Shoe Reels: The History and Philosophy of Footwear in Film

Elizabeth Ezra; Catherine Wheatley

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Edinburgh University Press

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Shoe Reels

The History and Philosophy of Footwear in Film

and

Language: English

Published/Copyright: 2021

About this book

In his famous interpretation of Vincent Van Gogh’s painting A Pair of Peasant’s Shoes (1886), Heidegger argues that shoes tell us all we need to know about the world of the person who walks in them. In the case of Van Gogh’s painting, we learn this not through a description of the pair of shoes, nor by a report on how to make shoes, but by looking at the shoes. Heidegger thus gestures towards the power of the visual arts to show us human truths through images of footwear and the feet they conceal or reveal, a power that finds its fullest expression in the cinema. From Chaplin’s meal of boots (The Gold Rush, 1925), through Powell and Pressburger’s Red Shoes (1948) and Dorothy’s ruby slippers (The Wizard of Oz, 1939), to Julia Roberts’ pvc thigh-highs (Pretty Woman, 1990), Marty McFly’s power-lacing Nikes (Back to the Future, 1985) and the slim, spike-heeled stiletto that graces the poster for The Devil Wears Prada (2006), shoes are not only some of the cinema’s most enduring icons; they also serve as characterisations, plot devices, soundtracks, metaphors and philosophical touchpoints. This book anaylses their significnace through a range of approaches drawn from the fields of Film Studies, Philosophy, Cultural History, Fashion, Cultural Studies and Politics.

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Frontmatter
i

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Contents
v

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Figures
vii

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Acknowledgements
ix

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Notes on contributors
x

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Foreword by the series editor
xiv

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Introduction: foot notes
1
Elizabeth Ezra and Catherine Wheatley

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Chapter 1 Max’s stylish shoes
18
Margaret C. Flinn

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Chapter 2 A girl and a shoe: Marcel Fabre’s Amor pedestre
26
Malgorzata Bugaj

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Chapter 3 ‘An intensive study of – feet!’ in two films by Lois Weber: Shoes and The Blot
38
Pamela Hutchinson

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Chapter 4 Magic shoes: Dorothy, Cinderella, Carrie
49
Elizabeth Ezra

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Chapter 5 The ruby slippers at the V&A: an odyssey
62
Keith Lodwick

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Chapter 6 Blood-red shoes?
68
Ian Christie

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Chapter 7 The two textures of invisibility: shoes as liminal questionings in Sullivan’s Travels
78
Kelli Fuery

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Chapter 8 How to see through a shoe: the fashion show sequence in How to Marry a Millionaire
94
Ana Salzberg

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Chapter 9 Frenetic footwear and lively lace-ups: the spectacle of shoes in Golden Age Hollywood animation
103
Christopher Holliday

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Chapter 10 Ferragamo’s shoes: from silent cinema to the present
125
Eugenia Paulicelli

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Chapter 11 Feet of strength: the sword-and- sandals film
136
Robert A. Rushing

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Chapter 12 Men in boots: on spectacular masculinity and its desublimation
148
Louise Wallenberg

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Chapter 13 ‘The brunette with the legs’: the significance of footwear in Marnie
166
Lucy Bolton

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Chapter 14 The sole of Africa: shoes in three African films
180
Rachael Langford

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Chapter 15 Slippers and heels: In the Mood for Love and sartorial investigation
198
Tyler Parks

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Chapter 16 Sex, corruption and killer heels: footwear in the Korean corporate crime drama
213
Kate Taylor-Jones

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Chapter 17 It’s gotta be the shoes: Nike in the Spike-o-sphere
229
Jeff Scheible

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Chapter 18 ‘Nice shoes’: Will Smith, mid-2000s (post) racial discourse and the symbolic significance of shoes in I, Robot and The Pursuit of Happyness
248
Hannah Hamad

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Chapter 19 ‘Whoa! Look at all her Louboutins!’ Girlhood and shoes in the films of Sofia Coppola
261
Fiona Handyside

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Chapter 20 Isabelle’s espadrilles, or, les chaussures d’Huppert
279
Catherine Wheatley

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Index
293

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Publishing information

Pages and Images/Illustrations in book

eBook published on:

April 5, 2022

eBook ISBN:

9781474451420

Pages and Images/Illustrations in book

Main content:

320

https://doi.org/10.1515/9781474451420

eBook ISBN: 9781474451420

Keywords for this book

Film; Media & Cultural Studies

Audience(s) for this book

For universities and colleges of further and higher education

Edinburgh University Press

Shoe Reels

Overview

About this book

Topics

Table of contents

Frontmatter

Contents

Figures

Acknowledgements

Notes on contributors

Foreword by the series editor

Introduction: foot notes

Chapter 1 Max’s stylish shoes

Chapter 2 A girl and a shoe: Marcel Fabre’s Amor pedestre

Chapter 3 ‘An intensive study of – feet!’ in two films by Lois Weber: Shoes and The Blot

Chapter 4 Magic shoes: Dorothy, Cinderella, Carrie

Chapter 5 The ruby slippers at the V&A: an odyssey

Chapter 6 Blood-red shoes?

Chapter 7 The two textures of invisibility: shoes as liminal questionings in Sullivan’s Travels

Chapter 8 How to see through a shoe: the fashion show sequence in How to Marry a Millionaire

Chapter 9 Frenetic footwear and lively lace-ups: the spectacle of shoes in Golden Age Hollywood animation

Chapter 10 Ferragamo’s shoes: from silent cinema to the present

Chapter 11 Feet of strength: the sword-and- sandals film

Chapter 12 Men in boots: on spectacular masculinity and its desublimation

Chapter 13 ‘The brunette with the legs’: the significance of footwear in Marnie

Chapter 14 The sole of Africa: shoes in three African films

Chapter 15 Slippers and heels: In the Mood for Love and sartorial investigation

Chapter 16 Sex, corruption and killer heels: footwear in the Korean corporate crime drama

Chapter 17 It’s gotta be the shoes: Nike in the Spike-o-sphere

Chapter 18 ‘Nice shoes’: Will Smith, mid-2000s (post) racial discourse and the symbolic significance of shoes in I, Robot and The Pursuit of Happyness

Chapter 19 ‘Whoa! Look at all her Louboutins!’ Girlhood and shoes in the films of Sofia Coppola

Chapter 20 Isabelle’s espadrilles, or, les chaussures d’Huppert

Index

Bibliographic data