The Horror of True Tears

The Fright of Real Tears: Krzystof Kieslowski between Theory and Post-Theory

It is quite fitting that Kieslowski's work begins with the horror of real tears and ends with an outpouring of imaginary tears. These are not involuntary tears that break down protective walls, not the spontaneous expression of personal emotion, but dramatic, performative tears, "canned tears" (like the canned laughter on a television show) that regain distance, or, as the ancient Roman poets put it, "lacrimae rerum" ("all sins, all things pitiable"), tears shed openly for the Other, when we no longer care for (or even hate) the deceased we are mourning. This regained distance is about the gap between statement and declaration: tears are declarations that imply the opposite statement, namely, happiness.
——Zizek

To help bring film thought back to the intellectual mainstream, the British Film Institute invited Žižek to deliver a series of lectures at the National Theatre, which are now compiled into this book. All of Žižek's writings are ambitious, and this book can be seen as a prime example of his efforts to renew film studies by intensifying his theoretical ambitions. He employs Marx, Freud, and Lacan to offer a dazzling interpretation and cross-examination of Kieslowski's films.
Like all his books, The Terror of Real Tears combines controversy and rigor, wit and insight. It shows us that there is no such thing as fundamental film analysis without theoretical insight—and that theory must be resurrected and reborn again and again through a genuine love of cinema.

2018-03-01

武汉大学出版社

Deerbook

288

9787307175266