The Cinema of Disorientation: Inviting Confusions

Description

Examines disorientation and confusion, and their theoretical implications, in contemporary narrative filmExplores the relationship between orientation and disorientation for the film viewerDefends a flexible and responsive form of criticism that is not without method but that tailors its method to the demands of the film in question Outlines the history and theory of the rhetorical figure of metalepsis and of the concept of figuration, both of which suggest many possibilities for further research in filmCritically discusses a very wide range of texts in film criticism, film theory, philosophy and beyondPrecisely, perhaps, because they are so immediately absorbing, narrative films can also be profoundly confusing and disorienting. This fascinating book neither proposes foolproof methods for avoiding confusion; nor does it suggest that disorientation is always a virtue. Instead it argues that the best way to come to terms with our confusion is to look closely at exactly what is confusing us, and why. At the heart of the book are original close readings of four important recent films: David Lynch's INLAND EMPIRE (2006), Leos Carax's Holy Motors (2012), Pedro Costa's Colossal Youth (2006) and Jean-Luc Godard's Goodbye to Language (2014). Clearly written but critically and theoretically bold, The Cinema of Disorientation: Inviting Confusions explores both how we get (or fail to get) our bearings with respect to a film, and what we might discover by (and while) doing so.