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Critical
acclaim for Ray Carney's Speaking the Language of Desire: The
Films of Carl Dreyer
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| David
Sterritt, The
Christian Science Monitor |
“In
his new book on Dreyer, as in his earlier Cassavetes and Capra
studies, Carney shows himself to be an auteur in the
cinematic sense – that is, a thinker whose preoccupations
and concerns show a telling similarity even when different subjects
are under investigation."
“In
each of his books, Carney examines formal and thematic ideas,
as any thorough film explicator must. But he insists on the
primacy of human values, and spends most of his energy showing
how such values are expressed and illuminated by the filmmakers
in question."
“His study of
Dreyer rejects the formalistic and symbolic approaches that
David Bordwell and other scholars have taken, suggesting that
Dreyer’s technical and metaphoric strategies are of limited
importance if one separates them from the filmmaker’s
overriding interest: the struggle between individual freedom
and spirituality, on the one hand, and the repressions of social
structures and psychological habits, on the other."
“Carney makes
a compelling case for Dreyer as a profound humanist whose works
are misread if one treasures only their visual ingenuity or
their more obvious thematic levels. Beyond the scholarly apparatus
of his book, he shows a healthy appreciation for the immediacy,
emotional depth, and respect for “human resilience” that
underlie the great director’s greatest work.”
|
| R.
Thorstensson (Gustavus Adolphus College), Choice |
| “In
this exhaustive and spirited study, Carney attempts to ‘rehabilitate’ the
works of Carl Dreyer (1889–1968), the Danish filmmaker whose
films are often listed among the masterpieces of all times while
being practically unknown to contemporary film-goers. Carney
wants to make the director’s work more accessible to ‘common,
intelligent, curious readers and viewers.’ Carney dismisses
the common argument that Dreyer’s films are neglected because
of economic, linguistic, and cultural forces outside the films
themselves – most of Dreyer’s films are low budget,
in Danish, and with Danish actors. Instead he maintains that it
is Dreyer’s style, his greatest asset, which makes his films
hard for today’s viewers to appreciate. The study is divided
into two parts: in Ways of Knowing, Carney outlines approaches
to Dreyer’s style, thus helping readers overcome the greatest
obstacles to understanding the director’s films. In Speaking
the Language of Desire, Carney provides detailed analyses of Dreyer’s
last three films, Day of Wrath (1943), Ordet (1955),
and Gertrud (1963). Recommended for academic libraries,
upper division undergraduate students, and above.” |
| American
Cinematographer |
| “Prof.
Raymond Carney’s controversial interpretation of Carl Dreyer’s
films, Speaking the Language of Desire, attempts to dispel
the generally held view that his films, as exemplified in Ordet,
are esoteric and demanding, while in reality they present, as in
The Passion of Joan of Arc, an image of passionate human drama.” |
| Films
and Filming |
| “A
work of committed interpretive scholarship aimed at rescuing one
of the world’s great filmmakers from the obscurity into which
his own uniquely elevated vision and austere cinematic language
have cast him.” |
| CAST Communication
Booknotes |
| “Speaking
the Language of Desire by Raymond Carney is published on
the 100th anniversary of Dreyer’s birth. The author concentrates
on Dreyer’s three most accessible sound films: Day
of Wrath, Ordet, and Gertrud. The book
contains the usual scholarly apparatus. Perhaps its most interesting
section is the opening 50 pages where Carney attempts to differentiate
his approach to film criticism from that of David Bordwell, the
author of the major previous work in English on Dreyer.” |
| Raymond
Durgnat, author of Durgnat on Film, Films and
Feelings, Jean Renoir, WR – Mysteries of the
Organism, Luis Bunel, and other books |
| “Your
Dreyer book made me feel a lot better about the future of film
criticism and culture.” |
| Scott
Simmon, author of King Vidor American, The
Films of D.W. Griffith, The Invention of the Western
Film, and other books |
| “Exhilarating! Speaking
the Language of Desire comes out swinging and ends up transcendent.
It was as close to un-put-downable as film criticism
gets. I loved the book’s way of maintaining that come-see-this,
come-observe-this, come-feel-this non-reductionist
guidance, that style of passion that reads like logic or is it
logic that reads like passion, so meshed with the subject. But
did I laugh loudest at the Bordwell band as Day of Wrath inquisitors,
making lists and naming names – or at Bordwell as Gustav
in Gertrud – either way a Malvolioesque comic
act, the straight man caught with garters crossed in the garden
of everybody else’s genuine desire.” |
Ray Carney, Speaking
the Language of Desire: The Films of Carl Dreyer (New York
and Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1989), 50 illustrations,
paperback, 365 pages. This book is available directly from the
author for $20 in a Xeroxed bound copy of the original published
book edition.
(The book itself is now out of print.)
 Although
Carl Dreyer is universally acknowledged to be one of the supreme masters
of world cinema, it is one of the oddities of film history that beyond The
Passion of Joan of Arc, his films have seldom had the general recognition
that they undeniably deserve. This book is an attempt to bring his
work to the awareness of contemporary filmgoers everywhere.
Ray Carney argues that the
key to an understanding of Dreyer’s work is to be found in an appreciation
of his distinctive style. Professor Carney argues that Dreyer’s style
creates a "radically new way of knowing and feeling" that
can change how we understand our experiences and identities outside
of the movies.
Following a general consideration
of Dreyer’s style, the book offers lucid and comprehensive interpretations
of the three crowning masterworks of Dreyer’s career: Day of Wrath, Ordet,
and Gertrud.
The study will appeal both
to general filmgoers and to undergraduate and graduate students interested
in film.
* * *
This book is available through Amazon, Barnes
and Noble, your local bookseller, or, for a limited time, directly
from the author (in discounted and specially autographed editions).
Clicking on the above links
will open a new window in your browser. You may return to this page
by closing that window or by clicking on the window for this page again.
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If you order
directly from the author, also included will be a copy of Ray Carney's "Learning
from Dreyer: Reflections on the Lessons His Work Teaches," which
originally appeared in Lene Crone and Lars Movin, eds. Close-Ups:
Contemporary Art and Carl Th. Dreyer, Nikolaj, Copenhagen Contemporary
Art Center (Copenhagen, Denmark, November-December 1999). |
To obtain a bound Xeroxed
copy of the original published book edition directly from the author
(please stipulate if you would like an inscription or autograph on
the inside front cover), please send $20 (US Postal Money Order
only) with your name and address, and the title of the book you are
ordering, to the following address. (Domestic US orders only.)
Ray Carney
Special Book Offer
College of Communication
640 Commonwealth Avenue
Boston University
Boston, MA 02215
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