Riddles of the Sphinx

Circular pans are a central stylistic device in Mulvey and Wollens’ psychoanalytic study of the representation of women in society, one of the most important avant-garde films of the 1970s. Through 360° tracking shots, the two pioneering film theorists survey specific private and public spaces—kitchens or offices, bedrooms or museums. Function follows form: the subversion of the classical narrative structure ultimately challenges the mechanisms by which space is depicted and reveals it as a social construct (mg)