The Intervals of Cinema

An essential analysis of cinema from one of the great figures of French philosophy

The cinema, like language, can be said to exist as a system of differences. In his latest book the acclaimed philosopher Jacques Rancière relates cinema to literature and theatre. With literature, he argues, cinema takes its narrative conventions, while at the same time effacing its images and it...

An essential analysis of cinema from one of the great figures of French philosophy

The cinema, like language, can be said to exist as a system of differences. In his latest book the acclaimed philosopher Jacques Rancière relates cinema to literature and theatre. With literature, he argues, cinema takes its narrative conventions, while at the same time effacing its images and its philosophy; and it rejects theatre, while also fulfilling theatre’s dream. Built on these contradictions, the cinema is the real, material space in which one feels moved by the spectacle of shadows. Thus for Rancière, the cinema is the always disappointed dream of a language of images.

Jacques Ranciere is Emeritus Professor of Philosophy at the University of Paris–VIII. His books include Aisthesis; On the Shores of Politics; Proletarian Nights; The Future of the Image; and The Emancipated Spectator.