Organic Cinema

Thorsten Botz-Bornstein received his doctorate from Oxford University and his habilitation degree from the EHESS in Paris. He has authored and edited numerous volumes in philosophy, cultural studies, film, and other fields. He is currently Associate Professor of Philosophy at Gulf University for Science and Technology in Kuwait.

“Botz-Bornstein’s book Organic Cinema contains a lot of food for thought. It is a non-standard piece on film with a new suggestions and new readings. I recommend it to those of you who want to read about more than just Tarr as a director, but who would like to learn about the context which his films and his filmmaking is embedded in. It’s a thoroughly interesting book.”  • European History Quarterly“While combining film theory with the theory of architecture, music and theology, the organic method could offer a new alternative to deconstructionism, constructivism, cultural studies, and cinema aesthetics. For this reason, Organic cinema deserves academic attention, especially because it has the potential to create a new platform.”  • Studies in Eastern European Cinema“Organic Cinema is an extremely dense text, rich with philosophical, aesthetic, filmic, and musicological insights. The book’s depth and breadth are certainly impressive, offering a valuable — even audacious — contribution to film theory and architectural theory. Botz-Bornstein is at his best when he makes the radical connections between architecture, cinema and musical theology… [and in this way] contributes to the evermore burgeoning field in which architectural theory and film are considered together.” • Invisible Culture“A magisterial, transdisciplinary contribution and brilliant comparative analysis of a major contemporary filmmaker whose work remains undertheorized and insufficiently known in a global framework. Organic Cinema presents a wealth of perspectives on the interlocking fields of cinema and architecture.” • Catherine Portuges, University of Massachusetts, Amherst

• List of IllustrationsIntroductionChapter 1. Cinema, Architecture, LiteratureChapter 2. Central EuropeChapter 3. What is “Organic?”Chapter 4. The Melancholy of EvolutionChapter 5. Where is the Center?Chapter 6. Modernism and PostmodernismChapter 7. Organic HarmoniesChapter 8. Back to Humanism?Chapter 9. Politics of HarmonyChapter 10. The SpiritualChapter 11. Organic PlacesChapter 12. The Organic Camera ShotConclusionBibliographyIndex