The Politics of Nordsploitation takes a transnational approach to exploring Nordic ‘exploitation’ films in their industrial contexts, viewing them as not only political manifestations of domestic considerations but also to position Nordic film cultures in a global context. Incorporating a wide range of films, from international cult classics like They Call Her One Eye (1974), homegrown martial arts films like The Ninja Mission (1984) to contemporary crowd-sourced fan productions like Iron Sky (2012), this volume examines the remarkable diversity of genre-based, commercially and culturally exploitative film production throughout the Nordic countries – emphasized here through the term ‘Nordsploitation’.
This volume provides a historical exposition of largely ignored marginal films and film cultural patterns. It also outlines how influential these films have been in shaping the development of Nordic cinema. The effects are visible in the films of the new millennium as previously marginalized practices now enter the mainstream. With sharp insights and new research, The Politics of Nordsploitation redefines the concept of ‘exploitation’ and its role in small nation cinemas.
Acknowledgements 1. The Politics of Nordsploitation Periodization: Exploitation and Nordic Exploitation Defining Nordsploitation Theories of Exploitation The complexity of Nordsploitation The structure of the book References 2. A Pre-1970s History of Nordic Exploitation Exploitation as art/art as exploitation Documentary images with exploitative elements The Absence of Exploitation Conclusion References 3. Exploitative Violence and Pornography in the 1970s Conclusion References 4. Moral Panic, VHS Censorship, and Counterforces Fan Cultures 1980-1999 The Video Violence Moral Panic in Sweden Moral Panic within the Hour A Twenty-Year Long Aftermath VHS censorship in the bigger picture: extremes and counterforces Conclusion References 5. The local and the transnational in Nordic exploitation cinema of the 1980s The Viking Trilogy: Exploiting cultural history through genre film Nordic emulations of blockbusters The Visitors Visa Mäkinen and exploitation cinema from the margins Exploitation cinema goes mainstream Global Exploitation: Artic Heat (aka Born American) Conclusions References 6. The Entertainment Violence Factory: Mats Helge Olsson’s Action Films of the 1980s The Beginnings: Working within the Swedish Film Industry as an Outsider The Entertainment Violence Factory: The Ninja Mission and the Marketplace for Nordic Exploitation At Work: Production and Exploitative Themes Genre aspirations Olsson’s stars Conclusion References 7. The Rise of Transnational Exploitation in the 1990s-2000s Nordic exploitation in the 1990s: film genres in transition Going Excessive: Nazi Zombies from Norwegian mountains The 1990s to 2010s: film cultures in transition Artistic exploitation Conclusions References 8. Fanchising and Crowdfunding: Nordic Nazisploitation in the digital media environment of the 2000s The Nazi on film Nordic Nazisploitation: Dead Snow Comic Nazis: Iron Sky Carving space for neo-Nazisploitation Social media and Dead Snow Balancing ideologies Ideology strikes back Conclusion: the Fanchise References 9. Kung Fu cops and killer bunnies: proximity and distance strategies in Nordic exploitation film, 2000-2019 Contemporary patterns Policy incentives: the Nordic genre support programmes Going lo-fi Flirting with the mainstream Killer bunnies on the loose Conclusion References 10. Conclusion: beyond the art house References Index
Pietari Kääpä is Associate Professor in Media and Communications at University of Warwick, UK. His work combines ecocritical analysis with media industry and policy studies. His books include Ecology and Contemporary Nordic Cinema (Bloomsbury 2014) and the anthology Transnational Ecocinema: Film Culture in an Age of Environmental Depravation (2013), co-edited with Tommy Gustafsson. He is an editor of Journal of Scandinavian Cinema. Tommy Gustafsson is Professor of Film Studies at Linnaeus University, Sweden. His work is mainly concentrated on film history, both international and Nordic. He has been published in Cinema Journal and Journal of Scandinavian Cinema, and his books include Masculinity in the Golden Age of Swedish Cinema: A Cultural Analysis of 1920s Films (2014), and the anthology Nordic Genre Film: Small Nation Film Cultures in the Global Marketplace (2015) co-edited with Pietari Kääpä.
Reviews for The Politics of Nordsploitation: History, Industry, Audiences
This is an accessible book for a wide range of readers (including undergraduate students) interested in film and cultural studies, and its commentary on the intricacies of moral politics in Nordic countries is definitely a contribution beyond exploitation or Nordic film studies. * Scandinavian Studies * This book fills a clear gap in the scholarship, and does so very well. The Politics of Nordsploitation: History, Industry, Audiences examines exploitation in a Nordic context, arguing that, because of local societal, political, and economic norms, the exploitation cinema of these countries 'both shares and challenges normative modes of exploitation....' The primary difference has to do with cultural attitudes toward sex, which is viewed as relatively unproblematic in Scandinavia, versus violence, which has been rigorously censored, and this volume consequently excludes sexploitation while focusing on violence and gore as the primary subject of censorship debates in the Nordic region. Distinguishing between two principle modes, local genre production and global exploitation, the book covers a wide range of films and topics, from Mats Helge Olsson's 'Entertainment Violence Factory' of the 1980s to Nordic Nazisploitation, from the Norwegian slasher cycle to transnational genre films, to an era of 'fanchising' and crowdfunding that produced hits such as Iron Sky. The Politics of Nordsploitation is therefore an essential volume for Bloomsbury's Global Exploitation Cinemas series. * Linda Badley, Professor of English and Film Studies at Middle Tennessee State University, USA, and author of Film, Horror, and the Body Fantastic (1995) and Lars von Trier (2010 *
