Surrealism and Cinema

Description

Surrealism has long been recognised as having made a major contribution to film theory and practice, and many contemporary film-makers acknowledge its influence. Most of the critical literature, however, focuses either on the 1920s or the work of Buuel. The aim of this book is to open up a broader picture of surrealism's contribution to the conceptualisation and making of film. Tracing the work of Luis Buuel, Jacques Prvert, Nelly Kaplan, Walerian Borowcyzk, Jan vankmajer, Raul Ruiz and Alejandro Jodorowsky, Surrealism and Cinema charts the history of surrealist film-making in both Europe and Hollywood from the 1920s to the present day. At once a critical introduction and a provocative re-evaluation, Surrealism and Cinema is essential reading for anyone interested in surrealist ideas and art and the history of film.

Michael Richardson has published widely on surrealism, having edited two volumes of surrealist stories, The Identity of Things and The Myth of the World, a collection of Georges Bataille's writings on surrealism, The Absence of Myth, and a collection of writings by Caribbean surrealist writers, Refusal of the Shadow. He is currently visiting professor at Waseda University, Tokyo.

'I so enjoyed reading this book! Its arguments about surrealism and film are lucid and persuasive and presented with compelling clarity. I couldn't put it down.' Mary Ann Caws, author of Surrealism: themes and movements and Surrealist Painters and Poets: an anthology 'There is nothing that would compel one to not recommend this intelligent and fiercely radical study of Surrealism and cinema, which ranges further in its scope, is more up-to-date, and is more thorough in its investigation than any other.' Manticore: Surrealist Communication 'Richardson begins where most other commentators leave off.' Leonardo 'This expansive study contributes to maintaining a notion of what surrealism within cinema might be without restricting it to a set of rules or conditions.' Screening the Past 'At once a critical introduction and provocative re-evaluation, Surrealism and Cinema is essential reading for anyone interested in surrealist ideas and the history of film.' Guistificativo, Bolletino del cirt, centro internazionale promozione editoriale 'There is nothing that would compel one not to recommend this intelligent and fiercely radical study of Surrealism and cinema, which ranges further in its scope, is more up-to-date, and is more thorough in its investigation than any other.' Gareth Brown, Surrealism Communication