The Woman at the Keyhole: Feminism and Women's Cinema

Theories of Representation and Difference

by Judith Mayne

" The Woman at the Keyhole is one] of the most significantcontributions to feminist film theory sin ce the 1970s." --SubStance ..". this intelligent, eminently readable volume putswomen's filmmaking on the main stage.... serves at once as introduction and originalcontribution to the debates structuring the field. Erudite but never obscure, effectively argued but not polemical, The Woman at the Keyhole should prove to be avaluable text for courses on women and cinema." -- TheIndependent When we imagine a "woman" and a "keyhole," it isusually a woman on the other side of the keyhole, as the proverbial object of thelook, that comes to mind. In this work the author is not necessarily reversing theconventional image, but rather asking what happens when women are situated on bothsides of the keyhole. In all of the films discussed, the threshold between subjectand object, between inside and outside, between virtually all opposing pairs, is acentral figure for the reinvention of cinematic narrative.

Genres: Film, Feminism, Nonfiction, Gender

260 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1990

Reviews

[Greta · Rating 2 out of 5]

Tries to critique some of the feminist film theory as oversimplified, but still remains pretty confused. Some thoughts on “primitive cinema.” A chapter on Arzner, some on Deren and Dulac, a lot on modern women filmmakers, which I skipped. Seems obsessed with Uncle Josh at the Moving Picture Show. Guess I’m too dumb for this book.

[Cynthia · Rating 3 out of 5]

Y a des points intéressants mais j’ai pas compris où elle voulait en venir avec tout ça

[Emm · Rating 3 out of 5]

I didn't find this book entirely useful... It was a great introduction to films and filmmakers I was unfamiliar with, but I was left unsatisfied with much of Maynes' discussions. I would have liked her points to be more elaborated and more clear. The book wasn't difficult, but strangely hard to follow. I wish she would have elaborated more on her theories of the screen and her theories of desire. I think this book tries to juggle too many ideas and is left diluted in the wake of its ambition.