Book and Media Reviews

Abstract

In A Feminine Cinematics: Luce Irigaray, Women, and Film, Caroline Bainbridge sets up the difficult task of trying to bridge the gap between theory and praxis. As she elucidates at the beginning of her text, film theorists have recently begun inquiring about the intersection between gender and spectatorship. Bainbridge acknowledges that many feminist film theorists have opted to utilize the work of feminist theory as a way to both reconceptualize film theory and open up new dialogues within the realm of cinema. However, she argues that some feminist theorists, whose works have been cited time and again in various other disciplines, still remain unrecognized in relation to cinema. As such, their theories, which often parallel discussions within feminist film studies, are neglected. For Bainbridge, one such theorist is Luce Irigaray. With this in mind, Bainbridge’s main aim is to connect Irigaray’s theories and feminist film theory. From the start, she recognizes the potential of Irigaray’s work for reconceptualizing notions of authorship, representation, and spectatorship in film studies. Taking women’s cinema as her backdrop, Bainbridge does a commendable job of working through the theorist’s complex concepts. As those who are familiar with Irigaray’s writing already know, this is not an easy task, as the feminist philosopher is distinguished for her complicated prose and style of writing. The logical structure of the book aids Bainbridge in guiding readers throughout the chapters. Upon explicating her aim and impetus in the introduction, she uses the first chapter to discuss Irigaray’s concepts. From there, she details important dialogues occurring within feminist film theory. Bainbridge then utilizes the next two chapters to demonstrate how some films (unknowingly) centralize and elucidate Irigarayan concepts. This approach is a crucial one, as it allows readers to get their feet wet before jumping into the denser waters of an Irigarayan analysis. Once this is accomplished, Bainbridge analyzes two filmic texts, Sally Potter’s Orlando (1992) and Jane Campion’s The Piano (1993). Bainbridge pushes readers through her utilization of Irigaray’s work to reconceptualize how ‘‘the feminine’’ is represented in cinema. Some of the Irigarayan concepts and notions that she assesses include the following: female genealogy, mediation, parler femme, sexual difference, and specula(riza)tion. Her application of these theories to various films, such as Moufida Tlatli’s The Silences of the Palace (1994), Liv Ullmann’s Faithless (2000), and Marleen Gorris’s Antonia’s Line Women’s Studies in Communication, 34:104–109, 2011 Copyright # The Organization for Research on Women and Communication ISSN: 0749-1409 print=2152-999X online DOI: 10.1080/07491409.2011.566534