Art Cinema and Neoliberalism surveys cinematic responses to
neoliberalism across four continents. One of the first in-depth studies
of its kind, this book provides an imaginative reassessment of art
cinema in the new millennium by showing how the exigencies of
contemporary capitalism are exerting pressure on art cinema conventions.
Through a careful examination of neoliberal thought and practice, the
book explores the wide-ranging effects of neoliberalism on various
sectors of society and on the evolution of film language. Alex Lykidis
evaluates the relevance of art cinema style to explanations of the
neoliberal order and uses a case study approach to analyze the films of
acclaimed directors such as Asghar Farhadi, Yorgos Lanthimos, and
Lucrecia Martel in relation to the social, political, and cultural
characteristics of neoliberalism. By connecting the aesthetics of art
cinema to current social antagonisms, Lykidis positions class as a
central concern in our understanding of the polarized dynamics of late
capitalism and the escalating provocations of today's film auteurs.