Psychoanalysis and Cinema: The Play of Shadows

by Vicky Lebeau

Lebeau examines the long and uneven history of developments in modern art, science, and technology that brought pychoanalysis and the cinema together towards the end of the nineteenth century. She explores the subsequent encounters between the the seductions of psychoanalysis and cinema as converging, though distinct, ways of talking about dream and desire, image and illusion, shock, and sexuality. Beginning with Freud's encounter with the spectacle of hysteria on display in fin-de-siècle Paris, this study offers a detailed reading of the texts and concepts which generated the field of psychoanalytic film theory.

Genres: Nonfiction, Film

144 pages, Paperback

First published February 15, 2001

Reviews

[Rebecca Martin · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is a useful introduction to Freudian theories that have been so significant in the analysis of film at least since the 1970s. It's a good place to start to learn about the early development of Freud's theories, particularly regarding hysteria. My disappointment comes, though, from the fact that the balance of the book is very much toward psychoanalysis and there is not enough application of those theories to films. The only one that gets any kind of prolonged treatment is The Birds. An entire chapter (of five) is devoted to The Freud Scenario as "one of the most powerful reflections on the origins of psychoanalysis" that "comes through cinema" (61). While the chapter is interesting because of what it reveals about the display of Freudian theory in the "scenario" originally prepared by Sartre for John Huston's Freud (1962) (but not used by the director), it doesn't tell us much about films or how Freudian theory has generally been reflected in a wide range of films in the current and previous century. This is a good example of the imbalance of the book; hence, my dissatisfaction.

[Anna · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very informative but was more focused on the history of psychoanalysis (with a bit cinematic history thrown in at the beginning). While it was still interesting, I found it somewhat lacking as I expected something that was more of how the two worked together (which there was more of in the last two chapters) and less history.

[Fotis Kypraios · Rating 4 out of 5]

3,5/5

[Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book fulfills the theorem of film literature:
1% content, 99% bullshit