Overview

Making a compelling argument for the continuing relevance of Brechtian film theory and cinema, this book offers new research and analysis of Brecht the film and media theorist, placing his scattered writings on the subject within the lively film theory debates that took place in Europe between the 1920s1960s. Furthermore, Angelos Koutsourakis identifies key points of convergence between Brecht's 'unfinished project' and contemporary film and media theory. With case studies of films ranging from Robert Roberto Rossellini's Pais to Bernardo Bertolucci's 1900 and Joshua Oppenheimer's The Act of Killing amongst others, this study challenges many existing preconceptions about Brecht's theoretical position and invites readers to discover new ways of apprehending and making use of Brecht in film studies.

Full Product Details

Author:   Angelos Koutsourakis (Associate Professor in Film and Cultural Studies, University of Leeds)
Publisher:   Edinburgh University Press
Imprint:   Edinburgh University Press
Weight:   0.418kg
ISBN:  

9781474474658

ISBN 10:   1474474659
Pages:   272
Publication Date:   25 August 2020
Audience:   Professional and scholarly ,  Professional & Vocational
Format:   Paperback
Publisher's Status:   Active
Availability:   Manufactured on demand  
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Table of Contents

Acknowledgements Introduction Part 1: Brechtian Film Theory Chapter 1: Key Concepts The Dialectic The Individual as a Nexus The Gestic Principle: Between Brecht, Eisenstein, and Deleuze Gestus and Cultural Techniques ‘Humour is a Sense of Distance’ Chapter 2: Photography and Film The Photographic Image The Apparatus and the Agency of the Machine Chapter 3: Modernism as Realism Brecht, Bazin, and Lukács On Sound/Music Some Thoughts on Brecht and Genre Chapter 4: Brecht in Film Theory From Close Up to the Grand Theory Noël Burch The Cognitivist Critique Rancière and the post-Brechtian Part 2: Brechtian Cinema The Revisionist History Film Chapter 5: Re-visioning History Defining the Revisionist History Film Totality is history: Szegénylegények (The Round-Up, 1966) and Allonsanfàn (1974) Chapter 6: Revisiting National Traumas Dealing with Fascism: Professor Mamlock (1961), Das schreckliche Mädchen (The Nasty Girl, 1990) Epic Cinema: Ο Θίασος (The Travelling Players, 1975), 1900 (1976) The Essay Film Chapter 7: Beyond Auteurism: the Dialectics of the Essay Film The Disappearance of the Subject in Writing Representation as Unfinished Material: Thomas Heise’s Material (2009) Chapter 8: Pedagogical Essay Films Agitprop and the Crisis: Brecht die Macht der Manipulateure (Break the Power of the Manipulators, 1967), Fascism Inc. (2014) The Lehrstück on Film: La Commune (Paris, 1871) (2000), The Act of Killing (2012) Cinemas of Cruelty Chapter 9: Brecht and Artaud The Politics of Cruelty: Brecht and Artaud From Theatre to Film: The Brig (1964), Marat/Sade (1967) Chapter 10: Cruelty as Anti‐commodity Everyday Fascism: Import/Export (2007), The Rebellion of Red Maria (2011) The Postdramatic on Screen: Katzelmacher (1969), Die linkshändige Frau (The Left‐handed Woman, 1978) Epilogue Bibliography Index

Reviews

Brecht's experiences with film were not always happy, but the Brechtian influence on film and its theory is colossal. Koutsourakis' book masterfully sets out the wide scope of Brecht's aesthetics, from his 1923 venture with slapstick to the Brechtian footprints in the essay film, Realist and post-Deleuzian cinema theory and contemporary media archaeology.--Prof Esther Leslie, Birkbeck, University of London Rethinking Brechtian Film Theory and Cinema is an important study both for Brecht scholarship and film criticism. It not only demonstrates the continuing relevance of Brecht for cinema, it also returns to and literally ""rethinks"" established approaches. The theoretical work, in particular, is nothing short of formidable in its scope and depth.--Olivia Landry ""The Brecht Yearbook 45""

"Brecht's experiences with film were not always happy, but the Brechtian influence on film and its theory is colossal. Koutsourakis' book masterfully sets out the wide scope of Brecht's aesthetics, from his 1923 venture with slapstick to the Brechtian footprints in the essay film, Realist and post-Deleuzian cinema theory and contemporary media archaeology.--Prof Esther Leslie, Birkbeck, University of London Rethinking Brechtian Film Theory and Cinema is an important study both for Brecht scholarship and film criticism. It not only demonstrates the continuing relevance of Brecht for cinema, it also returns to and literally ""rethinks"" established approaches. The theoretical work, in particular, is nothing short of formidable in its scope and depth.--Olivia Landry ""The Brecht Yearbook 45"""

Author Information

Angelos Koutsourakis is Professor in Film and Cultural Studies at the Centre for World Cinemas and Digital Cultures, University of Leeds. He is the author of Rethinking Brechtian Film Theory and Cinema (2018), Politics as Form in Lars von Trier (2013) and the co-editor of Cinema of Crisis: Film and Contemporary Europe (2020), and The Cinema of Theo Angelopoulos (2015).

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