Claude Chabrol's Aesthetics of Opacity

Claude Chabrol's cinema is often associated with psychological thrillers, but his films are deceptively accessible and deeply reflexive, exploring themes of murder, incest, fragmented families, unstable spaces, and inscrutable female characters. Catherine Dousteyssier-Khoze's book explores Chabrol's aesthetic of opacity, challenging the apparent clarity and comfort of his chosen genre and encouraging the viewer to reflect on the relationship between illusion and reality.

Format: Paperback / softback
Length: 224 pages
Publication date: 31 May 2019
Publisher: Edinburgh University Press

Claude Chabrol's cinema is often associated with a particular type of psychological thriller, often set in the French provinces and focusing on murder, incest, fragmented families, unstable spaces, and enigmatic female characters. However, Chabrol's films are both deceptively accessible and deeply reflective, and Catherine Dousteyssier-Khoze's innovative reappraisal of his filmography explores the Chabrol who was influenced by Balzac, Magritte, and Stanley Kubrick. By highlighting Chabrol's aesthetic of opacity, the book challenges the apparent clarity and comfort of his chosen genre, prompting the viewer to reflect on the relationship between illusion and reality and the status of the film image itself.

Weight: 310g
Dimension: 154 x 234 x 11 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9781474431866