Description
Book SynopsisAntoine de Baecque proposes a new historiography of cinema, exploring film as a visual archive of the twentieth century, as well as history's imprint on the cinematic image. Whether portraying events that occurred in the past or stories unfolding before their eyes, certain twentieth-century filmmakers used a particular mise-en-scene to give form to history, becoming in the process historians themselves. Historical events, in turn, irrupted into cinema. This double movement, which de Baecque terms the cinematographic form of history, disrupts the very material of film, much like historical events disturb the narrative of human progress. De Baecque defines, locates, and interprets cinematographic forms in seven distinct bodies of cinema: 1950s modern cinema and its conjuring of the morbid trauma of war; French New Wave and its style, which became the negative imprint of the malaise felt by young contemporaries of the Algerian War; post-Communist Russian films, or the de-modern works of
Trade ReviewDe Baecque is one of our most meticulous and enterprising film historians, and in Camera Historica, he finds a new way of looking at the two sides of his interest, film and history, making each a clarifying reflection of the other. As a particular bonus, he's especially good on important filmmakers who emerged during the 1960s, such as the Nouvelle Vague and Peter Watkins. -- Jonathan Rosenbaum, film critic Camera Historica marks a new stage in thinking about the relationship between cinema (as art) and history (as both real and narrative). Going beyond the classic 'histories of cinema,' this book reveals what cinema makes of history, its way of making history visible, and of allowing us to judge it. -- Alain Badiou Thanks to this book I now understand precisely why and how I am goth. -- Tim Burton Those in search of superb academic writing need look no further. De Baecque renders a beguiling mix of auteurism, rigorous methodology, and historical analysis in an evenhanded, engaging tone. -- Jonathan Robbins Film Comment Cinema and history are in lively dialogue here, which creates much more exciting reading...highly recommended. Choice Politics, social insights and film art blend in a scholarly international probe perfect for film analysts studying the art and culture of cinema. Midwest Book Review presents an intelligent, opinionated, emotionally engaging, intermittently flawed meditation on cinema's ongoing negotiations with history... -- David Sterritt Cineaste Camera Historica is a refreshing and stimulating read, ultimately offering a vital contribution to the ongoing need for serious discussions of the intersections between film and history. -- Paula Amad American Historical Review
Table of ContentsPrelude: The Tree of History Introduction: The Cinematographic Forms of History 1. Foreclosed Forms: How Images of Mass Death Reemerged in Modern Cinema 2. From Versailles to the Silver Screen: Sacha Guitry, Historian of France 3. "Me? Uh, Nothing!" The French New Wave, Politics, and History 4. Peter Watkins, Live from History: The Films, Style, and Method of Cinema's Special Correspondent 5. The Theory of Sparks: A History in Images, According to Jean-Luc Godard 6. Demodern Aesthetics: Filming the End of Communism 7. America Unraveled: Master Fictions in Contemporary Hollywood Cinema Conclusion: All Histories Are Possible Notes Illustration Credits Index
