Kant meets Frank Capra, Nietzsche meets Leo McCarey - as Harvard
professor Cavell continues to insist, sometimes quite eloquently,
sometimes rather opaquely, on the conjunction of philosophy with
our most everyday, down-to-earth experiences. But, though there are
elusive, hard-won rewards when Cavell applies his
philosophy-of-film ideas (cf. The World Viewed, 1972) to popular
Hollywood movies, he himself advises stymied readers to skip over
the philosophy - to concentrate instead on his challenging but
considerably more accessible literary/social/psychological vision
of the seven great Hollywood comedies studied here. The Lady Eve,
It Happened One Night, Bringing Up Baby, The Philadelphia Story,
His Girl Friday, Adam's Rib, The Awful Truth - Cavell sees them as
"comedies of remarriage," heirs to Shakespearean romance and to
Ibsen's Doll House. He studies them one by one, finding the common
themes and motifs that make them add up to a genuine genre.
(Typically, this will lead peripatetic Cavell into a digression on
the whole idea of "genre.") He invokes Freud (with uncommon skill).
He analyzes the food imagery and Clark Gable's paternal/maternal
role in It Happened. He ponders the "obsessive sexual references"
in Bringing Up Baby. He rather pedantically compares the use of
singing in all the films. He describes His Girl Friday as "the
introduction of a Shakespearean leading pair into a Jonsonlan
environment:" He compares dialogue in The Awful Truth to Plato's
Parmenides. He sees Midsummer Night's Dream as "subtext" for
Philadelphia Story. But while these close readings of the films
sometimes provide dwindling returns, Cavell's central thesis
becomes increasingly persuasive, and even moving: if farce is a
"comic No" to marriage, these films are "a comic Yes"; the equal
romantic partners remake marriage on their own terms, not society's
(which involves their return to childhood, to innocence); and "the
happiness in these comedies is honorable because they raise the
right issues" - issues which are left unresolved, with a lifetime
ahead of continuing, daily reaffirmation and adventure. Which
means, of course, that these comedies of "dailiness" are landmarks
in the history of male/female relations - and Cavell's book
becomes, in an odd way, almost an inspirational volume for those
trying to find a place for marriage 40 years later. Marvelously
eclectic, richly self-skeptical as well as self-indulgent -
difficult, provocative, distinctly warm-blooded work from a
genuine, reaching thinker. (Kirkus Reviews)
During the ’30s and ’40s, Hollywood produced a genre of madcap
comedies that emphasized reuniting the central couple after divorce
or separation. Their female protagonists were strong, independent,
and sophisticated. Here, Stanley Cavell names this new genre of
American film—“the comedy of remarriage”—and examines seven
classic movies for their cinematic techniques and for such varied
themes as feminism, liberty, and interdependence. Included are
Adam’s Rib, The Awful Truth, Bringing Up Baby, His Girl Friday,
It Happened One Night, The Lady Eve, and The Philadelphia Story.
General
Imprint: |
Harvard University Press
|
Country of origin: |
United States |
Series: |
Harvard Film Studies |
Release date: |
1984 |
Firstpublished: |
1984 |
Authors: |
Stanley Cavell
|
Dimensions: |
235 x 155 x 17mm (L x W x T) |
Format: |
Paperback - Trade
|
Pages: |
283 |
Edition: |
Revised |
ISBN-13: |
978-0-674-73906-2 |
Categories: |
Books >
Arts & Architecture >
General
|
LSN: |
0-674-73906-X |
Barcode: |
9780674739062 |
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