Existentialism and Contemporary Cinema: A Sartrean Perspective

Published by Berghahn Books 2011

Existentialism and Contemporary Cinema

A Sartrean Perspective

Edited by: Jean-Pierre Boulé and Enda McCaffrey

https://doi.org/10.1515/9780857453211

Overview
Contents

About this book

At the heart of this volume is the assertion that Sartrean existentialism, most prominent in the 1940s, particularly in France, is still relevant as a way of interpreting the world today. Film, by reflecting philosophical concerns in the actions and choices of characters, continues and extends a tradition in which art exemplifies the understanding of existentialist philosophy. In a scholarly yet accessible style, the contributors exploit the rich interplay between Sartre’s philosophy, plays and novels, and a number of contemporary films including No Country for Old Men, Lost in Translation and The Truman Show, with film-makers including the Dardenne brothers, Michael Haneke, and Mike Leigh. This volume will be of interest to students who are coming to Sartre’s work for the first time and to those who would like to read films within an existentialist perspective.

Author / Editor information

Jean-Pierre Boulé is Professor of Contemporary French Studies at Nottingham Trent University and the author of a number of books, notably on Sartre, including Sartre médiatique (1992) and Sartre, Self-Formation and Masculinities (2005). He is the co-founder of the U.K. Sartre Society and executive editor of Sartre Studies International. He is coediting with Benedict O’Donohoe, Jean-Paul Sartre: Mind and Body, Word and Deed (2011) and preparing with Ursula Tidd a companion volume, Existentialism and Contemporary Cinema. A Beauvoirian Perspective (2013).

Enda McCaffrey is Professor of French Theory and Culture at Nottingham Trent University. He is the author of a number of books including The Gay Republic: Sexuality, Citizenship and Subversion in France (2005) and The Return of Religion in France: From Democratisation to Postmetaphysics (2009). He is has recently completed a new monograph entitled Bodies Without Organs: French Theory and Homosexuality (2015)

Jean-Pierre Boulé is Professor of Contemporary French Studies at Nottingham Trent University and the author of a number of books, notably on Sartre, including Sartre médiatique (1992) and Sartre, Self-Formation and Masculinities (2005). He is the co-founder of the U.K. Sartre Society and executive editor of Sartre Studies International. He is coediting with Benedict O’Donohoe, Jean-Paul Sartre: Mind and Body, Word and Deed (2011) and preparing with Ursula Tidd a companion volume, Existentialism and Contemporary Cinema. A Beauvoirian Perspective (2013).

Reviews

“One of the strengths of the volume overall is the breadth of approaches to and applications of Sartrean thinking, from the personal and political to the atheistic and artistic. There is also a refreshing selection of films under consideration…their edited collection is very welcome evidence in support of the proposition that thinking about Sartre and film together can produce stimulating and insightful film philosophy.” · Journal of Contemporary European Studies

“As someone who teaches both French cinema and existentialism courses, I would expect students of existentialism in particular to be enthusiastic about discussing this intersection of familiar concepts and such recent films. The essays are thoughtful, informed and illuminating. While some of the interpretations of the philosophy, and at times of Sartre’s imaginative texts, may be unorthodox, students and scholars will find much here with which to reflect and engage. Collectively, they certainly demonstrate the richness of an existentialist interrogation of meaning and purposefulness of action in the world, and the extent to which contemporary cinema continues to prove fertile material for philosophical enquiry.” · H-France

"All of the essays here are fine pieces in their own right, and the collection certainly succeeds in its aim of showing the relevance of Sartre for the study of contemporary cinema. It whets the appetite for a more systematic consideration of what a Sartrean approach to cinema might be" · Modern & Contemporary France

“[This volume] will provide a useful tool, in particular for students seeking to learn about Sartre and existentialism but also for students exploring the application of philosophy to the understanding of cinema.” · Douglas Morrey, University of Warwick

Topics

Frontmatter Publicly Available Download PDF	i
CONTENTS Publicly Available Download PDF	v
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Publicly Available Download PDF	vii
INTRODUCTION Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	1
PART I THE CALL TO FREEDOM
1 PETER WEIR’S THE TRUMAN SHOW AND SARTREAN FREEDOM Christopher Falzon Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	17
2 MICHAEL HANEKE AND THE CONSEQUENCES OF RADICAL FREEDOM Kevin L. Stoehr Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	33
3 NAKED, BAD FAITH AND MASCULINITY Mark Stanton Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	47
4 PURSUITS OF TRANSCENDENCE IN THE MAN WHO WASN’T THERE Tom Martin Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	63
5 LORNA’S SILENCE: SARTRE AND THE DARDENNE BROTHERS Sarah Cooper Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	79
PART II FILMS OF SITUATION
6 BEING – LOST IN TRANSLATION Michelle R. Darnell Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	95
7 IF I SHOULD WAKE BEFORE I DIE: EXISTENTIALISM AS A POLITICAL CALL TO ARMS IN THE CRYING GAME Tracey Nicholls Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	111
8 CRIMES OF PASSION, FREEDOM AND A CLASH OF SARTREAN MORALITIES IN THE COEN BROTHERS’ NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN Enda McCaffrey Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	125
9 ‘AN ACT OF CONFIDENCE IN THE FREEDOM OF MEN’: JEAN-PAUL SARTRE AND OUSMANE SEMBENE Patrick Williams Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	143
10 CÉDRIC KLAPISCH’S THE SPANISH APARTMENT AND RUSSIAN DOLLS IN NAUSEA’S MIRROR Jean-Pierre Boulé Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	157
11 BAZ LUHRMANN’S WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE’S ROMEO + JULIET: THE NAUSEOUS ART OF ADAPTATION Alistair Rolls Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	175
NOTES ON CONTRIBUTORS Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	191
INDEX Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	193

Language: English
Publisher: Berghahn Books
Audience: Professional and scholarly;
Pages
- Main content: 224
Keywords: Film and Television Studies

eBook

Published: October 1, 2011
ISBN: 9780857453211