Reframing Todd Haynes: Feminism's Indelible Mark

For three decades, award-winning independent filmmaker Todd Haynes, who emerged in the early 1990s as a foundational figure in New Queer Cinema, has gained critical recognition for his outsider perspective. Today, Haynes is widely known for bringing women's stories to the screen. Analyzing Haynes's films including Safe (1995), Velvet Goldmine (1998), Far from Heaven (2002), and Carol (2015), as well as his unauthorized Karen Carpenter biopic, Superstar (1987), and the television miniseries Mildred Pierce (2011), the contributors to Reframing Todd Haynes reassess his work in light of his long-standing feminist commitments and his exceptional career as a director of women's films. They present multiple perspectives on Haynes's film and television work and on his role as an artist-activist who draws on academic theorizations of gender and cinema. The volume illustrates the influence of feminist theory on Haynes's aesthetic vision, most evident in his persistent interest in the political and formal possibilities afforded by the genre of the woman's film. The contributors contend that no consideration of Haynes's work can afford to ignore the crucial place of feminism within it.

Contributors. Danielle Bouchard, Nick Davis, Jigna Desai, Mary R. Desjardins, Patrick Flanery, Theresa L. Geller, Rebecca M. Gordon, Jess Issacharoff, Lynne Joyrich, Bridget Kies, Julia Leyda, David E. Maynard, Noah A. Tsika, Patricia White, Sharon Willis

Author: Theresa L. Geller
Publisher: Duke University Press
Published: 04/01/2022
Pages: 360
Binding Type: Paperback
Weight: 1.07lbs
Size: 9.00h x 6.00w x 0.75d
ISBN: 9781478018001


Review Citation(s):
Choice 02/01/2023

About the Author
Theresa L. Geller is a Scholar-in-Residence at the Beatrice Brain Research Group at the University of California, Berkeley and author of The X-Files.

Julia Leyda is Professor of Film Studies at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology and editor of Todd Haynes: Interviews.