Comprised of fourteen chapters, the book opens with studies of Louis Feuillade, Jean Painlevé, Jean Vigo and Georges Franju. In each case the author finds original points of reference and cross-reference to other film-makers, and visual artists, particularly within modernism. Successful as free-standing short essays on their subject, the chapters also situate the work of these film-makers less within the context of French cinema history, than within other cinema histories and intellectual traditions. This is an important gesture both in terms of the general architecture of the book, and in terms of its commitment to reclaiming the work of these figures for a wide community of film and cinema studies teachers, students, and enthusiasts, particularly those interested in developing (or disagreeing with!) alternative approaches to the history and language of cinema. Undoubtedly, Intersections is a provocative and challenging read, but that does not make it any less urgent or necessary.
