Synopses & Reviews
There is an upsurge of interest in contemporary film theory towards cinematic emotions. Tarja Laine's innovative study proposes a methodology for interpreting affective encounters with films, not as objectively readable texts, but as emotionally salient events. Laine argues convincingly that film is not an immutable system of representation that is meant for (one-way) communication, but an active, dynamic participant in the becoming of the cinematic experience.
Through a range of chapters that include Horror, Hope, Shame and Love - and through close readings of films such as The Shining, American Beauty and Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, Laine demonstrates that cinematic emotions are more than mere indicators of the properties of their objects. They are processes that are intentional in a phenomenological sense, supporting the continuous, shifting, and reciprocal exchange between the film's world and the spectator's world. Grounded in continental philosophy, this provocative book explores the affective dynamics of cinema as an interchange between the film and the spectator in a manner that transcends traditional generic patterns.
Review
Tarja Laine's Feeling Cinema is a remarkably eloquent and accomplished contribution to the growing wave of theoretical work on our affective and emotional engagement with film. Not only does Laine develop excellent analyses of the copious theoretical literature on cinematic emotion, she offers a powerful and persuasive way of conceptualising our aesthetic experience of film as an 'emotional event'. Her perspicuous theoretical discussions of key emotions are elaborated via nuanced critical reflections on the 'emotional core' of selected films spanning horror, thriller, art house, and romance genres. Feeling Cinema is thus enlightening and engaging reading for anyone—student, theorist, or cinephile—wanting to understand the emotional power of movies. --Robert Sinnerbrink, Senior Lecturer in Philosophy, Macquarie University, Sydney
Synopsis
A scholarly study of cinematic emotions, highlighting the relationship between spectator and film, and thematically divided into chapters including Love, Hate, Shame and Fear.
Synopsis
There is an upsurge of interest in contemporary film theory towards cinematic emotions. Tarja Laine's innovative study proposes a methodology for interpreting affective encounters with films, not as objectively readable texts, but as emotionally salient events. Laine argues convincingly that film is not an immutable system of representation that is meant for (one-way) communication, but an active, dynamic participant in the becoming of the cinematic experience.
Through a range of chapters that include Horror, Hope, Shame and Love - and through close readings of films such as The Shining, American Beauty and Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, Laine demonstrates that cinematic emotions are more than mere indicators of the properties of their objects. They are processes that are intentional in a phenomenological sense, supporting the continuous, shifting, and reciprocal exchange between the film's world and the spectator's world. Grounded in continental philosophy, this provocative book explores the affective dynamics of cinema as an interchange between the film and the spectator in a manner that transcends traditional generic patterns.
About the Author
Tarja Laine is Assistant Professor of Film Studies at the University of Amsterdam in the Netherlands. She is the author of Shame and Desire: Emotion, Intersubjectivity, Cinema (2007).
Table of Contents
Acknowledgments
Introduction Chapter 1: Horror
Overwhelming fear:
The Shining Imprisoned in madness:
Repulsion Chapter 2: Hope
Morbid curiosity:
The Vanishing Clairvoyant spectatorship:
Don't Look Now Chapter 3: Trauma
Death as entelechy:
The Sea Inside Psychosis as refuge:
Elementary Particles Psychosis as entrapment:
Reprise Compassionate participation
Chapter 4: Anguish
Becoming rhythm
Synaesthetic tactics:
Dancer in the Dark Resonating sonic space:
The Silence Chapter 5: Shame
Suburban rebellion:
American Beauty Unruly sociology:
Borat Chapter 6: Anger
Looking down with contempt:
Elephant Hate as positive liberty:
Hunger Friendship as resentment in solidarity:
4 Months, 3 Weeks & 2 Days Chapter 7: Love
Cinema as seduction:
Dangerous Liaisons Ironic abjection:
Romance Authentic love:
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind Bibliography
Index