Thinking Revolution Through Film

Zusatztext

This book aims to redefine the relationship between film and revolution. Starting with Hannah Arendts thoughts on the American and French Revolution, it argues that, from a theoretical perspective, revolutions can be understood as describing a relationship between time and movement and that ultimately the spectators and not the actors in a revolution decide its outcome. Focusing on the concepts of time, movement, and spectators, this study develops an understanding of film not as a medium of agitation but as a way of thinking that relates to the idea of historicity that opened up with the American and French Revolution, a way of thinking that can expand our very notion of revolution. The book explores this expansion through an analysis of three audiovisual stagings of revolution: Abel Gances epic on the French Revolution Napoléon, Warren Beattys essay on the Russian Revolution Reds, and the miniseries John Adams about the American Revolution. The author thereby offers a fresh take on the questions of revolution and historicity from the perspective of film studies.

Autorenportrait

Hanno Berger, Freie Universität Berlin, Berlin, Germany.

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