Series: Philosophical Filmmakers

Alejandro Jodorowsky is a force of nature. At 90 years old, he is still making films and is a cultural phenomenon who has influenced artists as disparate as John Waters and Yoko Ono. Although his body of work has long been considered disjointed and random, William Egginton claims that Jodorowsky’s writings, theatre work, mime, and his films, along with the...

Throughout films and television series like The Piano, Bright Star, In the Cut, and Top of the Lake, Jane Campion has constantly explored gender, subjectivity, and narrative representation. In an intensive engagement with her cross-medium career, Bernadette Wegenstein examines how Campion gives a tangible and visible form to the female gaze in her exploration, deployment, and ultimately her subversion of...

István Szabó is one of the few Hungarian filmmakers to have earned a major international reputation over the past half-century. This thoughtful and original book is the first examination of Szabó’s contribution to contemporary thought, engaging the troubled history of Europe in the 20th and 21st centuries. István Szabó’s importance as a filmmaker lies not only in his attention to...

From A New Hope to The Rise of Skywalker and beyond, this book offers the first complete assessment and philosophical exploration of the Star Wars universe. Lucasfilm examines the ways in which these iconic films were shaped by global cultural mythologies and world cinema, as well as philosophical ideas from the fields of aesthetics and political theory, and now serve...

Alfred Hitchcock by Mark William Roche explores the subtle interplay between the cinematic genius of Hitchcock and the philosophical themes embedded within his films. As a director, Hitchcock was celebrated by audiences of all ages and achieved critical acclaim throughout his long career. His films provoke reflection on deep philosophical questions: What is evil, and how does it both hide...

With the release of Parasite (2019), winner of the Palme d’Or and an Academy Award for Best Picture, the South Korean director Bong Joon Ho secured his place as one of his generation’s leading filmmakers. While scholars and critics have long appreciated his penetrating critique of Korean society and global capitalism, this book presents the first cohesive philosophical analysis of...

Chantal Akerman turns her pioneering camera on neglected contexts, from transitional spaces like hotel lobbies and street corners to domestic spaces like kitchens and bedrooms. Through her wide-ranging films, Akerman addresses subjects such as home and homelessness, work and social reproduction, self and identity, and desire in its many forms. This book is the first philosophical study of Akerman’s oeuvre....

David Lean's extraordinary films work philosophically through the modern reproductive and transportive technologies of sight and sound: through trains, planes, ships, and automobiles, from one perspective, and through the modern technology of the radio and gramophone, from another. Lean’s musical motifs are known worldwide: Lara’s theme in Zhivago; the Colonel Bogey March in Kwai; Estella’s motif in Great Expectations; Rosy’s...

Christopher Nolan is the writer and director of Hollywood blockbusters like The Dark Knight and The Dark Knight Rises, and also of arthouse films like Memento and Inception. Underlying his staggering commercial success, however, is a darker sensibility that questions the veracity of human knowledge, the allure of appearance over reality, and the latent disorder in contemporary society. This appreciation...

The cinema of Theo Angelopoulos is celebrated as challenging the status quo. From the political films of the 1970s through to the more existential works of his later career, Vrasidis Karalis argues for a coherent and nuanced philosophy underpinning Angelopoulos' work. The political force of his films, including the classic The Travelling Players (1975), gave way to more essayistic works...