Author: Bonnie Evans, School of Communication and Arts, University of Queensland

Abstract: »The rape-revenge film has historically been linked to exploitation film, but in the pre and post #MeToo cultural climate, it has been mobilized for feminist critique, often in the hands of female directors. This article takes Coralie Fargeat’s 2017 film Revenge as a central case study, and examines how Fargeat uses vivid colours, phantasmagoric imagery and the self-conscious adoption of a ‘male gaze’ as a vehicle for feminist critique. I explore Revenge through feminist film theory and feminist phenomenology to understand its depictions of the male gaze and the female victim-survivor’s embodied subjectivity. This article argues that Revenge and other films of its era express contemporary feminist politics in highly embodied ways, making feminism felt by audiences. In doing so, the film’s central character, Jen (Matilda Lutz), embodies and engenders feminist rage. I connect this discussion to other contemporary rape-revenge films, arguing that these films use their visceral depictions of violence against bodies and vivid visual style to articulate women’s subjective and embodied experiences with violence, in dialogue with contemporary feminism’s affective characteristics, particularly rage.« (Source: Continuum)

Contents:

	Abstract (p. 1)
	Introduction (p. 1)
	Rape-revenge, feminism and rage (p. 3)
	Revenge (2017) (p. 4)
		The male gaze in revenge (p. 5)
		A female gaze? Feminist phenomenology and violence (p. 8)
	Conclusion (p. 10)
	Acknowledgments (p. 11)
	Disclosure statement (p. 11)
	Funding (p. 11)
	References (p. 11)

Wikipedia: History of Europe: History of France | Film: Rape and revenge / Revenge (2017 film) | Sex and the law: Rape / Rape in France