Afterimages: On Cinema, Women and Changing Times

This book marks a return for Laura Mulvey to questions of film theory and feminism, as well as a reconsideration of new and old film technologies. Its title, Afterimages, alludes to the dislocation of time that runs through many of the films and works in this book, and the way we view them. Structured in three main parts, the book begins with a section on the theme of woman as spectacle. Part Two focuses on films drawn from different parts of the world, directed by women and about women, and all adopting radical cinematic strategies. In Part Three Mulvey considers moving image works made for art galleries and argues that the aesthetics of cinema have persisted into this environment. Afterimages also features an appendix of ten frequently asked questions on her classic feminist essay Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema, in which Mulvey addresses questions of spectatorship crucial to our era of #MeToo. This is an urgent and compelling read for anyone interested in the power and pleasures of moving images.