Art Cinema and Neoliberalism

by Alex Lykidis

Overview

Art Cinema and Neoliberalism surveys cinematic responses to neoliberalism across four continents. One of the first in-depth studies of its kind, this book provides an imaginative reassessment of art cinema in the new millennium by showing how the exigencies of contemporary capitalism are exerting pressure on art cinema conventions. Through a careful examination of neoliberal thought and practice, the book explores the wide-ranging effects of neoliberalism on various sectors of society and on the evolution of film language. Alex Lykidis evaluates the relevance of art cinema style to explanations of the neoliberal order and uses a case study approach to analyze the films of acclaimed directors such as Asghar Farhadi, Yorgos Lanthimos, and Lucrecia Martel in relation to the social, political, and cultural characteristics of neoliberalism. By connecting the aesthetics of art cinema to current social antagonisms, Lykidis positions class as a central concern in our understanding of the polarized dynamics of late capitalism and the escalating provocations of today’s film auteurs.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9783030610067
Publisher:	Palgrave Macmillan
Publication date:	03/18/2021
Series:	Global Cinema
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
File size:	2 MB

About the Author

Alex Lykidis is Associate Professor of Film Studies in the English Department at Montclair State University, USA.

Table of Contents

1. Introduction: Art Cinema and the Aesthetics of Crisis.- Part I. Costs of Neoliberalism.- 2. Poetics of Debt: Disruptive Realism in Bamako and The Headless Woman.- Part II Politics of Neoliberalism.- 3. Crisis of Sovereignty: Anti-psychologism in Alps, Attenberg,Chevalier and Dogtooth.- 4. Return of the Oppressed: Complex Identification in A Separation.- Part III. Cultures of Neoliberalism.- 5. Political Exclusion and Cultural Difference: Challenging Objectivity in The Class and The Secret of the Grain.- 6.  Multiculturalism as Class Trauma: Antagonistic Authorship in Caché, Code Unknown, Happy End and Time of the Wolf.- 7. Afterword.

What People are Saying About This

From the Publisher

“This is an important, urgent study, pursued with energy and acuity. Well-grounded in both geopolitical contexts and critical theory, the book offers sharp and insightful analyses of art cinema from Mali, Argentina, Greece, Iran, and France. Always engaging and readable, this is an excellent resource for teaching and a vital contribution to our understanding of cinematic responses to neoliberalism.”

-Thomas Austin, University of Sussex, UK

“Timely and eminently readable, Art Cinema and Neoliberalism reinvigorates debate on art cinema’s relationship to politics. Lykidis’s incisive analyses of contemporary international art films animate the centrality of debt, disenfranchisement, racism, and anti-democratic policies to the 21st century formation of political film aesthetics. This book forms a major contribution to the emerging body of scholarship on the cinemas of economic crisis.”

-Rosalind Galt, King’s College London, UK