From a war-torn and poverty-stricken country, regional and predominantly agrarian, to the success story of recent years, Italy has witnessed the most profound transformation--economic, social and demographic--in its entire history. Yet the other recurrent theme of the period has been the overwhelming need for political reform--and the repeated failure to achieve it. Professor Ginsborg's authoritative work--the first to combine social and political perspectives--is concerned with both the tremendous achievements of contemporary Italy and "the continuities of its history that have not been easily set aside."

Everyday aesthetic experiences and concerns occupy a large part of our aesthetic life. However, because of their prevalence and mundane nature, we tend not to pay much attention to them, let alone examine their significance. Western aesthetic theories of the past few centuries also neglect everyday aesthetics because of their almost exclusive emphasis on art. In a ground-breaking new study, Yuriko Saito provides a detailed investigation into our everyday aesthetic experiences, and reveals how our everyday aesthetic tastes and judgments can exert a powerful influence on the state of the world and our quality of life. By analysing a wide range of examples from our aesthetic interactions with nature, the environment, everyday objects, and Japanese culture, Saito illustrates the complex nature of seemingly simple and innocuous aesthetic responses. She discusses the inadequacy of art-centered aesthetics, the aesthetic appreciation of the distinctive characters of objects or phenomena, responses to various manifestations of transience, and the aesthetic expression of moral values; and she examines the moral, political, existential, and environmental implications of these and other issues.

Philosophy of Art is a textbook for undergraduate students interested in the topic of philosophical aesthetics.It introduces the techniques of analytic philosophy as well as key topics such as the representational theory of art, formalism, neo-formalism, aesthetic theories of art, neo-Wittgensteinism, the Institutional Theory of Art. as well as historical approaches to the nature of art.Throughout, abstract philosophical theories are illustrated by examples of both traditional and contemporary art including frequent reference to the avant-garde in this way enriching the readers understanding of art theory as well as the appreciation of art.Unique features of the textbook are: * chapter summaries* summaries of major theories of art and suggested analyses of the important categories used when talking and thinking of art* annotated suggested readings at the ends of chapters.Also available in this series: Epistemology Pb: 0-415-13043-3: �12.99Ethics Pb: 0-415-15625-4: �11.99Metaphysics Pb: 0-415-14034-X: �12.99Philosophy of Mind Pb: 0-415-13060-3: �11.99Philosophy of Religion Pb: 0-415-13214-2: �12.99

From Plato's "Ion" to works by contemporary philosophers, this anthology showcases classic texts to illuminate the development of philosophical thought about art and the aesthetic. This volume is the most comprehensive collection of readings on aesthetics and the philosophy of art currently available. Brings together the most significant writings in aesthetics and philosophy of art from the past 2500 years Each section includes a useful introductory essay which provides an overview of developments in the field Broken down into three sections: Historical Sources, Modern Theories, and Contemporary Aesthetics and Philosophy of Art Thorough, systematic, and flexible, including two alternative tables of contents (historical and topical); an ideal textbook and guide to the field

This is a revised and enlarged version of Bryan Magee's widely praised study of Schopenhauer, the most comprehensive book on this great philosopher. It contains a brief biography of Schopenhauer, a systematic exposition of his thought, and a critical discussion of the problems to which it gives rise and of its influence on a wide range of thinkers and artists. For this new edition Magee has added three new chapters and made many minor revisions and corrections throughout. This new edition will consolidate the book's standing as the definitive study of Schopenhauer.

"The American Cinema is the Citizen Kane of film criticism, a brilliant book that elevated American directors from craftsmen to artists, launched the careers of numerous film critics, and shaped the aesthetics of a whole generation of viewers by providing new ways of looking at movies."--Emanuel Levy, author of George Cukor, Master of EleganceThe auteur theory, of which film critic Andrew Sarris was the leading American proponent, holds that artistry in cinema can be largely attributed to film directors, who, while often working against the strictures of studios, producers, and scriptwriters, manage to infuse each film in their oeuvre with their personal style. Sarris's The American Cinema, the bible of auteur studies, is a history of American film in the form of a lively guide to the work of two hundred film directors, from Griffith, Chaplin, and von Sternberg to Mike Nichols, Stanley Kubrick, and Jerry Lewis. In addition, the book includes a chronology of the most important American films, an alphabetical list of over 6000 films with their directors and years of release, and the seminal essays "Toward a Theory of Film History" and "The Auteur Theory Revisited." Over twenty-five years after its initial publication, The American Cinema remains perhaps the most influential book ever written on the subject.

Robert Bresson makes some quite radical distinctions between what he terms "cinematography" and something quite different: "cinema"—which is for him nothing but an attempt to photograph theater and use it for the screen.Director of The Trial of Joan of Arc, Pickpocket, A Prisoner Escapes, Diary of a Country Priest, Money, and many other classic films, Robert Bresson is, quite simply, one of the most brilliant cinematographers in the history of film.

“When a film is not a document, it is a dream. . . . At the editing table, when I run the strip of film through, frame by frame, I still feel that dizzy sense of magic of my childhood.” Bergman, who has conveyed this heady sense of wonder and vision to moviegoers for decades, traces his lifelong love affair with film in his breathtakingly visual autobiography, The Magic Lantern.More grand mosaic than linear account, Bergman’s vignettes trace his life from a rural Swedish childhood through his work in theater to Hollywood’s golden age, and a tumultuous romantic history that includes five wives and more than a few mistresses. Throughout, Bergman recounts his life in a series of deeply personal flashbacks that document some of the most important moments in twentieth-century filmmaking as well as the private obsessions of the man behind them. Ambitious in scope yet sensitively wrought, The Magic Lantern is a window to the mind of one of our era’s great geniuses.“[Bergman] has found a way to show the soul’s landscape . . . . Many gripping revelations.”—New York Times Book Review“Joan Tate’s translation of this book has delicacy and true pitch . . . The Magic Lantern is as personal and penetrating as a Bergman film, wry, shadowy, austere.”—New Republic“[Bergman] keeps returning to his past, reassessing it, distilling its meaning, offering it to his audiences in dazzling new shapes.”—New York Times“What Bergman does relate, particularly his tangled relationships with his parents, is not only illuminating but quite moving. No ‘tell-all’ book this one, but revealing in ways that much longer and allegedly ‘franker’ books are not.”—Library Journal

"No denunciation without its proper instrument of close analysis," Roland Barthes wrote in his preface to Mythologies. There is no more proper instrument of analysis of our contemporary myths than this book—one of the most significant works in French theory, and one that has transformed the way readers and philosophers view the world around them.Our age is a triumph of codification. We own devices that bring the world to the command of our fingertips. We have access to boundless information and prodigious quantities of stuff. We decide to like or not, to believe or not, to buy or not. We pick and choose. We think we are free. Yet all around us, in pop culture, politics, mainstream media, and advertising, there are codes and symbols that govern our choices. They are the fabrications of consumer society. They express myths of success, well-being, and happiness. As Barthes sees it, these myths must be carefully deciphered, and debunked.What Barthes discerned in mass media, the fashion of plastic, and the politics of postcolonial France applies with equal force to today's social networks, the iPhone, and the images of 9/11. This new edition of Mythologies, complete and beautifully rendered by the Pulitzer Prize–winning poet, critic, and translator Richard Howard, is a consecration of Barthes's classic—a lesson in clairvoyance that is more relevant now than ever.

Image-Music-Text brings together major essays by Roland Barthes on the structural analysis of narrative and on issues in literary theory, on the semiotics of photograph and film, and on the practice of music and voice.Throughout the volume runs a constant movement from work to text: an attention to the very ‘grain’ of signifying activity and the desire to follow – in literature, image, film, song and theatre – whatever turns, displaces, shifts, disperses.Stephen Heath, whose translation has been described as ‘skilful and readable’ (TLS) and ‘quite brilliant’ (TES), is the author of Vertige du déplacement, a study of Barthes. His selection of essays, each important in its own right, also serves as ‘the best... introduction so far to Barthes’ career as the slayer of contemporary myths’. (John Sturrock, New Statesman)

lumet's an interesting guy to think about if one decides to make a film -- the guy's made some of the best films of our time. but for me, lumet provides a cautionary tale of what not to become. 12 Angry MenDog Day AfternoonNetworkThe VerdictSerpicoBefore the Devil Knows You're Deadall good. and Network is great. and he's made about fifty bad movies including A Stranger Among Us, Guilty as Sin, the remake of Gloria, etc...lumet's obviously an intelligent guy with good taste (cites Carl Dreyer as his favorite director - nice) -- and he's an auteur: a thematic quality runs through his best work and he clearly chooses his material by a certain standard. but lumet is at the mercy of two things: (1) the time in which he lives and (2) his cinematographer. (it's also worth noting that he comes from television which is about as visually distinctive as high school yearbook photography) check it out:(1) why are his 70s movies better? why do his 90s movies suck? well, he was a younger man in the 70s than in the 90s and had more fire in his belly. of course. but he was also making films in american cinema's 2nd golden age - the spirit of the time dominated his films: gritty, tough films both thematically and visually; intense character studies about flawed people; obsessive and paranoid films as a response to nixon/watergate/vietnam.(2) lumet's great w/actors. for sure. his pacing is great, he knows how to construct a scene... but visually, is there a 'lumet style'? well - in making movies he states, for example, that the color blue never once appears in The Verdict (paul newman's eyes!) as he wanted the film to have an autumnal feel. ok. that's kinda cool. but, ultimately, is there anything visual to distinguish a sidney lumet film? naw, not really. and this is ok. same for howard hawks - for hawks it's all a 'code of masculinity' and saucy dames. he left the visuals to the camera guy. fuck that. i don't wanna be at the mercy of my cinematographer. greg toland (cinematographer of Citizen Kane) famously explained that orson welles was able to reinvent cinema with his first feature in that he didn't know the 'rules', he didn't understand the limitations -- he demanded shots from toland that hadn't been done before and refused to hear that they couldn't be done. but there's only one orson welles. the rest of us will believe our DP when s/he tells us that a shot cannot be done. the rest of us will allow our DP to construct a shot. fuck that. filmmakers rule #1 -- on set, know how to do everybody's job better than them. spielberg has kaminski, a visual fucking god, but every spielberg film looks like a spielberg film.in the early 90s francis ford coppola said that new technology would democratize cinema. a few years back james gray said that new technology hasn't done much in the way of the democratization of cienema in that 99.9% of 'homemade' movies suck. gray's right. you gotta know the technical stuff. lumet is a very good filmmaker. (and i thank him kindly for Before the Devil Knows You're Dead -- the naked marisa tomei scenes have provided invaluable masturbatory assistance). and making movies is a great read. but, for me, it's a cautionary tale. i might never make a film as good as network. shit, i hope i make one half as good. but fuck if i let my cinematographer or the time in which i live be the deciding factor of what my film looks like! be like a writer banging out the beats of his novel only to have someone else handle the prose!* this is in no way meant to disparage cinematographers. the great ones are every bit the genius as the great directors. and a great cinematographer matched with a great director (bergman/nykvist godard/coutard, coppola/willis) can create something transcendent. but i ain't a cinematographer. and in terms of my shit, i'm an insufferable egomaniac. and hopefully the tension b/t a tough-minded director and tough-minded cinematographer will make 'em both better than they could've been on their own.

Mana Da Leech

oolie

Books on Film & Aesthetics

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Niko Aiello

I guess I’m more of an arthouse snob than I thought

1979 American war film directed by Francis Ford Coppola

Best of All Time

1987 American science fiction parody movie directed by Mel Brooks

Sci-Fi and/or Horror 

2014 film directed by John Michael McDonagh

Watchlist 2.0

Sundance was good this year - TasteDive has not update most of these with accurate trailers/photos, descriptions are mostly okay

2023 film list

I like stuff with financial crime, or drugs. Or financial crime related to drugs

Crime

Board Games

Seductiveness of the miraculous, embrace of authoritarianism, corruption in power, isolation and loneliness, reflection on grief

Books on Film & Aesthetics

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Best of All Time

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Watchlist 2.0

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