Introduction: Deleuze, Film Studies and National Identity

Abstract

This book uses Gilles Deleuze's philosophy of time to engage with a range of contemporary films from a number of different national cinemas. The films under discussion have all emerged within the very limited time span of the last ten years, from approximately the mid-1990s to the mid-2000s, and have been chosen in part because they each share a common concern with the manipulation of narrative time. Analysing the editing of European and American cinema, Deleuze drew a distinction between two types of image that he called the time-image and the movement-image. Over and above the matter of genre, the book examines how Deleuze's philosophy of time can help us understand the process through which the manipulation of narrative time is used to construct national identity. This book is motivated by the desire to illustrate the continuing relevance of Deleuze's theory for film studies, in an era when acknowledging historical context is increasingly important.