Film and Female Consciousness

Film and Female Consciousness analyses three contemporary films that offer complex and original representations of women's thoughtfulness and individuality: In the Cut (2003), Lost in Translation (2003) and Morvern Callar (2002). Lucy Bolton compares these recent works with well-known and influential films that offer more familiar treatments of female subjectivity: Klute (1971), The Seven Year Itch (1955) and Marnie (1964). Considering each of the older, celebrated films alongside the recent, unconventional works illustrates how contemporary filmmaking techniques and critical practices can work together to create provocative depictions of on-screen female consciousness.

Bolton's approach demonstrates how the encounter between the philosophy of Luce Irigaray and cinema can yield a fuller understanding of the fundamental relationship between film and philosophy. Furthermore, the book explores the implications of this approach for filmmakers and spectators, and suggests Irigarayan models of authorship and spectatorship that reinvigorate the notion of women's cinema.

Demonstrates the importance of Luce Irigaray's writings for understanding the cinematic representation of female interiority and consciousness. Structured around analysis of three carefully matched pairs of films Contributes to the growing body of work on Film and Philosophy, which is a growing area attracting a lot of academic interest. Analysis of modern, respected and well known films as well as popular classics broad appeal to film scholars and more general readers. Focus on female directors topical because of growing interest in women filmmakers (such as Kathryn Bigelow, Andrea Arnold).

Autorentext

Lucy Bolton is Lecturer in Film Studies at Queen Mary University of London, UK. She is the author of numerous articles and book chapters on film philosophy and film stardom, and the co-editor (with Christina Siggers Manson) of Italy on Screen: National Identity and Italian Imaginary (2010).

Inhalt
Acknowledgements
Abbreviations
Introduction
'Frozen in Showcases': Feminist Film Theory and the Abstraction of Woman
The Camera as an Irigarayan Speculum
In the Cut: Self-Endangerment or Subjective Strength?
Lost in Translation: The Potential of Becoming
Morvern Callar: In a Sensory Wonderland
Architects of Beauty and the Crypts of Our Bodies: Implications for Filmmaking and Spectatorship
Concluding Remarks: The Object is Speaking
Bibliography
Filmography
Discography
Notes
Index