Projecting Illusion
Film Spectatorship and the Impression of Reality

A systematic analysis of the impression of reality in the cinema.

Richard Allen (Author)

9780521587150, Cambridge University Press

Paperback, published 28 May 1997

192 pages, 11 b/w illus.
22.9 x 15.2 x 1.1 cm, 0.29 kg

Projecting Illusion offers a systematic analysis of the impression of reality in the cinema and the pleasure it gives to the film spectator. Film provides a compelling experience that can be considered as a form of illusion akin to the experience of day-dream and dream. Examining the concept of illusion and its relationship to fantasy in the experience of visual representation, Richard Allen situates his explanation within the context of an analytical criticism of contemporary film and critical theory. He argues that many contemporary film theorists correctly identify the significance of the impression of reality, although their explanation of it is incorrect because of an invalid philosophical understanding of the relationship between the mind, representation and reality. Offering a clear presentation and critique of the central arguments of contemporary film and critical theory, Allen also touches on fundamental issues in current discourses of philosophy, art history and feminist theory.

1. Althusser, Lacan, and film theory
2. The lure of metaphysics
3. Representation, illusion, and the cinema
4. Cinema, psychoanalysis, and the film spectator
Notes
Filmography
Index.

Subject Areas: Films, cinema [APF]