Levinas and Film

Levinas expressed distrust of art in general and showed little interest in film. Nevertheless, critics have attempted to use his thought in ethical approaches to film, to the point that there may even have been what has been called a “Levinasian turn” in film scholarship. Sometimes, this has entailed taking a Levinasian term (“the face,” “the encounter,” “the feminine”) and showing how it is explored in particular films; often, it has entailed “correcting” Levinas by showing how film may in fact be a key medium for exploring his ethical concerns. This chapter discusses the risks, shortcomings, and gains of Levinasian film studies and points to some of the ways in which this line of scholarship might fruitfully be developed.