The Cinema of Discomfort: Disquieting, Awkward and Uncomfortable Experiences in Contemporary Art and Indie Film

by Geoff King

How do we understand types of cinema that offer experiences of discomfort, awkwardness or disquieting uncertainty? This book examines a number of examples of such work at the heart of contemporary art and indie film. While the commercial mainstream tends to offer comforting viewing experiences – or moments of discomfort that exist largely to be overcome – The Cinema of Discomfort analyses films in which discomfort is offered in a sustained manner. Cinema of this kind confronts us with material such as distinctly uncomfortable sexual encounters. It invites us into uncertain relationships with awkward and sometimes unlikable characters. It presents us with challenging behaviour or what are presented as uncomfortable realities. It often refuses information on which to base judgments. More discomfortingly, cinema of this kind tends to provoke uncertainty at the level of what emotional responses we are encouraged to have towards difficult, sometimes controversial, characters or events.

The Cinema of Discomfort examines a number of case-studies, including Palindromes by Todd Solondz (US) and Dogtooth from Yorgos Lanthimos (Greece), along with other examples from Austria, Sweden, the UK, the US and Germany. Offering close textual analysis of the manner in which discomfort is generated, it also asks how we should understand the appeal of such work to certain viewers and how the existence of films of this kind can be explained, as products of both their socio-cultural context and the more particular institutional realms of art and indie film.

Genres: Film

305 pages, Kindle Edition

Published October 7, 2021

About the author

Geoff King is lecturer in film and television Studies at Brunel University, London.

Reviews

[Carter · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wow I’m finally done. Only took like 1 year of picking it up and then putting it back down.

I read science Fiction cinema in college, also by Geoff King, and the release of this book coincided with my growing interest in indie/art house film. The section on Östlund pulled me in initially but I think King really has some great analysis on comedy, sociological disruption, awkwardness and the ways in which the Cinema of discomfort is crafted by the directors and where inspiration is drawn from.

I would give this a 5/5 but it is heady as hell. Extremely academic and verbose, sometimes to the extent of muddying the point. I understand that writing thoughtful analysis of art house cinema is going to be dense, I just didn’t realize the extent.