Surrealism has long been recognised as having made a major contribution to film theory and practice, and many contemporary film-makers acknowledge its influence. Most of the critical literature, however, focuses either on the 1920s or the work of Buuel. The aim of this book is to open up a broader picture of surrealism's contribution to the conceptualisation and making of film.

Tracing the work of Luis Buuel, Jacques Prvert, Nelly Kaplan, Walerian Borowcyzk, Jan vankmajer, Raul Ruiz and Alejandro Jodorowsky, Surrealism and Cinema charts the history of surrealist film-making in both Europe and Hollywood from the 1920s to the present day.

At once a critical introduction and a provocative re-evaluation, Surrealism and Cinema is essential reading for anyone interested in surrealist ideas and art and the history of film.

About the author

Michael Richardson has published widely on surrealism, having edited two volumes of surrealist stories, The Identity of Things and The Myth of the World, a collection of Georges Bataille's writings on surrealism, The Absence of Myth, and a collection of writings by Caribbean surrealist writers, Refusal of the Shadow. He is currently visiting professor at Waseda University, Tokyo.

Contents

Introduction: Surrealist film theory and practice
1. Surrealism and Popular Culture
2. Luis Buuel and the Snares of Desire
3. Jacques Prvert and the Poetry of the Eventual
4. Surrealism and Hollywood
5. Surrealism and the Documentary
6. Nelly Kaplan and Sexual Revenge
7. Walerian Borowczyk and the Touch of Desire
8. Jan vankmajer and the Life of Objects
9. Panique: A Ceremony Beyond the Absurd
10. The Baroque Heresy of Ral Ruiz
11. Surrealism and Contemporary Cinema