The Art of Pure Cinema Hitchcock and His Imitators

273 Pages·2020·61.766 MB·English

by  Isaacs Bruce

The Art of Pure Cinema

The Art of Pure Cinema
Hitchcock and His Imitators
BRUCE ISAACS
1
3
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Isaacs, Bruce, author.
Title: The art of pure cinema : Hitchcock and his imitators / Bruce Isaacs.
Description: New York : Oxford University Press, 2020. |
Includes bibliographical references and index. |
Identifiers: LCCN 2019039326 (print) | LCCN 2019039327 (ebook) |
ISBN 9780190889951 (hardback) | ISBN 9780190889968 (paperback) |
ISBN 9780190889975 (updf) | ISBN 9780190889982 (epub) | ISBN 9780190889999 (online)
Subjects: LCSH: Hitchcock, Alfred, 1899–1980—Criticism and interpretation. |
Hitchcock, Alfred, 1899–1980—Influence.
Classification: LCC PN1998.3.H58 I88 2020 (print) |
LCC PN1998.3.H58 (ebook) | DDC 791.4302/33092—dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2019039326
LC ebook record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2019039327
9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Paperback printed by Integrated Books International, United States of America
Hardback printed by Bridgeport National Bindery, Inc., United States of America
For my son, Byron Robert Isaacs

Contents
Acknowledgments ix
Introduction: The Myth of Pure Cinema 1
I. THE EVOLUTION OF PURE CINEMA
1. Pure Cinema in Context 15
2. Hitchcock’s Interlocutors 41
II. THE MECHANICS OF PURE CINEMA
3. The Part Is Greater Than the Whole: Toward an Aesthetic
Philosophy of the Fragment 61
4. The Fragmented Frame 1: Expression, Abstraction,
Schematization 84
5. Intensified Schematics: Bava, Argento, and De Palma’s
Body Double 108
6. The Fragmented Frame 2: Segmentation 127
7. Music You Can Hear: Toward an Abstract Soundscape 164
Conclusion: The Fractal Image in De Palma’s Femme Fatale 185
Notes 213
Bibliography 233
Filmography 241
Index 245

Acknowledgments
The major part of this book was written over a period of study leave in 2017;
I want to thank the University of Sydney for funding this research semester,
which was intensely enjoyable. Stuart Cottle and Nicky Hannan, both bril-
liant film scholars, were integral to the development and progress of the proj-
ect; they were not only model readers and researchers but enormous fun to
work with. I also want to thank the Sydney Literature and Cinema Group,
and especially Kim Wilkins, Peter Marks, Paul Sheehan, Ryan Twomey,
Blythe Worthy, Sabina Rahman, and anyone else who read parts of this book
and made it better. I work with many excellent people in my department and
across the university, who are a constant reminder of the privilege of my po-
sition. Mark Ledbury’s passion for art, film, and music is completely infec-
tious, and I thank him for the many conversations over the years.
Norman Hirschy at Oxford University Press was simply the most generous
(and patient) editor I could have wished for. He was interested in this project
from the start, which gave me the confidence to pursue it doggedly. I thank
Norm, but also Sarah Gleeson- White, my colleague in the Department of
English, for steering me in Norm’s direction.
Last, I want to thank my wife, Rebecca Goldsworthy, whose presence is
in every thought and word, and my twin brother, Herschel Isaacs, for a life
spent talking movies. This book is dedicated to my son, Byron.