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Marginal pleasure and auteurist cinema: the sexual politics of Robert Bresson, Jean-Luc Godard, Catherine Breillat and François Ozon

Schilt, Thibaut

Abstract Details

2005, Doctor of Philosophy, Ohio State University, French and Italian.
This dissertation considers and evaluates French auteurist cinema in two contexts: first, in terms of the 1950s/1960s, a period during which the politique des auteurs became a salient part of film criticism nationally and internationally, and second, in terms of contemporary cinema in France today, where the concept of auteur, though never completely forsaken since the Nouvelle Vague, has experienced a revival. A large amount of existing critical literature discusses various aspects of Robert Bresson and Jean-Luc Godard’s works, which coincide with the emergence and espousal of the politique, but critics and historians rarely consider the sexual politics of their cinema in much detail. With that in mind, I look closely at a selection of their films, which differ from other auteur works of the period in that they attempt to problematize gender difference and sexuality. The second part of the study examines the cinema of Catherine Breillat and François Ozon, whose works destabilize notions of gender (masculinity, femininity) and sexuality in an even more daring and explicit fashion. Their films, seldom discussed in the context of the politique des auteurs, will be examined as contemporary examples of auteurist cinema, but also in relation to the auteur cinema of the 1950s/1960s, in an attempt to determine both the continuity of the cinema of auteurs and the radical differences between these two periods of French film history.
Judith Mayne (Advisor)
255 p.

Recommended Citations

Citations

  • Schilt, T. (2005). Marginal pleasure and auteurist cinema: the sexual politics of Robert Bresson, Jean-Luc Godard, Catherine Breillat and François Ozon [Doctoral dissertation, Ohio State University]. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1116968586

    APA Style (7th edition)

  • Schilt, Thibaut. Marginal pleasure and auteurist cinema: the sexual politics of Robert Bresson, Jean-Luc Godard, Catherine Breillat and François Ozon. 2005. Ohio State University, Doctoral dissertation. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center, http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1116968586.

    MLA Style (8th edition)

  • Schilt, Thibaut. "Marginal pleasure and auteurist cinema: the sexual politics of Robert Bresson, Jean-Luc Godard, Catherine Breillat and François Ozon." Doctoral dissertation, Ohio State University, 2005. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1116968586

    Chicago Manual of Style (17th edition)