Surrealism, Cinema, and the Search for a New Myth

"This is one of the most significant books written on Surrealism and cinema due partly to the fearless manner by which it journeys towards hitherto unjustifiably neglected realms of the Surrealist filmography, but also the way it makes this journey thoroughly equipped methodologically for the challenges it faces. It is a wide-ranging achievement of original thought, concentrated research and precise exposition that should be read by all those with an interest in film and Surrealism." (Gavin Parkinson, Senior Lecturer in European Modernism, The Courtauld Institute of Art, UK, and author of Futures of Surrealism: Myth, Science Fiction and Fantastic Art in France 1936-1969)

Kristoffer Noheden looks to the Danish surrealist artist Wilhelm Freddie’s forays into the experimental short film, the French poet Benjamin Péret’s contribution to the documentary film L’Invention du monde, the Argentinean-born filmmaker Nelly Kaplan’s feature films, and the Czech animator Jan Svankmajer’s work in short and feature films.

This book examines post-war surrealist cinema in relation to surrealism’s change in direction towards myth and magic following World War II. Intermedial and interdisciplinary, the book unites cinema studies with art history and the study of Western esotericism, closely engaging with a wide range of primary sources, including surrealist journals, art, exhibitions, and writings. Kristoffer Noheden looks to the Danish surrealist artist Wilhelm Freddie’s forays into the experimental short film, the French poet Benjamin Péret’s contribution to the documentary film L’Invention du monde, the Argentinean-born filmmaker Nelly Kaplan’s feature films, and the Czech animator Jan Svankmajer’s work in short and feature films. The book traces a continuous engagement with myth and magic throughout these films, uncovering a previously unknown strain of occult imagery in surrealist cinema. It broadens the scope of the study of not only surrealist cinema, but of surrealism across the art forms. Surrealism, Cinema, and the Search for a New Myth will appeal to film scholars, art historians, and those interested in the impact of occultism on modern culture, film, and the arts.