Product Description

Deleuze, Cinema and National Identity challenges the traditional use of Deleuze's philosophy to examine European art cinema. It explores how Deleuze can be used to analyse national identity across a range of different cinemas. Focusing on narrative time it combines a Deleuzean approach with a vast range of non-traditional material. The films discussed are contemporary and popular (either financial or cult successes), and include Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, Terminator 3, Memento, Saving Private Ryan, Run Lola Run, Sliding Doors, Chaos and Peppermint Candy. Each film is examined in light of a major historical event - including 9/11, German reunification, and the Asian economic crisis - and the impact it has had on individual nations. This cross-cultural approach illustrates how Deleuze's work can enhance our understanding of the construction of national identity. It also enables a critique of Deleuze's conclusions by examining his work in a variety of national contexts. The book significantly broadens the field of work on Deleuze and cinema.It places equal emphasis on understanding mainstream North American genre films, American independent and European art films. It also examines Asian thrillers, gangster and art films in the light of Deleuze's work on time. With Asian films increasingly crossing over into western markets, this is a timely addition to the expanding body of work on Deleuze and film. Key Features *The first sustained analysis of Deleuze and national identity, bringing together film theory and film history *Examines how narrative time is used to construct national identity across a range of different cinemas, including Britain, Germany, North America, Hong Kong, Japan, South Korea, Italy and Poland *Uses Deleuze in conjunction with a number of different types of recent film, from Hollywood blockbusters to Asian gangster movies.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #491850 in Books
• Published on: 2008-02-27
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 256 pages

Review
This book fruitfully and originally combines three areas of investigation: recent cinema, Deleuzean film theory, and national identity... This is a timely and well-informed addition to current discussions in Anglophone film studies. Forum for Modern Language Studies This book fruitfully and originally combines three areas of investigation: recent cinema, Deleuzean film theory, and national identity... This is a timely and well-informed addition to current discussions in Anglophone film studies. --Forum for Modern Language Studies

Deleuze, Cinema and National Identity tackles the burning questions of globalisation. While critiquing the dated, European, even French nature of Deleuzian philosophy, David Martin-Jones brings out its contemporary relevance in a global context. …The strength of the analyses, and the work as a whole lies in its avoidance of triumphalism, whether national or transnational. Applied to such highly political questions, the notions of deterritorialisation and reterritorialisation emerge in all their complexity and power. --Question de Communication

An impressive feat, and a model for future scholarship in this vein. Martin-Jones makes Deleuze matter in that his historical perspective stresses that the Deleuzian distinction between time - and movement-images is not merely formal, but deeply political. --Screen

About the Author
David Martin-Jones is a Lecturer in Film Studies at the University of St Andrews.