Chapter x Chapter Review of FILMS OF THE NEW FRENCH EXTREMITY Chapter 8: Without Borders

Welcome back to another installment of the Chapter x Chapter series, a column where I take a deep dive into horror reading with a new review for each chapter of the book.  The first book of this series is Films of the New French Extremity:  Visceral Horror and National Identity by Alexandra West.  If you're looking to start from the beginning, I recommend you check out my introduction. 

In our last installment, Alexandra West took us on a romantic tour of some of the horrible things that people can do to one another within the bounds of an intimate relationship.  This time around, West delves into how our desire within those relationships can clash with the outside world. 

Chapter x Chapter Review of FILMS OF THE NEW FRENCH EXTREMITY Chapter 7: Lovers in a Dangerous Time

Welcome back to another installment of the Chapter x Chapter series, a column where I take a deep dive into horror reading with a new review for each chapter of the book.  The first book of this series is Films of the New French Extremity:  Visceral Horror and National Identity by Alexandra West.  If you're looking to start from the beginning, I recommend you check out my introduction. 

Following a pretty significant hiatus to allow for a vacation (and then some time to catch up with my pesky day job after said vacation) I return to Films of the New French Extremity ready for romance.  After all, France is, as Alexandra West points out, the land that's "perceived to have a monopoly on love."  It evokes the classic romantic imagery like the Eiffel Tower, candlelit dinners, and soft music in idyllic country landscapes.

One-Shot Review: Carrie by Stephen King

 
I'm getting ready for a brief hiatus from the Chapter x Chapter Review until the second half of March (yay vacation!). But before I go I figured I'd leave you with a quick one-shot review...which, I suppose anyone else would just call a review.

Chapter x Chapter Review of FILMS OF THE NEW FRENCH EXTREMITY Chapter 6: Fine Young Cannibals

Welcome back to another installment of the Chapter x Chapter series, a column where I take a deep dive into horror reading with a new review for each chapter of the book.  The first book of this series is Films of the New French Extremity:  Visceral Horror and National Identity by Alexandra West.  If you're looking to start from the beginning, I recommend you check out my introduction. 

As you may have noticed if you've been following along at home, one of the prominent themes present in Films of the New French Extremity is that I have not seen a single one of the movies covered thus far by Alexandra West.  You may be happy to find out, then, that this week presents the first of the NFE films that I've actually seen.

Chapter x Chapter Review of FILMS OF THE NEW FRENCH EXTREMITY Chapter 5: In Wolf's Clothing

Welcome back to another installment of the Chapter x Chapter series, a column where I take a deep dive into horror reading with a new review for each chapter of the book.  The first book of this series is Films of the New French Extremity:  Visceral Horror and National Identity by Alexandra West.  If you're looking to start from the beginning, I recommend you check out my introduction.

In chapter 4 of Films of the New French Extremity, Alexandra West examined movies that explore the relationships have with women, people of color, and/or those seen as being in lower classes, particularly in terms of sexuality.  Not surprisingly, such exploration finds these relationships to be fundamentally flawed as they are measured by their value to straight, white, men.

Chapter x Chapter Review of FILMS OF THE NEW FRENCH EXTREMITY Chapter 4: Body Commodification

Welcome back to another installment of the Chapter x Chapter series, a column where I take a deep dive into horror reading with a new review for each chapter of the book.  The first book of this series is Films of the New French Extremity:  Visceral Horror and National Identity by Alexandra West.  If you're looking to start from the beginning, I recommend you check out my introduction.

In the last installment, Alexandra West guided us through the films of Gaspar Noe that dare audiences to reflect on the vile and brutal realities that many people in France would have liked to have kept in the shadows after World War II.  For my part, I acknowledged that while Noe's films have cultural significance, I probably wouldn't have the stomach to visit them myself.

Chapter x Chapter Review of FILMS OF THE NEW FRENCH EXTREMITY Chapter 3: Time Destroys All Things

Welcome back to another installment of the Chapter x Chapter series, a column where I take a deep dive into horror reading with a new review for each chapter of the book.  The first book of this series is Films of the New French Extremity:  Visceral Horror and National Identity by Alexandra West.  If you're looking to start from the beginning, I recommend you check out my introduction from January 14th.  

The time has come.  We've been given the appropriate primers on French history and cinema, and Alexandra West is ready to take us down the rabbit hole that is the New French Extremity.  For those hoping that we'd get to ease our way into the dark subject matter, I've got some bad news:  one of the earliest filmmakers attributed to the New French Extremity also appears to be one of its most brutal.