On Michael Haneke

Contemporary Approaches to Film and Media Series

by Brian Price (Editor), John David Rhodes (Editor)

This title considers the films of Michael Haneke, who has emerged as a major figure in world cinema over the last fifteen years. Austrian director Michael Haneke is recognized for films that explore the most pressing social questions of our time while simultaneously pushing the boundaries of style with innovative visual and sonic practices. "On Michael Haneke" is one of the very first and most extensive considerations of Haneke's work. Editors Brian Price and John David Rhodes have gathered contributors whose own work combines critical inquiry and close formal analysis to explore the philosophical, historical, and stylistic complexity of Haneke's films. This volume is divided into three parts, beginning with 'Violence and Play', in which contributors explore the relation in Haneke's films between violence and playfulness that complicates questions of media, representation, and morality. Essays in part 2, 'Style and Medium', investigate Haneke's stylistic innovation and the ways in which he can be seen as indebted to previous traditions and filmmakers, including the Italian neorealists, Alfred Hitchcock, Antonioni, and Robert Bresson. Part 3 addresses questions of 'Culture and Conflict' by looking at the cultural and historical problems suggested by Haneke's films and exploring the relation between culture and film style. "On Michael Haneke" is both an introduction to the work of a major figure in world cinema and a model for modern media criticism. Scholars of film and television studies, cinephiles, and anyone interested in contemporary film culture will enjoy "On Michael Haneke".

Patrick Crowley, Scott Durham, Mattias Frey, Rosalind Galt, Christophe Koné, Tarja Laine, Michael Lawrence, Hugh S. Manon, Fatima Naqvi, Brigitte Peucker, Brian Price, Bert Rebhandl, John David Rhodes, Christopher Sharrett, Meghan Sutherland

Genres: Film

289 pages, Paperback

First published May 1, 2010

About the author

Librarian Note: There are more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name.

I am a chemist and biologist. I worked for many years in the environmental field and as an Open University tutor. I am also an avid crime reader.

I turned from science to crime when I attended Crimefest in Bristol, in 2016. I found the crime writing community open and friendly so I resolved to use my knowledge of science to help authors get scientific details correct. I have advised a number of leading crime writers on scientific topics. In 2019 my website www.crimewriterscience.co.uk metamorphosed into the book Crime Writing: How to Write the Science.

In the same year, I won a competition, run by the Facebook group Crime Fiction Coach, to find the best opening line for a crime novel. I then had no option but to write the book to go with that line! The result was Fatal Trade, published on 14th September 2021 by Hobeck Books. Fatal Beginnings, a free novella introducing some of the characters, is available at www.hobeck.net

Fatal Hate followed in April 2022 and Fatal Dose in January 2023.

Several of my short stories are published in the Writers in Stone anthologies Cuckoo, Lock and Key and Seventy Three. One of my stories appears in The Dark Side of Christmas, a charity anthology produced by Hobeck Books, and another in the Crime Writers Association anthology Music of the Night. I also contributed a recipe and short story to the Hobeck 2022 charity collection Cooking the Books

Reviews

[Micah Van Hove · Rating 4 out of 5]

Some essays are better than others, but overall it's a good collection of intellectual discourse on Haneke's body of work, unearthing the structural and ethic intricacies of the Haneke's cinematic image.