The Ethics of Ernst Lubitsch : Comedy Without Relief - Ivana Novak

The Ethics of Ernst Lubitsch

Comedy Without Relief

By: Ivana Novak (Editor), Gregor Moder (Editor)

Hardcover | 20 August 2024

At a Glance

Hardcover


RRP $163.00

$130.90

20%OFF

or 4 interest-free payments of $32.73 with

 or 

Aims to ship in 5 to 10 business days

When will this arrive by?
Enter delivery postcode to estimate

This collection considers Lubitsch, the famous author of Weimar and classical Hollywood cinema, as a role model for our times. From this ethical position Lubitsch''s cinema is regarded as a conceptual tool to unlock the serious issues of contemporary politics, culture, philosophy, philosophy of art and theatre. It is not only the socio-political or philosophical context of Lubitsch''s work that is at stake in these chapters; they go deeper than a simple film reading to explore Lubitsch as a lexicon with which we can analyze and explore the issues of our time.



The authors explore implications of films for political philosophy and re-think his ideas of revolution, communism, and capitalism (films such as Ninotchka, Oyster Princess). Many authors explore Lubitsch''s indirect approach to sexuality as a way to maintain the romantic and mysterious nature of sex in our time, as instead as a source of obscenity and awkwardness. Authors also explore radical political incorrectness and vileness of his characters, suggesting that one can solve the tyranny of PC and the absence of humor today with the help of Lubitsch. They also explore his feminism that could be used as a contrast to the #MeToo movement.
Industry Reviews

The title of this superb volume tells it all: it treats Ernst Lubitsch not just as a great director of comedies but as an author whose movies confront the basic ethical dilemmas of his time. Lubitsch is the greatest philosopher among movie directors, much greater than the celebrated art-movies classics. Is this not reason enough to read The Ethics of Ernst Lubitsch for all who care about the mess we're in?

--Slavoj Zizek, professor of philosophy, University of Ljubljana, Slovenia

There are those who see comedy only as a mode of relief from the dangers and anxieties of the real world and who thus dismiss the genre merely as a form of distraction. Such a ridiculous stance drastically avoids the precise ethical core of comedy, which, in the hands of Ernst Lubitsch, provides a real and authentic encounter with the world--one that is needed more than ever today. This is a fact demonstrated with excitement and brilliance by the authors collected in Novak and Moder's book. Building upon the rich and expanding analytical frameworks produced by the Ljubljana School for Theoretical Psychoanalysis, The Ethics of Ernst Lubitsch is a marvelous achievement showing why the name Lubitsch deserves to be etched in stone alongside the names Lacan and Hegel.

--Matthew Flisfeder, associate professor of rhetoric and communications, The University of Winnipeg, Canada

More in Philosophy & Aesthetics

The Birth of Tragedy : Penguin Classics - Friedrich Nietzsche

RRP $22.99

$21.90

Bluets - Maggie Nelson

Hardcover

RRP $22.99

$21.90

The Practice - Seth Godin

Paperback

RRP $32.99

$30.25

Color Charts : A History - Anne Varichon

RRP $89.99

$59.35

34%
OFF
The Joyous Science : Penguin Classics - Friedrich Nietzsche

RRP $22.99

$21.90

The Social Production of Art : Communications and Culture - Janet Wolff
Oil : Object Lessons - Michael Tondre

$19.99

The Beauty of Everyday Things : Penguin Modern Classics - Soetsu Yanagi
Humanistic Narratives - Professor Michel  Serres

RRP $130.00

$97.75

25%
OFF
Humanistic Narratives - Professor Michel  Serres

$90.50

Love A History : A History - Ryan Patrick Hanley

$201.50

Fregean Realism : Frodo Lives! and Other Fictions - Emily Baragwanath

RRP $197.00

$154.95

21%
OFF
Saying What One Thinks - L & #233; a Salje

$284.25