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RE-VISION ESSAYS IN FEMINIST FILM CRITICISM TheJuneriGanHlmlnstltiite The American Film Institute Monograph Series Ann Martin Supervising Editor Volume 1 CINEMA AND LANGUAGE Volume 2 REGARDING TELEVISION: CRITICAL APPROACHES—AN ANTHOLOGY Volume 3 RE-VISION: ESSAYS IN FEMINIST FILM CRITICISM Volume 4 CINEMA HISTORIES, CINEMA PRACTICES RE-VISION ESSAYS IN FEMINIST FILM CRITICISM Edited by Mary Ann Doane, Patricia Mellencamp and Linda Williams University Publications of America, Inc. The American Film Institute, established in 1967 by the National Endowment for the Arts, is an independent, nonprofit, national organization dedicated to advancing and preserving the art of the moving image. The opinions expressed in this Monograph are those of the authors and are not necessarily those of The American Film Institute. Copyright © The American Film Institute 1984 LCCCN 83-23366 ISBN 0-89093-585-8 The American Film Institute Monograph Series is published by University Publications of America, Inc., Frederick, MD, in association with The American Film Institute. The American Film Institute 2021 North Western Avenue P.O. Box 27999 Los Angeles, California 90027 Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data Re-vision : essays in feminist film criticism. (American Film Institute monograph series; v. 3) 1. Feminism and motion pictures—Addresses, essays, lectures. 2. Feminist motion pictures—History and criticism—Addresses, essays, lectures. I. Doane, Mary Ann. II. Mellencamp, Patricia. III. Williams, Linda, 1946. IV. Series. PN1995.9.W6R4 1984 792'.01'5 83-23366 ISBN 0-89093-585-8 Table of Contents wii PREFACE ix CONTRIBUTORS xi ACKNOWLEDGMENTS 1 18 49 67 83 100 131 150 Feminist Film Criticism: An Introduction The Editors Developments in Feminist Film Criticism Christine Gledhill The Woman at the Keyhole: Women's Cinema and Feminist Criticism Judith Mayne The "Woman's Film": Possession and Address Mary Ann Doane When the Woman Looks Linda Williams From Repressive Tolerance to Erotic Liberation: Maedchen in Uniform B. Ruby Rich Dis-Embodying the Female Voice Kaja Silverman Now and Nowhere: Roeg's Bad Timing Teresa de Lauretis Preface In their introduction, the editors of Re-vision observe that during the seventies and early eighties, women's work in film—the making of feminist documentaries, the organizing of women's film festivals, the writing of criticism and theory—was remarkable for its high degree of cooperation and collaboration. It is fitting, then, that this volume of thoughtful, provocative essays of feminist film criticism is the result of their collective work as well as the collaboration of the Center for the Humanities at the University of Southern California and the Center for Twentieth Century Studies at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. In 1975-76, the Center for Twentieth Century Studies, then under the imaginative direction of the late Michel Benamou, began its pioneering work in film theory with the help of the good counsel of its Senior Fellow, Ronald Gottesman, a man of rare generosity in all spheres. Every year after that, conferences on film theory were held in Milwaukee until 1981, when the Center for the Humanities, with Ronald Gottesman as its director, sponsored "Cinema Histories, Cinema Practices I." Organized by Ronald Gottesman and the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee's Patricia Mellencamp, "Cinema Histories, Cinema Practices I," the impetus for this volume, focused on the reexamination of the premises of cinema histories—the history of cinema, history in cinema, and cinema as history. Within this framework, a critical concern was the reconsideration and development—the re-visioning—of theoretical models provided by the feminist critique of cine