Sally Potter
Sally Potter
Catherine Fowler
Series: Contemporary Film Directors
Copyright Date: 2009
Published by: University of Illinois Press
Pages: 168
https://www.jstor.org/stable/10.5406/j.ctt3fh4s0
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Book Info
Sally Potter
Book Description:

This survey of Sally Potters work documents and explores her cinematic development from the feminist reworking of Puccinis opera La Boheme in Thriller to the provocative contemplation of romantic relationships after 9/11 in Yes. Catherine Fowler traces a clear trajectory of developing themes and preoccupations and shows how Potter uses song, dance, performance, and poetry to expand our experience of cinema beyond the audiovisual._x000B__x000B_Potter has relentlessly struggled against predictability and safe options, and her work provides an example of the complexities of being a woman in charge. Instead of the quest to find a romantic partner that drives mainstream cinema, Potters films feature characters seeking answers to questions about their sexual, gendered, social, cultural, and ethnic identities. They find answers by retelling stories, investigating mysteries, traveling and interacting with people. At the heart of Potters work we find a concern with the ways in which narrative has circumscribed the actions of women and their ability to act, speak, look, desire, and think for themselves. Her first two films, Thriller and The Gold Diggers, largely deconstruct found stories, cliches, and images. By contrast her later films create new and original narratives that place female acts, voices, looks, desires and thoughts at their center._x000B__x000B_Fowlers analysis is supplemented by a detailed filmography, bibliography, and an extensive interview with the director.

eISBN: 978-0-252-09126-1
Subjects: Film Studies, History
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  1. Front Matter
    Front Matter (pp. i-vi)
  2. Table of Contents
    Table of Contents (pp. vii-viii)
  3. Acknowledgments
    Acknowledgments (pp. ix-x)
  4. Expanding Cinema
    Expanding Cinema (pp. 1-108)

    At age fourteen, Sally Potter declared to the world by way of her close acquaintances and family that she was going to be a filmmaker. For over thirty years, Potter’s precocity has driven her career, which has included the production of five features: The Gold Diggers (1983), Orlando (1992), The Tango Lesson (1997), The Man Who Cried (2000), and YES (2004); five shorts: Jerk (1969), Black and White (1969), Play (1971), Thriller (1979), and The London Story (1986); four expanded-cinema works, projected with live performance: Combines (1970), Daily (1970), The Building (1970), Hors d’oeuvres (1971); and two documentary projects made...

  5. An Interview with Sally Potter August 18, 2004
    An Interview with Sally Potter August 18, 2004 (pp. 109-134)
    Sally Potter

    CATHERINE FOWLER: It’s apparent from previous interviews that you decided pretty early on that you wanted to be a filmmaker, so I wonder if you could talk about the environment you were raised in that might have brought about that desire.

    SALLY POTTER: Interestingly enough, I’ve just been having discussions with two close friends from very different backgrounds: one an Indian man, a writer, who came from a Hindu background, and another actress friend who came from a Christian background. I found myself talking about the fact that I came from an atheist and an anarchist background, which meant that,...

  6. Filmography
    Filmography (pp. 135-138)
  7. Bibliography
    Bibliography (pp. 139-148)
  8. Index
    Index (pp. 149-152)
  9. Back Matter
    Back Matter (pp. 153-159)
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