Existentialist Cinema

Existentialism, in its various forms, has fascinated readers since the nineteenth century. This book approaches the movement as a description of how human beings make a meaningful life, investigating themes like freedom, bad faith, authenticity, and religiosity in that light. Film artists, no less than philosophers, can provide compelling insights into existentialist issues, as is revealed in a discussion of the works of Antonioni, Bergman, Allen, Fellini, and others. Part I argues for the use of film as a tool for the investigation of philosophical existentialism, making a case for film realism based on the notion that films portray human experience very close to how we live it. Part II applies those arguments, pairing particular movies with specific themes in existentialism. The resulting discussion furthers our understanding of the search for meaning, sometimes corroborating the views of the philosophers, but sometimes showing where the philosophical views can be expanded.