The Avant-Garde Feature Film

Here is a critical and historical overview of unconventional and aesthetically challenging films, all of feature length. The author focuses on the particular forms of contemporary avant-garde films, which often rely on characteristics associated with historical films of the same genre. Included are works by such visionary filmmakers as David Lynch, Luis Bunuel, Jean Cocteau, Jean-Luc Godard, Guy Maddin and Derek Jarman.
The first of the two appendices contains a filmography of key avant-garde feature films, from Haxan: Witchcraft Through the Ages (1922) to Maximum Shame (2010). The second appendix offers a brief list of directors who have made significant contributions to films that take alternative approaches to cinematic practice, establishing new grounds for analysis and evaluation.

William E.B. Verrone has written extensively on both avant-garde and mainstream filmmakers, and has served as executive director and convener of The Conference on Global Film. He teaches film and English at the University of North Alabama, where he chairs the film studies minor.

William E.B. Verrone
Format: softcover (6 x 9)
Pages: 230
Bibliographic Info: appendices, notes, bibliography, index
Copyright Date: 2012
pISBN: 978-0-7864-5910-0
eISBN: 978-0-7864-8881-0
Imprint: McFarland

Acknowledgments      viii

Preface      1

Introduction      5

Part I: Avant-Garde Film: History, Theory and Criticism      17

1. What Is an Avant-Garde Film?      18

2. The Historical Avant-Gardes and the Styles of Influence for the Avant-Garde Feature Film      33

3. Case Studies      50

Part II: The Real Avant-Garde      71

4. Some Considerations of the Influence of the Real Avant-Garde      72

5. Case Studies      76

Part III: The Contemporary Avant-Garde Feature Film      93

6. Underground Film and the Avant-Garde      100

7. Types of Avant-Garde Feature Films      108

8. Case Studies      131

Conclusion      193

Appendix A: Some Avant-Garde Feature Films      195

Appendix B: Directors of Avant-Garde Feature Films      200

Chapter Notes      201

Bibliography      210

Index      219