Cinema/Politics/Philosophy

This is a good book for cinephiles, particularly those of a more intellectual bent. -- Ryne Clos * Spectrum Culture * Baumbachs text will undoubtedly serve as a crucial launch pad of thinking on cinema. -- Daniel Fairfax * Senses of Cinema * In this lucid and insightful book, Nico Baumbach offers a much-needed critical account of new European philosophies of the image. Pairing Rancire with Althusser, Badiou with Deleuze, and Agamben with Benjamin, Baumbach demonstrates convincingly how these influential philosophers remap the relation of philosophy to film in ways continuous with the recent history of film theory, while in turn offering his own powerful perspective on the relation between aesthetics and politics. -- D. N. Rodowick, Glen A. Lloyd Distinguished Service Professor, University of Chicago In this nuanced book, Nico Baumbach digs into contemporary European philosophy and its intersection with cinema, art, and aesthetics. Focusing on the trio of Rancire, Badiou, and Agamben, Baumbach makes a compelling case that such theorists, having already influenced discussions in literature and philosophy, also offer a new path for the future of cinema and media studies. Ultimately the question is not so much how film represents the world, or the material reality of affect or sensation, but how cinema itself is directly philosophical and political. -- Alexander R. Galloway, Professor of Media, Culture, and Communication at New York University Film theory of the 1970s is not dead. True, we understand now that ideology critique and dtournement are not the sole tools available to the political theorist or maker. In Cinema/Politics/Philosophy, Nico Baumbach shows that Rancire, Deleuze, Badiou, and Agambenfrequently set in opposition to their predecessorsin fact continue their work, while also illuminating exit signs from its various culs-de-sac. More urgently, Baumbach reveals the massive consequences when cinema is reduced to data, whether by celebrants of so-called grand theory or by its detractors. Cinema is not simply political or apolitical, a set of good or bad objects; it is itself a form of politics and a mode of thought. Provocative and timely, Cinema/Politics/Philosophy suggests that films political capacities are not opposed to, but rather inextricable from its capacity for thought and art. -- Homay King, Professor and Eugenia Chase Guild Chair in the Humanities, Bryn Mawr College Once again, philosophy knocks at cinemas door and raises unsettling questions. Through an ideal conversation with Badiou, Rancire, and Agamben, Nico Baumbach retraces and relaunches a crucial debate. -- Francesco Casetti, Yale University A compelling and innovative argument for thinking through the connection between the three topics listed in its title...The book therefore deserves a reception beyond the discipline of film studies and will be of interest to film scholars and philosophers alike. * Film Philosophy *

Nico Baumbach is associate professor of film and media studies at Columbia University.

Introduction: The Politics of Film Theory and Its Discontents 1. Cinematic Equality: Rancire and Film Theory After Althusser 2. Cinemas Thought: Badiou and the Philosophy of Cinema After Deleuze 3. Cinema as Emergency Brake: Agamben and the Philosophy of Media After Benjamin 4. Rethinking the Politics of the Philosophy of Cinema Acknowledgments Notes Bibliography Index