Film and Female Consciousness: Irigaray, Cinema and Thinking Women

Film and Female Consciousness looks at a group of films which offer new and original representations of women's interiority and individuality: In the Cut (2003), Lost in Translation (2003), and Morvern Callar (2002). Lucy Bolton compares these films with those which offer more standard — albeit provocative and interesting — treatments of female subjectivity: Klute (1971), The Seven Year Itch (1955), and Marnie (1964). Considering each of the older, well-known films alongside the recent, experimental films illustrates how contemporary filmmaking techniques and critical practices can work together to create complex and provocative depictions of on-screen female consciousness. Drawing on the philosophy of Luce Irigaray in relation to women's cultivation of self-knowledge, this book examines each female character as she goes through a process of transition or transformation. This approach demonstrates how participating in the encounter between Luce Irigaray and cinema can yield greater understanding of both fields.