Feel-Bad Film

Nikolaj Lübecker is Professor of French and Film Studies at The University of Oxford. His previous publications include Twenty-First-Century Symbolism: Verlaine, Baudelaire, Mallarmé (2022), James Benning’s Environments (co-edited with Daniele Rugo, 2019) and The Feel-Bad Film (2015).

• List of illustrationsAcknowledgementsIntroductionPart 1: Assault1.1 The Inner Bastard: von Trier’s Dogville1.2 Ethics via the Body: Funny Games, Daisy Diamond and Jacques Rancière1.3 Going too far? de Palma’s RedactedPart 2: Unease2.1 Buying a bunch of radishes: Van Sant’s Elephant2.2 An Ethics of Suspension: I Can’t Sleep, Hidden and Judith Butler2.3 Embracing Childhood: Hadzihalilovic’ Innocence and Brakhage’s Kindering; Coda: Östlund’s Play, Between Assault and UneasePart 3: Transgression, TransgressionIntroduction: Third Generation Avant-Garde?3.1 The Avant-Garde as Tragedy: Dumont’s Twentynine Palms3.2 Desperation Films: Code Blue, In My Skin and The Bastards3.3 The Avant-Garde as Farce: Korine’s Trash HumpersConclusionBibliographyFilmographyIndex

Lubecker’s book is one of the most interesting studies of films that provoke feelings of discomfort; the clear, apodictic and jargon-free writing style makes it a pleasure to read while his close readings of the films demonstrate a passion for the objects. The films are not mere illustrators of theory, but dynamic objects, whose ambiguity and provocations force us to theorise.'