The phantom of the cinema : character in modern film
Author(s)
Bibliographic Information
The phantom of the cinema : character in modern film
（SUNY series, cultural studies in cinema/video）
State University of New York Press, c1998
- : hc
- : pbk
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Note
Includes bibliographical references (p. 173-180) and index
Description and Table of Contents
Description
The first extended study to focus on the representation of character in film, The Phantom of the Cinema provides a historically informed, theoretically sophisticated, yet eminently readable account of a broad spectrum of texts that center on elusive, ambiguous protagonists. Ranging across acknowledged classics such as Citizen Kane and Persona, including relatively neglected works such as House of Games, The Last Tycoon, and Badlands, and encompassing the art cinema, popular movies, and documentary, Michaels applies the concept of "presence of absence" to distinguish cinema from other performative arts. He then suggests how this propensity to present images that reflect a constantly mediated sense of reality allows certain reflexive films to project a problematic understanding of human identity.
In analyzing these spectral figures haunting the modern cinema, Michaels combines contemporary theory with his own close reading in order to reconcile the structuralist emphasis on textuality with the humanist account of character as representing the autonomous self. Ultimately, he demonstrates how film protagonists reflect both the melancholy and mystery of personhood and the "inner aesthetic" of the medium itself.
Table of Contents
List of Illustrations
Preface
Acknowledgments
Chapter One
The Phantom of the Cinema: Representation of Character in the Modern Film
Chapter Two
Reflexivity and Character in Persona
Chapter Three
Incarnations of the Confidence Man
Chapter Four
Reviving the Undead: Herzog's Remake of Nosferatu
Chapter Five: The Spy and the Cipher
Chapter Six
Documenting Character in The Thin Blue Line
Chapter Seven
Avatars of Memory: Entropy and Nostalgia in the Representation of Character
Chapter Eight
Conclusion: The Mystery and Melancholy of a Self
Notes
Works Cited and Consulted
About the Author
Index
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