Absence in Cinema

Absence has played a crucial role in the history of avant-garde aesthetics, from the blank canvases of Robert Rauschenberg to Yves Kleins invisible paintings, from the silent music of John Cage to Samuel Becketts minimalist theater. Yet little attention has been given to the important role of absence in cinema. In the first book to focus on cinematic absence, Justin Remes demonstrates how omissions of expected elements can spur viewers to interpret and understand the nature of film in new ways. While most film criticism focuses on what is present, such as images on the screen and music and dialogue on the soundtrack, Remes contends that what is missing is an essential part of the cinematic experience. He examines films without imagessuch as Walter Ruttmanns Weekend (1930), a montage of sounds recorded in Berlinand films without soundsuch as Stan Brakhages Window Water Baby Moving (1959), which documents the birth of the filmmakers first child. He also examines found footage films that erase elements from preexisting films such as Naomi Umans removed (1999), which uses nail polish and bleach to blot out all the women from a pornographic film, and Martin Arnolds Deanimated (2002), which digitally eliminates images and sounds from a Bela Lugosi B movie. Remes maps out the effects and significations of filmic voids while grappling with their implications for film theory. Through a careful analysis of a broad array of avant-garde works, Absence in Cinema reveals that films must be understood not only in terms of what they show but also what they withhold.