Existentialism and Contemporary Cinema

“This is a lively collection of [challenging and enriching] essays which thoroughly demonstrates the importance of de Beauvoir’s thought to film studies.” · Journal of American Studies of Turkey

“This volume emerges at a time of reinvigorated interest both in the work of Simone de Beauvoir and in its implications for screen studies and film philosophy…The revitalization of Beauvoir’s thought comes from the capacity of the films themselves to stage, choreograph, and reframe the complex possibilities of feminine and, by extension, human experience. This book aptly stages such an encouraging philosophical aspiration.” · French Studies

“The volume convincingly demonstrates the enduring value of Beauvoir’s work, and makes a very  distinctive contribution to contemporary French film studies.” · Modern and Contemporary France

“[The editors] accomplish this genre’s most important task: framing the collection with an urgency that leads a reader to wonder how such a book didn’t already exist…By the time I’d reached the end of the book, I wanted more [which] suggests the strength of this book, its provocative existential claims a compelling reason for its own existence.” · H-France Review

“This collection of essays on the relationship between Simone de Beauvoir's philosophy and film studies is very welcome and long overdue… The book achieves the [editors'] stated aim and demonstrates beyond question the potential for exciting and illuminating film thinking that lies in the bringing together of Beauvoir's work and cinema…. The alignment between Beauvoir and films may not always be so direct, but the possibilities for what the relationship might yield are excitingly indicated by this collection.” · Journal of Contemporary European Studies

“This book makes an original and valuable contribution to film studies and to French studies... Its intellectual agenda is innovative and worthwhile.” · Diana Holmes, University of Leeds

“This is an excellent volume of essays which addresses a relatively neglected topic and conceptual approach, and is of relevance across a range of interrelated areas, specifically film studies, French studies, existentialist studies, philosophy, modern cultural and media studies.” · Edmund Smyth, Manchester Metropolitan University