Claude Chabrol's Aesthetics of Opacity

Catherine Dousteyssier-Khoze

Published by Edinburgh University Press 2017

Claude Chabrol's Aesthetics of Opacity

Catherine Dousteyssier-Khoze

https://doi.org/10.1515/9780748692613

Overview
Contents

About this book

The first critical appraisal of Chabrol's œuvre as a whole (from 1958 to 2009)

Claude Chabrol's cinema is generally associated with a specific type of psychological thriller, one set in the French provinces and fascinated with murder, incest, fragmented families, unstable spaces and inscrutable female characters. But Chabrol's films are both deceptively accessible and deeply reflexive, and in this innovative reappraisal of his filmography Catherine Dousteyssier-Khoze explores the Chabrol who was influenced by Balzac, Magritte and Stanley Kubrick. Bringing to the fore Chabrol’s ‘aesthetic of opacity’, the book deconstructs the apparent clarity and comfort of his chosen genre, encouraging the viewer to reflect on the relationship between illusion and reality, and the status of the film image itself.

Key features

Uncovers new influences on Chabrol, including Balzac, Magritte and Kubrick
Offers original insights into Chabrol’s most famous film, Le Boucher
Analyses some of Chabrol’s latest, little studied films (La Fleur du mal, La Demoiselle d’honneur, La Fille coupée en deux and Bellamy)
Engages with Foucault’s concept of heterotopia and Deleuze's ‘crystal-image’
Surveys Chabrol’s influence and legacy on the contemporary French thriller

Topics

Frontmatter Publicly Available Download PDF	i
Contents Publicly Available Download PDF	v
List of Figures Publicly Available Download PDF	vi
Acknowledgements Publicly Available Download PDF	vii
Introduction Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	1
1 Contexts and Influences Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	6
2 Chabrol and Genres Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	43
3 The Human Beast Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	72
4 Family Secrets Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	104
5 Chabrolean Spaces as Heterotopias of Crisis Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	118
6 Through the Looking Glass: Chabrol’s Mirrors and the ‘Crystal-image’ Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	142
Conclusion: Towards an Aesthetics of Visual Opacity Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	161
Filmography Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	166
Bibliography Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	176
Index Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	182

(Deutsch)

Language: English
Publisher: Edinburgh University Press
Audience: College/higher education;
Pages
- Main content: 200
Illustrations
- Other: 10 B/W illustrations
Keywords: Film, Media & Cultural Studies

eBook

Published: December 15, 2017
ISBN: 9780748692613