Overview

Modern European cinema and love examines nine European directors working from the 1950s onwards whose films contain stories about and reflections on romantic love and marriage. The directors are Ingmar Bergman, Alain Resnais, Michelangelo Antonioni, Agnes Varda, Francois Truffaut, Federico Fellini, Jean-Luc Godard and Eric Rohmer. There is also an opening chapter on Jean Renoir. The book approaches questions of love and marriage from a philosophical perspective, applying the ideas of authors such as Stanley Cavell, Leo Bersani, Luce Irigaray and Alain Badiou, while also tracing key concepts from Freudian psychoanalysis. Each of the filmmakers discussed engages deeply with notions of modern love and marriage, often in positive ways, but also in ways that question the institutions of love, marriage and the 'couple'.

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9781526191229

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Reviews

'Modern European Cinema and Love takes Cavell’s notions about love, along with modern marriage, as the impetus for a study on love, desire, alienation and narcissism in 20th- century European film.' Screen 'After beautifully illustrating an enriching interrogation on remarriage and modern heterosexual relations of European cinema, Rushton leads readers towards further reflections on feminism and queer love.' French Studies ‘In this thoughtful and persuasive book, Richard Rushton focuses on how European cinema from the 1960s onwards has grappled with the problem of other minds by representing the thoroughly modern marriage. Rushton draws on Stanley Cavell’s work on comedies of remarriage to show how the heterosexual couple in crisis is a dominant feature of European cinema too. He thus offers a new perspective on debates about the relationship between European and Hollywood cinema, in a framework that emphasises how both filmmaking cultures work through the impact of changing gender relations and the new subjectivities they forge.’ Fiona Handyside, Associate Professor in Film Studies, University of Exeter ‘In a refreshingly clear-sighted reconsideration of some cornerstone films of European art cinema, Richard Rushton demonstrates arresting connections with the classical Hollywood romantic comedy. Reading the cycles side by side, by way of philosophical theories of love, marriage and subjectivity, he opens up new perspectives on both as well as on that most enduringly ubiquitous axis of social organisation and human meaning, the romantic relationship itself. Remaining admirably accessible throughout, this is a book for lovers of cinema and lovers tout court alike.’ Mary Harrod , Associate Professor of Film Studies, University of Warwick 'Rushton’s brilliant move is to take such difficult matters as love, romance and coupling as seriously as European New Wave cinema did. In doing so, he not only provides rich new readings of well-loved films but also shakes loose the supposed ideological coherence of those New Waves.' Kyle Stevens, Associate Professor of English, Appalachian State University -- .

Author Information

Richard Rushton is Professor in Film Studies at Lancaster University.

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