The Essay Film: From Montaigne, After Marker

by Timothy Corrigan

Overview

Why have certain kinds of documentary and non-narrative films emerged as the most interesting, exciting, and provocative movies made in the last twenty years? Ranging from the films of Ross McElwee (Bright Leaves) and Agnès Varda (The Gleaners and I) to those of Abbas Kiarostami (Close Up) and Ari Folman (Waltz with Bashir), such films have intrigued viewers who at the same time have struggled to categorize them. Sometimes described as personal documentaries or diary films, these eclectic works are, rather, best understood as cinematic variations on the essay. So argues Tim Corrigan in this stimulating and necessary new book. Since Michel de Montaigne, essays have been seen as a lively literary category, and yet--despite the work of pioneers like Chris Marker--seldom discussed as a cinematic tradition. The Essay Film, offering a thoughtful account of the long rapport between literature and film as well as novel interpretations and theoretical models, provides the ideas that will change this.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780199910564
Publisher:	Oxford University Press
Publication date:	08/01/2011
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
File size:	4 MB

About the Author

Timothy Corrigan is Professor of Cinema Studies, English, and History of Art at the University of Pennsylvania. He is the author of New German Film and A Cinema without Walls and an editor of Critical Visions in Film Theory.

Table of Contents

Introduction: Of Film and the EssayisticPart I: Toward the Essay FilmChapter One. One Thoughts Occasioned by . . .Montaigne to MarkerChapter Two. Of the History of the Essay Film: from Vertov, to VardaPart II: Essayistic ThinkingChapter Three. About Portraying Expression: The Essay Film as Inter-viewChapter Four. To Be Elsewhere: Cinematic Excursions on Essayistic TravelChapter Five. On Essayistic Diaries: Or, the Velocities of Non-PeaceChapter Six. Of the Currency of Events: The Essay Film as EditorialChapter Seven. About Refractive Cinema: When Films Interrogate FilmsWorks CitedIndex

Editorial Reviews

"The editors have similarly assembled a diverse and interdisciplinary group of renowned authors and practitioners, focusing here on the essay film's heterogeneous forms and practices. As such, this volume is a welcome addition to a growing body of literature that investigates the place of subjectivity and "the personal" within documentary filmmaking. It should also be of interest to a range of humanities students and scholars, together with nonfiction and experimental filmmakers." — Tanya Goldman, Cinema Journal

"The Essay Film is the most compelling and spirited monograph to surface yet on the topic."—Rick Warner, Critical Quarterly

"For media artists, scholars and students of cinema, Corrigan's reflections offer a passionate and convincing testimony to the transformative power of the essay film. Not since I read Roland Barthes' Mythologies have I come across a book that provides such a strong articulation of the visual thinking process."—Lynne Sachs, filmmaker

"Timothy Corrigan writes persuasively and vividly in offering up this coherent overview of the sprawling international phenomenon of the essay film. By providing a concise historical context, which ranges from Michel Montaigne to Michael Moore, he allows us to see the continuum and value of this idiosyncratic and vital form of expression."—Ross McElwee, Director, Sherman's March

"Inventively and insightfully, Timothy Corrigan establishes the essay film as a cinematic form of 'thinking out loud.' His eloquent book provides something similar: it is a richly productive meditation on meanings that interweaves voices, subjectivities, and resonant reflection. This essential volume now determines future consideration of this key genre."—Dana Polan, author of Scenes of Instruction: The Beginnings of the U.S. Study of Film

From the Publisher