http://www.egs.edu/
Claire Denis, filmmaker and director and
Jean-Luc Nancy, philosopher, author and writer discuss
Denis's film "
35 Shots of Rum." In this discussion Claire Denis and Jean-Luc Nancy talk about family dynamics, love, incest, ritual, suicide, the
Caribbean, colonialism,
Alex Descas,
May 68,
Yasujirō Ozu, "
The Intruder," and the artist formally known as
Prince. This is the fourth lecture of
Professor Denis's
2011 course on her work.
Public lecture open for the students and faculty of the
European Graduate School EGS Media and
Communication Studies department program
Saas-Fee Switzerland Europe. 2011. Claire Denis. Jean-Luc Nancy.
Claire Denis (born in 1948,
Paris, France) is an award-winning filmmaker and professor of film at the European Graduate School. Denis is recognized as one of the preeminent voices in contemporary
European cinema. The themes of post-colonialism, its despondency and malaise, first exposed in her debut film,
Chocolat (
1988), have shadowed her career. In her later work Denis reveals the incomprehensibility and tragedy that underlie, and perhaps support, the calm surface we restrict our attention to. Denis exposes the exceptions, conflicts, and unforeseen and unaccountable intrusions that weave through the fabric of our skin, and the spaces holding us together, in a manner indisputably pronounced uncanny. The settings and plots of
Trouble Every Day (
2001),
Nenette and Boni (
1996),
No Fear, No Die (
1990),
Good Work (
1999) and
White Material (2009) vary widely, but the concept of the almost symbiotic dependency between individuals and their environment is rightly unwavering, and reveals the ignored and yet unfathomable tension this forces on relations, decisions, and actions. Her work does justice to cinema's claim as cultural anthropology. Denis' films expose the incomprehensible which always lies in the background, and only reveals itself to the unassuming in spectacular moments. Her narratives carry a fate which always whispers 'not yet', only to explode in a moment as 'always already'.
Claire Denis is the director of feature films: Chocolat/
Chocolate (1988), S'en fout le mort/No Fear, No Die (1990),
J'ai pas sommeil/
I Can't Sleep (
1994),
Nenette et Boni/Nenette and Boni (1996),
Beau travail/Good Work (1999), Trouble Every Day (2001),
Vendredi soir/
Friday Night (
2002),
L'intrus/The Intruder (2004),
35 rhums/35 Shots of Rum (2008), White Material (2009); short films: Keep it for
Yourself (
1991),
Contre l'oubli/
Against Oblivion (1991), Boom-Boom (1994),
Tous les garcons et les filles de leur Age/All the
Boys and the
Girls of Their Age (1994), A propos de nice, la suite (
1995),
Ten Minutes Older:
The Cello (2002), To the
Devil (2011); and documentaries: Man no Run (
1989),
Jacques Rivette, le veilleur/
Jacques Rivette, the
Watchman (1990),
Vers Mathilde/Towards Mathilde (
2005).
Jean-Luc Nancy (b.
1940, Cauderan,
France) is the
G. W. F.
Hegel Chair at the European Graduate School.
Nancy received his
Ph.D. in
Philosophy in
1973, writing a dissertation on
Immanuel Kant, under the supervision of the esteemed
French philosopher,
Paul Ricoeur. Shortly following his graduation, Nancy became the 'maître de conférences' at the
University of Strasbourg. During the following decades Nancy lectured at numerous universities, including the
Institut de Philosophie in
Strasbourg, Freie Universität in
Berlin, and the
University of California. In addition to his professorships, in
1980, together with his long-time collaborator
Phillipe Lacoue-Labarthe, Nancy organized the infamous Les fins de l'homme conference. Two remarkable and ambitious books emerged from this conference: Rejouer le politique (
1981) and Le retrait du politique (Retreating the Political,
1997).
Later, Nancy and Lacoue-Labarthe founded the
Centre for Philosophical
Research of the Political. The spirit of this center, in the years following its genesis, also became the topic of lectures given by numerous prominent philosophers, including:
Claude Lefort and
Jean-François Lyotard. Jean-Luc Nancy has also been involved in numerous cultural delegations of the
French Ministry of Foreign Affairs. In
1987 Jean-Luc Nancy was elected docteur d'état (doctor of state) in
Toulouse with the congratulations of the jury. His dissertation, published as L'expérience de la liberté (
The Experience of
Freedom, 1988), dealt with the question of freedom in the work of
Kant, Schelling and
Heidegger.
- published: 28 Nov 2011
- views: 1405