JACQUES LACAN & CINEMA

Jacques Lacan & Cinema, authored by Pietro Bianchi and published by Routledge in 2021, emerged from the intersection of contemporary psychoanalytic theory and film studies. The work examines how Lacanian concepts—such as the gaze, the object petit a, and the structure of desire—inform our understanding of cinematic experience. Bianchi, a scholar deeply embedded in continental philosophy, seeks to bridge the gap between abstract psychoanalytic theory and the concrete aesthetics of moving images.

The volume is part of a broader academic effort to modernize the application of Lacanian thought to visual media. It moves beyond traditional apparatus theory, which often viewed the viewer as a passive subject, to argue that cinema functions as a site where the unconscious is actively negotiated. While the text is primarily designed for a scholarly audience, its clear prose and specific focus on both classic and contemporary film examples have made it a notable entry in the Routledge series on psychoanalysis and popular culture.