The University of Southampton
University of Southampton Institutional Repository

The body picturesque: the films of Bavo Defurne

The body picturesque: the films of Bavo Defurne
The body picturesque: the films of Bavo Defurne
Bavo Defurne’s trademark visual motifs of whimsical, cloud-dotted skies, and natural environments rendered strangely exotic in their magnified excess, approach the kitsch in their picturesque valorisation of beauty. This includes the hauntingly statuesque visages of the impossibly good-looking young men that he casts as protagonists, framed within a visual world that self-consciously blends high-art aesthetics with what he calls the ‘language of propaganda and commercials’ (Copestake 2002: 23). This paper will discuss the strategies deployed by Defurne and explore the ways in which his complex cultural and mythic themes work to facilitate the distinctly international currency of his language of beauty and what one Dutch magazine termed his ‘pure gay-aesthetic’.
9781841500799
65-78
Intellect Books
Williams, Michael
fdd5b778-38f1-4529-b99c-9d41ab749576
Griffiths, Robin
Williams, Michael
fdd5b778-38f1-4529-b99c-9d41ab749576
Griffiths, Robin

Williams, Michael (2008) The body picturesque: the films of Bavo Defurne. In, Griffiths, Robin (ed.) Queer Cinema in Europe. USA. Intellect Books, pp. 65-78.

Record type: Book Section

Abstract

Bavo Defurne’s trademark visual motifs of whimsical, cloud-dotted skies, and natural environments rendered strangely exotic in their magnified excess, approach the kitsch in their picturesque valorisation of beauty. This includes the hauntingly statuesque visages of the impossibly good-looking young men that he casts as protagonists, framed within a visual world that self-consciously blends high-art aesthetics with what he calls the ‘language of propaganda and commercials’ (Copestake 2002: 23). This paper will discuss the strategies deployed by Defurne and explore the ways in which his complex cultural and mythic themes work to facilitate the distinctly international currency of his language of beauty and what one Dutch magazine termed his ‘pure gay-aesthetic’.

This record has no associated files available for download.

More information

Published date: May 2008

Identifiers

Local EPrints ID: 143295
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/143295
ISBN: 9781841500799
PURE UUID: 7590ea1b-8f6d-449d-84d5-1e53086aea49
ORCID for Michael Williams: ORCID iD orcid.org/0000-0001-5386-5567

Catalogue record

Date deposited: 08 Apr 2010 09:31
Last modified: 27 Apr 2022 01:44

Export record

Contributors

Editor: Robin Griffiths

Download statistics

Downloads from ePrints over the past year. Other digital versions may also be available to download e.g. from the publisher's website.

View more statistics

Atom RSS 1.0 RSS 2.0

Contact ePrints Soton: eprints@soton.ac.uk

ePrints Soton supports OAI 2.0 with a base URL of http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/cgi/oai2

This repository has been built using EPrints software, developed at the University of Southampton, but available to everyone to use.

We use cookies to ensure that we give you the best experience on our website. If you continue without changing your settings, we will assume that you are happy to receive cookies on the University of Southampton website.

×