Film as Subversive Art [Paperback]

Amos Vogel (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 12, 1976

A classic returns. The original edition of Amos Vogel's seminal book, Film as a Subversive Art was first published in 1974, and has been out of print since 1987. According to Vogel--founder of Cinema 16, North America's legendary film society--the book details the "accelerating worldwide trend toward a more liberated cinema, in which subjects and forms hitherto considered unthinkable or forbidden are boldly explored." So ahead of his time was Vogel that the ideas that he penned some 30 years ago are still relevant today, and readily accessible in this classic volume. Accompanied by over 300 rare film stills, Film as a Subversive Art analyzes how aesthetic, sexual, and ideological subversives use one of the most powerful art forms of our day to exchange or manipulate our conscious and unconscious, demystify visual taboos, destroy dated cinematic forms, and undermine existing value systems and institutions. This subversion of form, as well as of content, is placed within the context of the contemporary world view of science, philosophy, and modern art, and is illuminated by a detailed examination of over 500 films, including many banned, rarely seen, or never released works.

--This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

Product Details

• Paperback
• Publisher: Random House (March 12, 1976)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0394732073
• ISBN-13: 978-0394732077
• Product Dimensions: 8.6 x 6.1 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (13 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,296,385 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Bible of Underground Film, April 12, 2006

By 

directions "neuralbuddhist" (Space Time Foam) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Film As A Subversive Art (Paperback)

I've had this book half of my life and am still working on seeing all of the films. That said some of the films reviewed in it have dated badly (even Jean Luc Godard has dismissed his Maoist films which never show today). In addition, some of the countercultural (aka hippie) terminology such as "consciousness 3" will leave modern readers scratching their heads. That said it is an essential discussion of films that break film conventions, whether it be through the language of film, political subversion (suddenly relevant again) or sexual politics. The one positive note is that at the end of the book the author states in bold, "But the real question remains: how to reach the masses 'out there' with five heavy cans of 35 mm film and nowhere to show them". The answer is that through video and especially dvd films mentioned in this book that were impossible to find are suddenly resurfacing and being re-evaluated. Though some films are best shelved (I pity anyone who watches all 8 hours of Andy Warhol's "Empire" just to say that they saw it), others especially from world cinema such as the Iranian film "The Cow" and the Senegal made film "The Money Order (Mandabi)" show film makers who now have recieved acclaim. Though some reviewers wanted an update of this book I think that it was written and speaks for a certain point in time, before the co-option of underground films into indie films, when foreign films were still ahead of the times, before garbage like Jackass broke almost all visual taboos while actually taking film a giant leap backward and before the vcr, when hunting down experimental films showing in theaters or libraries was a religion onto itself.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A classic, December 10, 2003

By 

N. Hall (Wauwatosa, Wisconsin United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Film as Subversive Art (Paperback)

I agree with other reviewers. This is a great, indispensible book. I've spent the past twenty-five years or so trying to see all the films mentioned. I've made pretty good progress, but I still have a lot to go. My copy is all dog-eared and falling apart and I came here hoping to find one for my half-brother, who is just starting out in the movie biz and needs to know what's in this book. I hope it gets itself back into print. I'd love to see it updated to include subversive films created since 1974.

9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Vogel's experience and insight make this required reading, March 23, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Film as a Subversive Art (Hardcover)

Film as a Subversive Art is an excellent book for artists, filmmakers, and anyone else that is interested in subversive art and film. Amos Vogel, the founder of the New York Film Festival, is insightful, incredibly knowledgeable, and a skilled writer. His political and ideological views are based around the somewhat existential and often bleak truths of twentieth century scientific research. Vogel himself alternates between a joyful optimism in many of his descriptions, and a bitter anger towards "bourgeois society" and the repression of subversive film. Vogel's countless first-hand experiences of the films he writes about and his philosophical leanings shape Film as a Subversive Art into a unique reading experience.