and understanding social development. We can see how films develop during years.
4. satisfaction of expectations

Problems with the descriptive approach to genre study

• Boundaries between film genres are fuzzy- some films are hard to categorize. Is Alien a horror or a science fiction film?
• Genres evolve over time. Look at thrillers from the 1930’s and from today. Do they belong together? 

Problems with the functional approach to genre study

• The function of the same film can often be read in different ways
• E.g. invasion of the Body Snatchers, Don Siegel, 1956, USA (written by Daniel Mainwaring)

General problems with genre study

• Who should define genres: film critics, the film industry, or movie- goers?

Criticism of genre study

• The main criticism assigning a genre to every film is artificial and contrived
• Robert Stam: “are they really the construction of analysts?
• Do you agree?

Examples of main genres (according to Tim Dirks)

• Action
• Adventure
• Comedy
• Crime and gangster
• Drama
• Epics/ historical films
• Fantasy
• Horror
• Musicals/ dance
• Science fiction
• War
• Westerns

Examples of sub- genres within the crime and gangster genre

• Buddy cop
• Cops and robbers
• Femme fatales
• Film noir
• Lovers on the run
• Police
• Prison
• Suspense thrillers