Film and Female Consciousness

By: Lucy Bolton

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Synopsis: Film and Female Consciousness analyses three contemporary films that offer complex and original representations of women's thoughtfulness and individuality: In the Cut (2003), Lost in Translation (2003) and Morvern Callar (2002). Lucy Bolton compares these recent works with well-known and influential films that offer more familiar treatments of female subjectivity: Klute (1971), The Seven Year Itch (1955) and Marnie (1964). Considering each of the older, celebrated films alongside the recent, unconventional works illustrates how contemporary filmmaking techniques and critical practices can work together to create provocative depictions of on-screen female consciousness. Drawing on the philosophy of Luce Irigaray in relation to women's cultivation of self-knowledge, this book examines female characters as they go through processes of transition or transformation. Bolton's approach demonstrates how the encounter between Irigaray and cinema can yield a fuller understanding of the fundamental relationship between film and philosophy. Through meticulous theoretical positioning, and close textual analysis, Bolton shows how cinema can create works of philosophy that investigate questions of personal identity, sexuality and relationships with others. Furthermore, the book explores the implications of this approach for filmmakers and spectators, and suggests Irigarayan models of authorship and spectatorship that reinvigorate the notion of women's cinema.