In the Realm of Pleasure

by Gaylyn Studlar

This textual analysis of the six Paramount films directed by Josef von Sternberg which starred Marlene Dietrich, probes the source of their visual and psychological complexity. It illustrates how masochism extends into the area of artistic form, language and the production of pleasure.

Genres: Film, Philosophy, Psychoanalysis, Academic, Theory

247 pages, Paperback

First published July 1, 1988

Reviews

[Brian · Rating 4 out of 5]

Brilliant combination of filmic analysis with psychoanalysis that attempts to explain how the image of Marlene Dietrich in conjunction with the direction of Von Sternberg fashioned an image of masculinity and femininity based in the rituals of masochism and fetishistic behavior.

[Lauren Drozd]

some of this was a little heavy for me to read as I am really no expert on some aspects of Freudian psychoanalysis (meme that says “i don’t know what primary process thinking is and at this point i’m too afraid to ask”) and i find the appeal to empirical and scientific studies on cognition and perception to contribute quite little. some of it can be a little repetitive, with the same scene sometimes described multiple times throughout. but the textual analysis and reformulation of the Von Sternberg/Dietrich collaboration through the conceptual framework of the masochistic aesthetic to be exceedingly well-written and persuasive - the way Studlar puts close readings of these texts into dialogue with Deleuze and Sacher-Masoch is stunningly well done as she addresses a significant gap in film theory that has read cinematic pleasure through the lens of sadism. excellent final chapter especially in how it articulates a new reading of the masochistic pleasures of the cinematic apparatus that refutes gendered essentialism and embraces the complexities of the operations of spectator identification.

[Brian O'Connell]

Despite Studlar’s commendable efforts to render her meaning as direct and comprehensible to the uninitiated reader as possible, I’m not nearly well versed enough in (nor, indeed, convinced by) the terminology and ideas of psychoanalytic theory to fully grasp a fairly sizable section of the book, so I’m not going to give this a rating. That said, even I can recognize that she hits on some really core insights about the nature of cinematic spectatorship, and especially about the Dietrich-Sternberg collaborations: she goes as far as anyone I’ve seen in venturing an explanation of the essential masochism that unquestionably characterizes their style and that forms the basis of their allure. (Unsurprisingly, her textual analyses of the films themselves were my favorite parts of the book.) A really intelligent, enlightening, and compelling text.

[Bradley Nelson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Study the "masochistic aesthetic." Sounds sexy, eh?