Mary Alemany-Galway
Related: Canada - postmodern cinema - feminist film theory
A Postmodern Cinema (2002) - Mary Alemany-Galway
A Postmodern Cinema (2002) - Mary Alemany-Galway [Amazon.com] [FR] [DE] [UK]
An insight into the art developed by postmodern Canadian filmmakers. The first chapter of the work deals with the differences between structuralism and post-structuralism and their relation to modern and postmodern art forms. This is followed by three chapters that explore how formalist, phenomenological and structuralist film theories can be used in the construction of a postmodern post-structuralist film theory. Chapter five deals with the turning point from modernism to postmodernism in literature and film. The next chapter focuses on the relationship of Canadian film history to the formation of a Canadian identity. This is followed by an analysis of four Canadian films that use postmodern forms and post-structuralist ideas to speak from a place of "otherness". These films are the work of recognized auteurs within Canadian cinema. The conclusion shows how current film criticism that deals with postmodern/post-structuralist films unconsciously uses a three-pronged approach that includes formalist, phenomenological and structuralist concerns. --Synopsis, amazon.co.uk
Alemany-Galway points out that formalism (Eisenstein), phenomenology (Bazin) and structuralism (Metz) have dictated the history of film theory. After interrogating each of these areas in turn she posits that it is through their interaction that the basis for a postmodern film theory can be developed. According to Alemany-Galway, the New French Novel is the turning point of postmodernism and Alain Resnais' Last Year in Marienbad is the first important poststructuralist/postmodern film. Alemany-Galway, in her final chapter, reiterates the importance of these three prongs by highlighting their influence on the ruminations of others about the postmodern film. --Dirk de Bruyn, http://www.sensesofcinema.com/contents/03/27/postmodern_cinema_canada.html [May 2004]