Claude Chabrol's Aesthetics of Opacity - Paperback

by Catherine Dousteyssier-Khoze (Author)

Claude Chabrol's cinema is generally associated with a specific type of psychological thriller, one set in the French provinces and fascinated with murder, incest, fragmented families, unstable spaces and inscrutable female characters. But Chabrol's films are both deceptively accessible and deeply reflexive, and in this innovative reappraisal of his filmography Catherine Dousteyssier-Khoze explores the Chabrol who was influenced by Balzac, Magritte and Stanley Kubrick. Bringing to the fore Chabrol's 'aesthetic of opacity', the book deconstructs the apparent clarity and comfort of his chosen genre, encouraging the viewer to reflect on the relationship between illusion and reality, and the status of the film image itself.

Front Jacket

Claude Chabrol's Aesthetics of Opacity By Catherine Dousteyssier-Khoze 'Seven years after his death, this is a timely appraisal of Chabrol's work. Dousteyssier-Khoze shows how Chabrol is more indebted to Balzac than we may have thought. She deftly navigates his serial killers, and shows how Deleuze's crystal-image and Foucault's heterotopia can illuminate Chabrol's manipulation of space and time.' Phil Powrie, University of Surrey Claude Chabrol's cinema is generally associated with a specific type of psychological thriller, set in the French provinces and marked by a fascination with evil, incest, fragmented families, unstable spaces and inscrutable female characters. But Chabrol's films are both deceptively accessible and deeply reflexive, and in this innovative reappraisal of his filmography Catherine Dousteyssier-Khoze explores a Chabrol who was influenced by Balzac, Magritte and Stanley Kubrick. Bringing to the fore Chabrol's 'aesthetic of opacity', the book deconstructs the apparent clarity and comfort of the film de genre, encouraging the viewer to reflect on the relationship between illusion and reality, and the status of the film image itself. Catherine Dousteyssier-Khoze is Reader in French at Durham University. Cover image: Le Boucher, 1970, Claude Chabrol (c) ARTEDIS/BRINTER. Claude Chabrol DVDs are available to order and for inquiries direct from artedisf@aol.com (collection of 11 DVDs, original French language with English subtitles). Cover design: [EUP logo] edinburghuniversitypress.com ISBN 978-0-7486-9260-6 Barcode

Author Biography

Catherine Dousteyssier-Khoze is Reader in French at Durham University. She specializes in (19th-century) French literature and French film. She is also the author of a début novel, La logique de l'amanite (Grasset, 2015).