A film-philosophy of ecology and enlightenment / Rupert Read.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Read, Rupert J., 1966- author.

Series:

Routledge research in aesthetics

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Motion pictures--Philosophy.

Motion pictures.

Physical Description:

xi, 231 pages ; 24 cm.

Place of Publication:

New York, NY : Routledge, 2019.

Summary:

"Inspired by the philosophy of Wittgenstein and his idea that the purpose of real philosophical thinking is not to discover something new, but to show in a strikingly different light what is already there, this book provides philosophical readings of a number of 'arthouse' and Hollywood films. Each chapter contains a discussion of two films--one explored in greater detail and the other analyzed as a minor key which reveals the possibility for the book's ideas to be applied across different films, registers, and genres. The readings are not only interpretive, but they offer a way of thinking and feeling about, with, and through films which is genuinely transformative. Rupert Read's main contention is that certain films can bring about a change in how we see the world. He advocates an ecological approach to film-philosophy analysis, arguing that film can re-shape the viewer's relationship to the environment and other living beings. The transformative 'wake-up call' of these films is enlightenment in its true sense. The result is a book that ambitiously aims to change, though film, how we think of ourselves and our place in the world, at a time when such change is more needed than ever before"-- Provided by publisher.

Contents:

Introduction: film as freedom: the meaning of film as philosophy

Implicating the narrator, implicating the audience: Waltz with Bashir and Apocalypto

How to represent a past we would rather forget: Hiroshima mon amour and Last year at Marienbad

Learning from conceptually impossible versions of our world: Never let me go and The road

When melancholia is exactly what is called for: Melancholia and Solaris

Gravity's arc; or gravity: A space odyssey

The fantasy of absolute safety through absolute power: The lord of the rings trilogy and Avatar

Conclusion: what have we learnt?.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Other Format:

ebook version :

ISBN:

9781138596023

1138596027

OCLC:

1045737624