Raymond Bellour

One of the most influential figures in French film philosophy, Raymond Bellour’s interests range across cinema, art, literature and philosophy, and his work sits at the critical juncture between the cinematic experience in the period of classical cinema to the new forms of spectatorship ushered in by digital media in the 21st century. With a succinct account of Bellour’s oeuvre, this book provides a generous introduction to his ideas on cinema, an annotated bibliography of his work, and a six-chapter translation of a substantial and wide-ranging interview previously unavailable in English. Providing a clear, systematic account of the evolution of Bellour’s thought on the nature of cinematic representation, the impact of digital technology and the response of the spectator, this is an essential guide to the work of a major contemporary thinker.

Author Biography

Hilary Radner is Emeritus Professor of Film and Media Studies at the University of Otago. She is the author of three monographs that form a trilogy addressing the formation of feminine identity at the end of the 20th century and the beginning of the 21st century: Shopping Around: Consumer Culture and the Pursuit of Pleasure (Routledge, 1995), Neo-Feminist Cinema: Girly Films, Chick Flicks and Consumer Culture (Routledge, 2011), and The New Woman’s Film: Femme-centric Movies for Smart Chicks (Routledge, 2017). Her publications also include six co-edited volumes, notably A Companion to Contemporary French Cinema (2015). Alistair Fox is Emeritus Professor at the University of Otago. He has published widely on topics in both literature and cinema, and most recently is the author of Jane Campion: Authorship and Personal Cinema (2011), Speaking Pictures: Neuropsychoanalysis and Authorship in Film and Literature (2016), and Coming of Age Cinema in New Zealand (EUP, 2017).