{"product_id":"virtuoso","title":"Virtuoso","description":"\u003cp\u003eElizabeth Taylor’s electrifying performance in \u003ci\u003eWho’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?\u003c\/i\u003e The milkshake scene in \u003ci\u003eThere Will be Blood.\u003c\/i\u003e Leonardo DiCaprio’s turn as Arnie in \u003ci\u003eWhat’s Eating Gilbert Grape?\u003c\/i\u003e What makes these performances so special? \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eEloquently written and engagingly laid out, Murray Pomerance answers the tough question as to what makes an exceptional, or virtuosic performance. Pomerance intensively explores virtuosic performance in film, ranging from classical works through to contemporary production, and gives serious consideration to structural problems of dramatization and production, actorial methods and tricks, and contingencies that befall performers giving stand-out moments.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eLooking at more than 40 aspects of the virtuosic act, and using an approach based in careful meditation and discursion, \u003ci\u003eVirtuoso \u003c\/i\u003emoves through such themes as showing off, effacement, self-consciousness, performative collapse, spontaneity, acting as dream, acting and femininity, virtuosity and torture, secrecy, improvisation, virtuosic silence, and others; giving special attention to the labors of such figures as Fred Astaire, Johnny Depp, Marlene Dietrich, Basil Rathbone, Christopher Plummer, Leonardo DiCaprio, Alice Brady, Ethel Waters, James Mason, and dozens more.  Numerous scenic virtuosities are examined in depth, from films as far-ranging as \u003ci\u003eSingin’ in the Rain\u003c\/i\u003e and \u003ci\u003eThe Bridge on the River Kwai, \u003c\/i\u003eand \u003ci\u003eMy Man Godfrey\u003c\/i\u003e. As the first book about virtuosity in film performance,\u003ci\u003e Virtuoso\u003c\/i\u003e offers exciting new angles from which to view film both classical and contemporary.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"MediaPlace","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":57317012930942,"sku":"NW9781501350672","price":24.97,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0817\/1379\/1261\/files\/9781501350672.jpg?v=1778687265","url":"https:\/\/mediaplace.com\/products\/virtuoso","provider":"MediaPlace","version":"1.0","type":"link"}