Towards a Film Theory from Below

Archival Film and the Aesthetics of the Crack-Up

By: Jiri Anger

Write A Review

Paperback | 26 February 2026

At a Glance

Paperback
232 Pages

Dimensions(cm)
21.59 x 13.97 x 1.22

Paperback

RRP $59.99

$58.75

or 4 interest-free payments of $14.69 with

or

Ships in 3 to 5 business days

Runner-up Best Monograph, BAFTSS Publication Awards 2025

Operating between film theory, media philosophy, archival practice, and audiovisual research, Jiri Anger focuses on the relationship between figuration and materiality in early films, experimental found footage cinema, and video essays.

Would it be possible to do film theory from below, through the perspective of moving-image objects, of their multifarious details and facets, however marginal, unintentional, or aleatory they might be? Could we treat scratches, stains, and shakes in archival footage as speculatively and aesthetically generative features? Do these material actors have the capacity to create "weird shapes" within the figurative image that decenter, distort, and transform the existing conceptual and methodological frameworks?

Building on his theoretical as well as practical experience with the recently digitized corpus of the first Czech films, created by Jan Kri?enecký between 1898 and 1911, the author demonstrates how technological defects and accidents in archival films shape their aesthetic function and our understanding of the materiality of film in the digital age. The specific clashes between the figurative and material spheres are understood through the concept of a "crack-up." This term, developed by Francis Scott Fitzgerald and theoretically reimagined by Gilles Deleuze, allows us to capture the convoluted relationship between figuration and materiality as inherent to the medium of film, containing negativity and productivity, difference and simultaneity, contingency and fate, at the same time, even within the tiniest cinematic units.

Shipping

	Standard Shipping	Express Shipping
Metro postcodes:	$9.99	$14.95
Regional postcodes:	$9.99	$14.95
Rural postcodes:	$9.99	$14.95

Orders over $79.00 qualify for free shipping.

How to return your order

At Booktopia, we offer hassle-free returns in accordance with our returns policy. If you wish to return an item, please get in touch with Booktopia Customer Care.

Additional postage charges may be applicable.