This two-volume set presents detailed interpretations of singular performances by several of the most compelling actors in cinema history, asking in many different and complementary ways what makes performance meaningful, how it reflects a director's style, as well as how it contributes to the development of national cinemas and cultures. Whether noting the precise ways actors shape film narrative, achieve emotional effect, or move toward political subversion, the essays in these books innovate new approaches to studying screen performance as an art form and cultural force.

This second volume focuses on international cinema, and includes case studies of key performances from actors like Ingrid Bergman, Gael Garcia Bernal, Nikolai Cherkassov, Alec Guinness, Setsuko Hara, Isabelle Huppert, Peter Lorre, Madhubala, Anna Magnani, Toshirô Mifune, and Choi Min Sik, amongst many others.

Contributors: Ulka Anjaria (Brandeis University), Janet Bergstrom (UCLA), Hye Seung Chung (Colorado State University), Corey K. Creekmur (University of Iowa), Adrian Danks (RMIT University, Melbourne), Nick Davis (Northwestern University), David Desser (University of Illinois), David Scott Diffrient (Colorado State University), Victoria Duckett (Deakin University, Melbourne), Jason Jacobs (University of Queensland), Alexia Kannas (RMIT University, Melbourne), Marcia Landy (University of Pittsburgh), Gina Marchetti (Independent Scholar), Douglas McFarland (Flagler College, Saint Augustine), Adrienne L. McLean (University of Texas at Dallas), Jerry Mosher (California State University, Long Beach), Karla Oeler (Stanford University), R. Barton Palmer (Clemson University), Homer B. Pettey (University of Arizona), Murray Pomerance (Ryerson University), Sergio Rigoletto (University of Oregon), Kyle Stevens (Appalachian State University), Aaron Taylor (University of Lethbridge), Alison Taylor (Bond University, Queensland), Dolores Tierney (University of Sussex), Noah Tsika (Queens College, City University of New York), Timotheus Vermeulen (University of Oslo)