New Books in Critical Theory Jirí Anger, "Towards a Film Theory from Below: Archival Film and the Aesthetics of the Crack-Up" (Bloomsbury, 2024)
Aug 12, 2025
In this engaging discussion, Jirí Anger, a scholar and archivist from Queen Mary University of London, dives deep into his innovative book, which advocates for a unique perspective on film theory from the ground up. He explores 'accidental aesthetics,' highlighting how flaws and imperfections in archival films reveal their creative potential. Anger tackles vital questions about agency in film preservation, the ethics of manipulation, and how these elements reshape our understanding of cinematic history. His insights challenge traditional views and celebrate the unexpected beauty of film's material traces.
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Crack-Up As Productive Rupture
- Anger borrows 'crack-up' via Deleuze to name ruptures where material forces produce new image sense.
- The term emphasizes negativity plus productivity and an ontological openness in film's materiality.
Weird Shapes Form a Spectrum
- Weird shapes arise where figurative and material registers collide, from indistinct blobs to discernible distortions.
- These fleeting frames reveal material properties like nitrate veils, static marks, or camera tremors.
Material Creativity Has Distributed Agency
- Anger argues agency distributes across human and non-human actors, decentering intentionality.
- Accidents like splices or scratches become co-creators of cinematic meaning.
