Cinema and Evil: Moral Complexities and the “Dangerous” Film

Malevolence (and its causes) has been central to film since its inception; the birth of film coinciding with a fascination with crime, death, murder, horror, etc. Films which address the problem of evil, however, are less frequent and fewer in quantity; especially films which respond to a body of thought – philosophical or theological – which has deliberated on the topic of evil over the centuries. Cinema and Evil: Moral Responsibility and the "Dangerous" Film addresses these films. It explores the legacy of evil from Manicheanism to Arendt, assessing the alternative definitions offered by philosophers, theologians and writers per se, on its problematic status. It then considers how the films of filmmakers such as Fritz Lang, Orson Welles, Pier Paolo Pasolini, Michael Haneke, Gus Van Sant, and Lynne Ramsay have responded to the problem of evil in their films. In case by case studies, filmmakers' response to "evil" events, whether those such as the Holocaust or Columbine, in which evil is used as a descriptor for human behaviour, is explored. The book refers to these as "dangerous" films, tasking us with the need to consider evil as a problem which is also our responsibility. It argues that these filmmakers have been at the forefront of ethical deliberation on evil.

About the Author :
Dara Waldron is Lecturer in Critical and Contextual Studies in the School of Art and Design, Limerick Institute of Technology.

Review :
"The moniker 'Evil' appears in alarming – and ever increasing – frequency in public discourse. No longer designating an ultimate limit of humanity, it is now respectively applied to people, corporations, terrorism, political systems and violence in general, thereby, effectively, undermining an open discussion of what actually caused these actions and how to stop them. Dara Waldron's timely study takes us to the philosophical roots of the concept and explores in compelling case studies the representations of evil in films. Throughout the unfolding of this complex concept, the author manages to maintain the important balance between an ethical stance towards the reader (who is always addressed as an equal) and to the films under discussion (which Waldron treats as equal to philosophical treaties) as texts which explore the complex rules of representing evil acts through the medium itself. This passionate study should be indispensable reading for scholars of film and media, policy makers, and, indeed, anyone interested in discourses of power and injustice today."– Oliver C. Speck, Associate Professor of Film Studies, Virginia Commonwealth University