Where Film Meets Philosophy

Godard, Resnais, and Experiments in Cinematic Thinking

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by Hunter Vaughan

Type

Studies

Subject

History of Cinema

Keywords

philosophy, Alain Resnais, Jean-Luc Godard, phenomenology, semiotics

Publishing date

2013

Publisher

Columbia University Press

Collection

Film and Culture

Language

English

Relative size

Physical desc.

Hardcover • 264 pages
6 x 9 ¼ inches (15 x 23.5 cm)

ISBN

978-0-231-16132-9

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Book Presentation:
Hunter Vaughan interweaves phenomenology and semiotics to analyze cinema's ability to challenge conventional modes of thought. Merging Maurice Merleau-Ponty's phenomenology of perception with Gilles Deleuze's image-philosophy, Vaughan applies a rich theoretical framework to a comparative analysis of Jean-Luc Godard's films, which critique the audio-visual illusion of empirical observation (objectivity), and the cinema of Alain Resnais, in which the sound-image generates innovative portrayals of individual experience (subjectivity). Both filmmakers radically upend conventional film practices and challenge philosophical traditions to alter our understanding of the self, the world, and the relationship between the two. Films discussed in detail include Godard's Vivre sa vie (1962), Contempt (1963), and 2 or 3 Things I Know About Her (1967); and Resnais's Hiroshima, mon amour (1959), Last Year at Marienbad (1961), and The War Is Over (1966). Situating the formative works of these filmmakers within a broader philosophical context, Vaughan pioneers a phenomenological film semiotics linking two disparate methodologies to the mirrored achievements of two seemingly irreconcilable artists.

About the Author:
Hunter Vaughan is assistant professor of English and cinema studies at Oakland University. His scholarly interests include the moving image, philosophy, and the environment.

Press Reviews:
Vaughan's brilliant book places him on the cutting edge of contemporary studies that blend film and philosophy. Reconstructing and clarifying how film-philosophy renders fresh insight into the revolutionary potential of the moving film image, Vaughan opens a new dimension to thought and action. Sam B. Girgus, Vanderbilt University

Where Film Meets Philosophy begs us to think about what we are seeing on the screen and why. Hunter Vaughan compels us to look afresh at Resnais and Godard for the sake of leading film theory in new directions. This book is a rewarding study that brings postwar philosophy into a shared legacy of cinema. Tom Conley, Harvard University

See the publisher website: Columbia University Press