The Cinema of Hockey: Four Decades of the Game on Screen

by Iri Cermak

Overview

Ice hockey has featured in North American films since the early days. Hockey's sizable cinematic repertoire explores different views of the sport, including the role of aggression, the business of sports, race and gender, and the role of women in the game. This critical study focuses on hockey themes in more than 50 films and television movies from the U.S. and Canada spanning several decades. Depictions of historical games are discussed, including the 1980 "Miracle on Ice" and the 1972 Summit Series. National myths that inform ideas of the hockey player are examined. Production techniques that enhance hockey as on-screen spectacle are covered.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781476626963
Publisher:	McFarland & Company, Incorporated Publishers
Publication date:	02/02/2017
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	344
File size:	9 MB
Age Range:	18 Years

About the Author

Iri Cermak is a media studies researcher. Her prior work has included hockey in United States and Canadian Olympic television broadcasts and documentary film. She lives in Panama.
Iri Cermak is a media studies researcher. Her prior work has included hockey in United States and Canadian Olympic television broadcasts and documentary film. She lives in Panama.

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments
Preface
Introduction
Why Study Hockey as a Repertoire?
Hockey, Masculinity Archetypes and North American Scripts of Nationhood
Cultural Archetypes and the Quandaries of Depicting Hockey in Film
Approaching the Hockey Lineup in This Book
1. Critiques of Hockey as Aggressive Muscularity
Bully Hockey in Canadian Film: Paperback Hero, The Last Season and Gross Misconduct
Bully Hockey in Hollywood Film: Ice Castles, Love Story, The Deadliest Season and Youngblood
2. Spoofs of Aggressive Muscularity: The Pleasures of Sporting Excess
The ­Bully-Clown in Hollywood Film: Slap Shot, Happy Gilmore, Tooth Fairy and Just Friends
The ­Bully-Clown in Canadian Film: Score: A Hockey Musical, Goon,
Keep Your Head Up, Kid: The Don Cherry Story and Wrath of Grapes:
The Don Cherry Story II
3. Critiques of the Business of Hockey
The System Against the Athlete: Face Off (Winter Comes Early)
Hockey in Crisis: Net Worth and Sudden Death
The Hockey Protagonist on the Frontier: Mystery, Alaska
The Disillusioned Protagonist: No Sleep ’til Madison and Slap Shot 2: Breaking the Ice
4. Hockey and Family Entertainment
Disney’s Vision of Hockey: The Mighty Ducks, D2: The Mighty Ducks, D3:
The Mighty Ducks, ­H-E-Double Hockey Sticks and Den Brother
Hockey in Canadian Family Fare: Ronnie and Julie, MVP: Most Valuable Primate, Slap Shot 3: The Junior League and Sticks and Stones
5. Hockey, Masculinity and Nationhood in Quebec Cinema
Quebec and the Montreal Canadians: The Mystery of the Million Dollar Hockey Puck and The Sweater
Les Boys I, II, III, IV: Hockey, Identity and Commercial Success
Il était une fois les Boys: Les Boys and the Family Genre
Quebec’s Hockey Icon and the Nation: Maurice Richard/The Rocket
Mending Canada’s Cultural Divide: Bon Cop, Bad Cop
6. Hockey Biopics and the Nation
The Memory Work of Allegiance: ABC’s Miracle on Ice and Disney’s Miracle
Negotiating the Nation: Canada Russia ’72
Coaching and Honing Character: The Hounds of Notre Dame,
Keep Your Head Up, Kid/Wrath of Grapes and Waking Up Wally:
The Walter Gretzky Story
7. Hockey, Race and Sexuality
Ethnicity and the Hockey Protagonist: The Love Guru and Breakaway/
The Speedy Singhs
Sexuality and the Hockey Protagonist: Perfectly Normal, Breakfast with Scot, Grown Up Movie Star and The Sheldon Kennedy Story
8. The Women’s Game
Forging a Path for Women in the Game? Hockey Night, Ice Angel, Go Figure, Chicks with Sticks, National Lampoon’s Pucked and Les Pee Wee 3D:
L’hiver qui a changé ma vie
9. The Hockey Spectacle in Film
The Grammar of Hockey in Film
Goal-Orientation
Toughness
The (Lesser) Role of Goaltending
The Dream and the Work Ethic
The Use of Archival Footage
Overview
Conclusion
Filmography
Chapter Notes
Bibliography
Index

Editorial Reviews

Employing a close textual analysis of hockey film scripts and a wide range of scholarly sources that include media, film, and literature studies, The Cinema of Hockey offers itself as the first cultural analysis and history of hockey on film....  [It presents] a well-structured analysis with new research on hockey cinema and the many interpretive themes these films present to viewers.”—Sport in American History

From the Publisher