Manchester University Press

Fragile yet powerful, macho yet transgressive, Jacques Audiard's films portray disabled, marginalised or otherwise non-normative bodies in constant states of crisis and transformation. Jacques Audiard is the first book on the cinema of one of the most important French directors working today. It studies his screenwriting background, his collaborative practices and his use of genre motifs alongside his reputation as a celebrated French auteur. Using the motif of border-crossing - both physical and symbolic - the book explores how Audiard's films construct and transcend boundaries of many forms. Focusing on the representation of the physical body, French society and broader transnational contexts, it reveals how Audiard's cinema occupies a space both within and beyond the imaginary of French cinema.

Reviews

'Well-argued and with an extensive scholarly apparatus of appendices and a well-researched bibliography, this is an excellent study of an approachable and critically acclaimed director which will be useful to film scholars and in the classroom.'
F. J. Handyside, French Studies

'King's insistent prose matches the confrontational intensity of Audiard's films, while her analysis methodically delineates her understanding of Audiard as an inherently paradoxical creator...'
Marina Massidda, Bright Lights Film Journal

Introduction
1 Body: physical boundaries (De battre mon cour s'est arrêté, Sur mes lèvres and De rouille et d'os)
2 Society: cultural barriers (Regarde les hommes tomber, Un prophète and Un héros très discret)
3 Globe: national borders (Dheepan and Les Frères Sisters)
Conclusion
Index