Surrealism and the Cinema: Open-eyed Screening

Revised Edition

Available again after years out of print. Surrealism and the Cinema (1976), was an iconoclastic work of both film theory and art criticism, with its insightful readings of the films of Bunuel, Hitchcock, von Sternberg and Samuel Fuller and references to popular culture (comic book art), alongside discussions of major surrealist artists like Magritte, Dali and Max Ernst. It broke from academic conventions with its use of emotion and humor and found a place in film courses and on the book shelves of film lovers and art history students. Extensively revised (2011).

Reviews of original edition:

" ... accomplishes some remarkable insights and comparisons ... very provocative ... Gould should be praised for his daring visual juxtapositions, for the excellent analyses ... and for the pure fun of a book so clearly unconcerned with the critical backlash of the academic community." -- William F Van Wert, Journal of Modern Literature

"There's something ridiculously logical and lifeless about academic efforts to define the relations between surrealism and film. Only humorous, sensitive eyes and alert minds can point to the surrealist wealth in the films around us -- this is the value of Michael Gould's exploration." -- Jay Leyda