Oppositions and lines of desire: Exploring the screenwriting approach of Claire Denis in a practice-based study
In her twenty-five year career, French writer/director Claire Denis has produced close to a dozen feature films. Existing in the margins of mainstream cinema, Denis’s work includes disturbing and/or horrific films that explore the body as a site for identity formation, sexual debasement and transgre...
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| Format: | Journal Article |
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Australian Association of Writing Programs
2014
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| Online Access: | http://www.textjournal.com.au/oct14/dooley.htm http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/35767 |
| _version_ | 1848754585433276416 |
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| author | Dooley, Kath |
| author_facet | Dooley, Kath |
| author_sort | Dooley, Kath |
| building | Curtin Institutional Repository |
| collection | Online Access |
| description | In her twenty-five year career, French writer/director Claire Denis has produced close to a dozen feature films. Existing in the margins of mainstream cinema, Denis’s work includes disturbing and/or horrific films that explore the body as a site for identity formation, sexual debasement and transgressive urges. The majority of Denis’s films have been written in collaboration with co-writer Jean-Pol Fargeau, a process Denis describes as involving the ‘grafting’ of various elements into a coherent whole. This approach sees character and plot defined through the drafting of a ‘diagram of relations’, a form of construction that distances Denis from popular approaches to screenwriting undertaken in Australia. In this article I describe how I conducted a practical investigation of Denis’s approach by writing an original 25-minute screenplay (produced into a film in early 2012). This process was both a means of further enquiry into Denis’s thematic and practical concerns, and a creative outcome of my PhD research, which allowed for a reinvigoration and evaluation of my previous practice as screenwriter. The resulting script is a departure from my previous output, with a different approach to plot signifiers, conflict and the psychological representation of character. With self-reflexive examination and creative analysis, this paper explores the specifics of Denis’s approach and its impact when imported into my practice in an Australian context. Keywords: Claire Denis, screenwriting, the body |
| first_indexed | 2025-11-14T08:42:45Z |
| format | Journal Article |
| id | curtin-20.500.11937-35767 |
| institution | Curtin University Malaysia |
| institution_category | Local University |
| last_indexed | 2025-11-14T08:42:45Z |
| publishDate | 2014 |
| publisher | Australian Association of Writing Programs |
| recordtype | eprints |
| repository_type | Digital Repository |
| spelling | curtin-20.500.11937-357672017-01-30T13:51:38Z Oppositions and lines of desire: Exploring the screenwriting approach of Claire Denis in a practice-based study Dooley, Kath In her twenty-five year career, French writer/director Claire Denis has produced close to a dozen feature films. Existing in the margins of mainstream cinema, Denis’s work includes disturbing and/or horrific films that explore the body as a site for identity formation, sexual debasement and transgressive urges. The majority of Denis’s films have been written in collaboration with co-writer Jean-Pol Fargeau, a process Denis describes as involving the ‘grafting’ of various elements into a coherent whole. This approach sees character and plot defined through the drafting of a ‘diagram of relations’, a form of construction that distances Denis from popular approaches to screenwriting undertaken in Australia. In this article I describe how I conducted a practical investigation of Denis’s approach by writing an original 25-minute screenplay (produced into a film in early 2012). This process was both a means of further enquiry into Denis’s thematic and practical concerns, and a creative outcome of my PhD research, which allowed for a reinvigoration and evaluation of my previous practice as screenwriter. The resulting script is a departure from my previous output, with a different approach to plot signifiers, conflict and the psychological representation of character. With self-reflexive examination and creative analysis, this paper explores the specifics of Denis’s approach and its impact when imported into my practice in an Australian context. Keywords: Claire Denis, screenwriting, the body 2014 Journal Article http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/35767 http://www.textjournal.com.au/oct14/dooley.htm Australian Association of Writing Programs restricted |
| spellingShingle | Dooley, Kath Oppositions and lines of desire: Exploring the screenwriting approach of Claire Denis in a practice-based study |
| title | Oppositions and lines of desire: Exploring the screenwriting approach of Claire Denis in a practice-based study |
| title_full | Oppositions and lines of desire: Exploring the screenwriting approach of Claire Denis in a practice-based study |
| title_fullStr | Oppositions and lines of desire: Exploring the screenwriting approach of Claire Denis in a practice-based study |
| title_full_unstemmed | Oppositions and lines of desire: Exploring the screenwriting approach of Claire Denis in a practice-based study |
| title_short | Oppositions and lines of desire: Exploring the screenwriting approach of Claire Denis in a practice-based study |
| title_sort | oppositions and lines of desire: exploring the screenwriting approach of claire denis in a practice-based study |
| url | http://www.textjournal.com.au/oct14/dooley.htm http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/35767 |