TY - JOUR

T1 - Chevalier (2015) and the rules of the European game

AU - Rushton, Richard

N1 - This is an Accepted Manuscript of an article published by Taylor & Francis in Studies in European Cinema on 20/06/2019 available online: https://tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/17411548.2019.1631531

PY - 2019/8/1

Y1 - 2019/8/1

N2 - This article reads Chevalier (2015, Rachel Athina Tsangari) as an allegory of the Greek ‘crisis‘ following the global economic downturn of 2008. This has been a common theme of the recent Greek 'weird wave’, but the article claims that Chevalier offers a somewhat different approach to politics than that offered by other weird wave films. Informed by the writings of political philosopher Etienne Balibar, the article foregrounds notions of the conflict between the individual and the community, especially of the ways in which the actions and decisions of individuals are usurped by external authorities. The article thus argues that the game played by the main characters in Chevalier offers an allegory of the austerity measures imposed on Greece by the European Union in the wake of the 2008 financial crisis. Ultimately I argue that Chevalier relates specifically to the conditions of the Greek crisis, but that it also points to the ways in which the European Union, in its current guise, has stifled democracy in favour of a system of rules that limits the possibilities of what Balibar calls reflexive individualism.

AB - This article reads Chevalier (2015, Rachel Athina Tsangari) as an allegory of the Greek ‘crisis‘ following the global economic downturn of 2008. This has been a common theme of the recent Greek 'weird wave’, but the article claims that Chevalier offers a somewhat different approach to politics than that offered by other weird wave films. Informed by the writings of political philosopher Etienne Balibar, the article foregrounds notions of the conflict between the individual and the community, especially of the ways in which the actions and decisions of individuals are usurped by external authorities. The article thus argues that the game played by the main characters in Chevalier offers an allegory of the austerity measures imposed on Greece by the European Union in the wake of the 2008 financial crisis. Ultimately I argue that Chevalier relates specifically to the conditions of the Greek crisis, but that it also points to the ways in which the European Union, in its current guise, has stifled democracy in favour of a system of rules that limits the possibilities of what Balibar calls reflexive individualism.

KW - Chevalier (film)

KW - Greek cinema

KW - Etienne Balibar

KW - Wolfgang Streeck

KW - European Union

U2 - 10.1080/17411548.2019.1631531

DO - 10.1080/17411548.2019.1631531

M3 - Journal article

VL - 16

SP - 218

EP - 231

JO - Studies in European Cinema

JF - Studies in European Cinema

SN - 1741-1548

IS - 3

ER -