Pretty : film and the decorative image

408 Pages·2011·7.14 MB·English

by  Galt

“Remarkably wide-ranging and engagingly intricate. Rosalind Galt’s argument is bold, its mode co galt
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of argumentation sure and convincing. This very original take on culturally received and cul- e
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turally determining ideas and emotions surrounding visual pleasure is long overdue. Galt’s im
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book is a necessary contribution to the study of the image in film and to visuality studies.” ge
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Brigitte Peucker, author of The Material Image: Art and the Real in Film : g
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and Incorporating Images: Film and the Rival Arts t
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Fthilem m courletu prero ovfotecnat irveeje, cptos lvitiiscuaal,l layn rdic htr uimlya cgiense,m traetaitci ncgh osiicme.p Clicinitey,m aau smtearyit yc,h oarl leevnegne utgralidnietisosn aasl o, tor ee
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ideas of art, but its opposition to the decorative represents a long-standing Western aesthetic en
bias against feminine cosmetics, Oriental effeminacy, and primitive ornament. Inheriting this t (i tt
patriarchal, colonial perspective—which treats decorative style as foreign or sexually perverse— �bÁn yy
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filmmakers, critics, and theorists have often denigrated colorful, picturesque, and richly pat- z, 19
terned visions in cinema. 26 f
Condemning the exclusion of the “pretty” from masculine film culture, Rosalind Galt ), © i
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reevaluates received ideas about the decorative impulse from early film criticism to classical ph m pppp rrrr eeee tttt tttt yyyy
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and postclassical film theory. The pretty embodies lush visuality, dense mise-en-scène, paint- t
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erly framing, and arabesque camera movements—styles increasingly central to world cin- fe a
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ema. From European art cinema to the films of Wong Kar-wai and Santosh Sivan, from the t; a n
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experimental films of Derek Jarman to the popular pleasures of Moulin Rouge!, the pretty is d
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a vital element of contemporary cinema, communicating distinct sexual and political identi- n’s t f i l m a n d t h e d e c o r at i v e i m a g e
ties. Inverting the logic of anti-pretty thought, Galt firmly establishes the decorative image as a wa h
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queer aesthetic, uniquely able to figure cinema’s perverse pleasures and cross-cultural encoun- k o e
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ters. Creating her own critical tapestry from perspectives in art theory, film theory, and philo- m d
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sophy, Galt reclaims prettiness as a radically transgressive style, shimmering with threads of n e
political agency. (ja c
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“One of the most attractive features of Galt’s book is her ability to corral so many different iter- n, 19 ra
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tahtieo nens do fa a gret naenrda lf itlhme ocrryit oicfi swmor aldn dc ipnreomviad,e o sf oa mpraenttyy e wxaomrldp lceisn fermoma. ”world cinema, effecting in 3), cou tiv
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Akira Mizuta Lippit, University of Southern California te e
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Rosalind Galt is senior lecturer in film studies at the University of Sussex. She is the th m
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author of The New European Cinema: Redrawing the Map and coeditor of Global Art Cinema: a a
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New Theories and Histories. h
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columbia university press new york www.cup.columbia.edu esig
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P R E T T Y
film and culture

R g
osalind alt
P R E T T Y
F FIILLMM AANNDD TTHHEE DDEECCOORRAATTIIVVEE IIMMAAGGEE
columbia university press new york
columbia university press
Publishers Since 1893
new york chichester, west sussex
Copyright © 2011 Columbia University Press
All rights reserved
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Galt, Rosalind.
Pretty : fi lm and the decorative image / Rosalind Galt.
p. cm. — (Film and culture)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
Includes fi lmography.
ISBN 978-0-231-15346-1 (cloth : alk. paper)
ISBN 978-0-231-15347-8 (pbk. : alk. paper)
ISBN 978-0-231-52695-1 (ebook)
1. Motion pictures—Aesthetics. I. Title. II. Series.
PN1995.G245 2011
791.4301—dc22
2010045025
Columbia University Press books are printed on permanent and durable acid-free paper.
This book is printed on paper with recycled content.
Printed in the United States of America
c 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
p 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
References to Internet Web sites (URLs) were accurate at the time of writing. Neither the
author nor Columbia University Press is responsible for URLs that may have expired or
changed since the manuscript was prepared.
contents
List of Illustrations vii
Acknowledgments ix
introduction
The Pretty as Troublesome Image 1
1. from aesthetics to film aesthetics
Or, Beauty and Truth Redux 38
2. colors
Derek Jarman and Queer Aesthetics 75
3. ornament and modernity
From Decorative Art to Cultural Criticism 97
4. objects
Oriental Style and the Arabesques of M oulin Rouge! 141
5. at the crossroads
Iconoclasm and the Anti-aesthetic in Postwar Film and Theory 177
6. forms
Soy Cuba and Revolutionary Beauty 213
7. perverse prettiness
Sexuality, Gender, and Aesthetic Exclusion 236
8. bodies
The Sumptuous Charms of Ulrike Ottinger 279
postscript
Toward a Worldly Image 298
Notes 305
Filmography 345
Bibliography 351
Index 377

illustrations
1. T heeviravaathi / The Terrorist (Sivan, 1998) 14
2. C idade de Deus / City of God (Meirelles and Lund, 2002) 19
3. L e fabuleux destin d ’Amélie Poulain / Amelie (Jeunet, 2001) 23
4. Kehinde Wiley, A fter Sir Anthony Van Dyck ’s King Charles I and
Henrietta Maria (2009) 28
5. B amako (Sissako, 2006) 30
6. J u Dou (Zhang, 1990) 30
7. Xích lô /C yclo (Tran, 1995) 31
8. Walter Crane, “The Origin of Outline” (1900) 40
9. T he Red Shoes (Powell and Pressburger, 1948) 46
10. T he Cheat (DeMille, 1915) 57
11. Ivan Groznyy II / Ivan the Terrible , Part I I(Eisenstein, 1958) 73
12. The Art of Mirrors (Jarman, 1973) 83
13. Death Dance (Jarman, 1973) 84
14. Arabia (Jarman, 1974) 85
15. A shden ’ s Walk on Møn (Jarman, 1973) 91
16. Ashden ’ s Walk on Møn 92
17. A shden ’ s Walk on Møn 92
18. Franz Sales Meyer, A Handbook of Ornament (1898) 101
viii illustrations
19. Otto Wagner, Majolikahaus (1898) 110
20. Alexander Nevsky (Eisenstein, 1938) 120
21. Adolf Loos, House Josephine Baker (1927) 123
22. Josephine Baker’s famous banana skirt 126
23. Torrent (Ibáñez, 1926) 127
24. Eugène Delacroix, Femmes d ’Alger dans leur appartement (1834) 145
25. Moulin Rouge! (Luhrmann, 2001) 146
26. Publicity image of Clara Bow 150
27. Moulin Rouge! 151
28. Marius Maure, postcard of Algerian women (1900) 152
29. Moulin Rouge ! 156
30. Jean-Léon Gérôme, The Snake Charmer (ca. 1870) 158
31. Column in the Alhambra 166
32. L ola Montès (Ophüls, 1955) 174
33. Vent d ’Est (Godard / Gorin / Dziga Vertov Group, 1970) 179
34. All T hat Heaven Allows (Sirk, 1955) 185
35. Il conformista / T he Conformist (Bertolucci, 1971) 199
36. D ie bitteren Träner der Petra von Kant / The Bitter Tears of
Petra von Kant (Fassbinder, 1972) 202
37. Soy Cuba / I Am Cuba (Kalatozov, 1964) 222
38. Soy Cuba 227
39. Soy Cuba 229
40. Soy Cuba 231
41. Soy Cuba 233
42. Gianlorenzo Bernini, The Ecstasy of Saint Teresa (1647–1652) 243
4 3. T ian bian yi duo dun / The Wayward Cloud (Tsai, 2005) 267
44. Catherine Opie, “Self-Portrait / Pervert” (1994) 275
45. Ecstasy in Berlin 1926 (Beatty, 2004) 276
46. Johanna d ’Arc of Mongolia (Ottinger, 1989) 281
47. Johanna d ’Arc of M ongolia 283
48. J ohanna d ’Arc of Mongolia 292
49. Johanna d ’Arc of Mongolia 296
50. L ’i ntrus / The Intruder (Denis, 2004) 302
acknowledgments
T his book has been many years in the making, and t he
development of my ideas has been helped by more people than I can eas-
ily list. Karl Schoonover has been both an incisive, generous reader and a
source of truly invaluable support. Corey Creekmur, Nicole Rizzuto, Mi-
chael Lawrence, Louis-Georges Schwartz, and John David Rhodes read
drafts of various parts of the book. Their astute suggestions have im-
proved the book immeasurably. Other important interlocutors were Lynne
Joyrich and the readers at Camera Obscura, which published an early itera-
tion of the project. Together they challenged me to push on the intellec-
tual histories of the pretty and to refi ne my claims. The readers for Co-
lumbia University Press also off ered rich and perceptive responses to the
manuscript and provided me with helpful advice for revisions. Thanks
also go to my editor at Columbia, Jennifer Crewe, and to John Belton for
their support of the project, as well as to copy editor Annie Barva and to
editor Irene Pavitt for shepherding the book through production.
T hroughout the research and writing of the book, my colleagues at the
University of Iowa and the University of Sussex have been incredibly sup-
portive. Department heads Steve Ungar and Sue Thornham nourished my
research, and my colleagues Rick Altman, Lauren Rabinovitz, Rosemarie