The Mystical Gaze of the Cinema: The Films of Peter Weir

(Paperback)

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'Magical', 'out of this world', 'an experience you'll never forget'- Peter Weir's films have enthralled audiences around the globe. Whether in iconic Australian works such as Picnic at Hanging Rock and Gallipoli or international mainstream thrillers such as Witness, Weir has deliberately created mystical movie experiences. Modern cinema studies is used to dissecting films on the basis of gender, class or race- now, for the first time, Richard Leonard shows that a mystical gaze also exists and is exercised in the secular multiplex temples of today. The Mystical Gaze of the Cinema is a meticulous and accessible book that uses a psychoanalytic approach incorporating the insights of Jung, film theory and theology to break new ground in what continues to be a hot topic in cinema studies- the spectator/screen relationship. Leonard provides a fresh and innovative perspective on what happens when we behold a film.

Author Bio

Richard Leonard is a Jesuit priest, directs the Australian Catholic Film Office and is a Visiting Professor at the Gregorian University, Rome and the United Faculty of Theology, Melbourne. He is the author of Movies That Matter- Reading Film through the Lens of Faith and Preaching to the Converted. He has served on juries at international film festivals around the world, from Hong Kong to Berlin.