10.54103/2036-461X/22503
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22503
41
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Cinéma & Cie. Film and Media Studies Journal
Precarity in European Film: Depictions and Discourses, Edited by Elisa Cuter, Guido Kirsten, and Hanna Prenzel, Berlin: De Gruyter, 2022, pp. 374
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2024-02-10
2024-04-05
2024-04-05
185-187
Cinéma & Cie
Eduard Cuelenaere
2023
10.54103/2036-461X/22503
185
Ghent University
2036-461X
41
en
187
Zaniello, Thomas. 2020. The Cinema of the Precariat: The Exploited, Underemployed, and Temp Workers of the World. New York: Bloomsbury Publishing USA.
Precarity in European Film: Depictions and Discourses, Edited by Elisa Cuter, Guido Kirsten, and Hanna Prenzel, Berlin: De Gruyter, 2022, pp. 374
https://riviste.unimi.it/index.php/cinemaetcie/article/download/22503/20365
23
                                                                                       Precarity in European Film:
                                                                                       Depictions and Discourses
                                                                                       Edited by Elisa Cuter, Guido Kirsten,
                                                                                       and Hanna Prenzel
                                                                                       Berlin: De Gruyter, 2022, pp. 374
                                                                                       DOI https://doi.org/10.54103/2036-461X/22503




                                                                                          The 17th edition of the European Barometric          someone in a false, distorted, and reduced mode
                                                                                       Study on Poverty and Economic Precariousness            of being” (Taylor 1994, 25). One way of fighting
                                                                                       tells us that, in 2023, more than one in four           this oppressing invisibility is simply by telling
                                                                                       Europeans grapples with precarious financial            the stories of people that live precariously.
                                                                                       situations. To be specific, 29 percent of the 10,000    However, while we may find ourselves in an era
                                                                                       respondents included in the survey characterized        characterized by a multiplicity of images and
                                                                                       their financial status as precarious. Conversely,       audiovisual narratives, this does not necessarily
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License




                                                                                       according to the 2023 Oxfam report, Survival of         equate to diversity in the stories told and the
                                                                                       the Richest, the wealthiest one percent globally        representation of various voices within them.
                                                                                       holds nearly two-thirds of all wealth generated            Should there be any lingering skepticism
                                                                                       since 2020. In fact, in the past decade, the fortune    regarding the role that cinema can assume in
                                                                                       of billionaires has almost doubled, while the           an era marked by the deepening socioeconomic
                                                                                       combined wealth of the poorest 50 percent of the        disparity and the burgeoning experience of
                                                                                       world’s population has only grown by a quarter.         precarity, the open access volume Precarity in
                                                                                       On top of that, figures like Bill Gates, Elon Musk,     European Film: Depictions and Discourses (2022)
                                                                                       and Mark Zuckerberg constantly imprint their            stands as a compelling answer to this question.
                                                                                       omnipresence on our daily existence. We know            Already in the volume’s introduction, Guido
                                                                                       what they wear, we know their convictions, their        Kirsten advocates for a broader understanding
                                                                                       political stances, we read about what they think,       of the concept of “cinema of precarity”, expanding
                                                                                       what they work for, what they care for, and             it to encompass “the whole of the corpus of
                                                                                       who they love. Their influence is as inescapable        filmic works that centrally engage with aspects
                                                                                       as it is ever-present, shaping our world, both          of precarity in society” (15). By doing so, Kirsten
                                                                                       figuratively and literally.                             emphasizes the significance of examining the
                                                                                          Even though we might encounter the laborers          cinema of precarity across its diverse formal
                                                                                       of the precariat on a daily basis, they remain          and thematic dimensions while disassociating
                                                                                       mostly invisible to us. Research shows “there is a      it from the notion of “auteur cinema”, thereby
                                                                                       real danger” (Zaniello 2020, x) to this invisibility,   opening the concept to include mainstream or
                                                                                       as “[n]onrecognition or misrecognition can inflict      popular European cinema as well. A welcome
                                                                                       harm, can be a form of oppression, imprisoning          and possibly more inclusive perspective, not


                                                                                       Cinéma & Cie vol. 23 no. 41 2023 · ISSN 2036-461X                                                  185
in the least because much research on cinema                as precarious in the films under analysis and the
audiences shows that auteur cinema tends to                 visual attributes and characteristics ascribed to
be predominantly consumed by audiences from                 them. As such, they equally raise the question
middle and upper-class backgrounds.                         of whether we are witnessing the emergence of
  The editors consciously chose to not focus on             novel iconographies distinct from the traditional
a sociological micro analysis of the precarious             imagery associated with “classical” poverty.
working conditions in European film sectors,                Looking at this in the context of contemporary
instead prioritizing a cultural studies approach.           Greek cinema since 2007-2008, Ursula-Helen
Comprising 19 chapters contributed by various               Kassaveti contends that there is a discernible
authors, each addressing a specific country                 transition towards the portrayal of precarity. The
or region, the volume unravels the concept of               author shows how Greek films have increasingly
precarity in cinema, encompassing analyses of               focused on the diversity and intensity of
both fiction and documentary films, with some               manifestations of precariousness within Greek
delving into more experimental forms and                    society, departing from traditional modes of
television series. Following Kirsten’s call, the book       cinematic storytelling. Films like 45m2 (Stratos
examines the audiovisual portrayal of precarity             Tzitzis, 2010) or Standing Aside, Watching
in Europe from diverse theoretical perspectives             (Yorgos Servetas, 2013) challenge conventional
and methodological approaches. Moreover, the                resolutions, opting for open endings while
editors clearly emphasized the importance of                transcending the link between precarity and
accentuating diversity within European cinema,              specific social or cultural backgrounds. They
as they endeavored to have authors scrutinize               employ a realistic visual style, often with
a wide array of countries and regions across the            handheld camera work, highlighting the authentic
European mainland. Indeed, the volume delves                portrayal of characters and their environments.
into films spanning from Belgium to Turkey, and             Importantly, these films equally engage with the
from Slovakia to the UK. Together, they offer               underlying influence of the neoliberal framework
novel insights into the multifaceted portrayal of           that exacerbates precarity, suggesting the
these socioeconomic issues, underpinned by their            potential for transformative agency within the
unique socio-cultural, historical, and political            precariat.
backgrounds. Separately, each contribution, in                The latter brings us to the second objective
one way or another, illuminates how films are               of this volume, as the editors also wanted
able to depict various facets of precarity – think          the contributors to look into the persuasive
of issues related to social exclusion, precarious           intentions and target audiences of these films,
labor conditions, economic uncertainty, housing,            as well as into the perspective from which their
migration, gender, and ethnicity. Several authors           implicit or explicit arguments are made. Which
also explore the diverse political implications             deliberate or inadvertent omissions contribute to
conveyed by these films, ranging from moralism              the nuanced portrayal of the subject matter, and,
and individualism to solidarity and resistance.             beyond that, how do these films actively engage
Grosso modo, the volume looks into two                      with other audiovisual texts, contributing to the
overarching queries that are respectively related           ongoing discourse within the broader public
to the concepts of representation and discourse.            sphere. This second focus can be clearly found in
  First, the editors put forward that in the realm          Ewa Mazierska’s chapter on the representation
of contemporary European cinema, the portrayal              of precarity in post-communist Polish cinema.
of precarity is intrinsically linked to the creation of     Central to her analysis is the premise that cinema
particular visual systems. Doing so, they prompt            serves as a conduit for engaging with social and
an investigation into the identities represented            political realities, albeit not by mirroring these



186                                                       Precarity in European Film: Depictions and Discourses
realities directly. Instead, filmmakers always                the screen but extends to the broader realm of
strategically accentuate or conceal specific                  socio-political discourse. The interplay between
facets of the narrative. Mazierska argues that the            recognition and misrecognition, as well as
cinematic portrayal of poverty frequently leans               between representation and misrepresentation
towards strategies involving either masking,                  (or even non-representation), serves as a
amplification, or dramatic representation. This               reminder of cinema’s role as a powerful force
inclination arises from the perception that an                in reshaping our understanding of the human
unadorned, straightforward depiction of poverty               experience and the imperative of addressing
is considered unremarkable and could cast                     the complex challenges that accompany life in
an unfavorable light on the government or the                 precarious situations. In the cinematic realm,
societal elites. Mazierska’s research reveals                 stories untold become the catalysts for change,
that distinct approaches have been adopted in                 forging new paths to understanding, empathy,
various historical epochs to convey the ordeals               and, ultimately, action.
associated with poverty and precarity.
                                                                                          Eduard Cuelenaere
  After reading this book, one is convinced that
                                                                           [Ghent University, Free University
the power of cinema is not merely confined to
                                                                          of Brussels, University of Antwerp]




REFERENCE LIST
Christensen, Martin-Brehm, et al. 2023. Survival of the Richest: How we must tax the super-rich now to fight
inequality. Report by Oxfam.
Mercier, Etienne, Pierre Latrille, Salomé Quétier-Parent, and Ana Thibaud Quemada. 2023. Barometric Study
on Poverty and Economic Precariousness (17th edition). Report by Ipsos (Secours Populaire Français).
Taylor, Charles. 1994. “The Politics of Recognition.” In: Multiculturalism: Examining the Politics of Recognition,
edited by Amy Gutmann, 25-73. Princeton: Princeton University Press.
Zaniello, Thomas. 2020. The Cinema of the Precariat: The Exploited, Underemployed, and Temp Workers of the
World. New York: Bloomsbury Publishing USA.



Cinéma & Cie vol. 23 no. 41 2023 · ISSN 2036-461X                                                         187
