Cinematic Vitalism : Film Theory and the Question of Life Film Theory and the Question of Life

This book argues that there are constitutive links between early twentieth-century German and French film theory and practice, on the one hand, and vitalist conceptions of life in biology and philosophy, on the other. By considering classical film-theoretical texts and their filmic objects in the light of vitalist ideas percolating in scientific and philosophical texts of the time, Cinematic Vitalism reveals the formation of a modernist, experimental and cinematic strand of vitalism in and around the movie theater. The book focuses on the key concepts including rhythm, environment, mood, and development to show how the cinematic vitalism articulated by film theorists and filmmakers maps out connections among human beings, milieus, and technologies that continue to structure our understanding of film. Table of Contents Acknowledgments Introduction: ‘The sanguine, pulsating, enterprising modern life’: Cinema and Vitalism 1. Vitalism and Abstraction: Rhythm and Non-Organic Life from Hans Richter to Sergei Eisenstein 2. New Worlds: Uexküll’s Umwelt Theory at the Movies 3. The Interweaving of World and Self: Transformations of Mood in Expressionist and Kammerspiel Film 4. Open Bodies, Open Stories: Evolution, Narration, and Spectatorship in Post-war Film Theory Conclusion: Vital Media Bibliography Index of Films Index of Names Index of Subjects This book draws new connections between twentieth-century German and French film theory and practice and vitalist conceptions of life from biology and philosophy. Inga Pollmann shows how the links between the two created a modernist, experimental, and cinematic strand of vitalism in and around the movie theater. Articulated by film theorists, filmmakers, biologists, and philosophers, this cinematic vitalism maps out connections among human beings, milieus, and technologies that continue to structure our understanding of film. This book draws new connections between twentieth-century German and French film theory and practice and vitalist conceptions of life from biology and philosophy. Inga Pollmann shows how the links between the two created a modernist, experimental, and cinematic strand of vitalism in and around the movie theatre. Articulated by film theorists, filmmakers, biologists and philosophers, this cinematic vitalism maps out connections among human beings, milieus, and technologies that continue to structure our understanding of film

The first title in an international new series focusing on migration, integration and social cohesion in Europe post 1945