A comprehensive overview of the director Jane Campion and her work.

Campion is one of the few women film-makers working today who has managed to create a unique body of work. A true independent film-maker, she has attracted many ‘A’ List Hollywood actors to appear in her films.

Who else but Campion could have convinced a tattooed Harvey Keitel to run buck-naked through the New Zealand landscape in The Piano, or for the multi award-winning Kate Winslet to pee down her legs in the middle of the desert in Holy Smoke?

Campion is also an outspoken champion in recent debates about the lack of women in senior creative positions within the film industry.

This book covers Jane Campion’s remarkable career from her Palme d’Or winning debut short film Peel to her recent return to television with the Top of the Lake series, reflecting on the influence of her study in anthropology as well as her formative years growing up in New Zealand.

Reviews

“Ellen Cheshire’s rich and thoughtful study accessibly and incisively gets us to the heart of why Jane Campion’s films connect with viewers around the world. This book is hugely enjoyable and insightful.” — James Clarke, Writer, Media Labs, what you need to know.

“I've been fascinated with Jane Campion's career ever since I saw “The Piano” make its debut at the movie theater. Ellen Cheshire did a very good job in detailing the gifted Campion's “brilliant career…” ****-— Diane H, NetGalley

«The strength of the book for me is the critical analysis from early short films to box office successes, ranging from the actors involved and the awards gained. I particularly like the appraisal of mood, colour, camera angles and locations which brings the movies alive again for me. A bit like those special box sets and DVDs that carried extra edited bits and alternative scenes/endings.» **** — Richard L, Net Galley

About the author

Ellen Cheshire has a BA (Hons) in Film and English and a MA in Gothic Studies and has taught Film at Undergraduate and A Level.
She has published books on Bio-Pics, Audrey Hepburn and The Coen Brothers and contributed chapters to books on James Bond, Charlie Chaplin, Global Film-making, Film Form, Fantasy Films and War Movies.

For Supernova Books, she has also written In the Scene: Ang Lee, and contributed to Silent Women; pioneers of Cinema eds. Melody Bridges and Cheryl Robson (voted best book on Silent Film 2016) and Counterculture UK; a celebration eds. Rebecca Gillieron and Cheryl Robson.

Biography & Autobiography