Ethics of Drive: Beauty and its Enjoyment from Rohmer to Pasolini

Abstract

Insofar as it is has a chance to articulate the dynamics of drive within the sexual relationship, cinema provides evidence for Lacan’s argument that the domain of ethics is defined by the endorsement of “headless” enjoyment, that terrifying frontier where all is decided. In the seven sections of this chapter I identify filmic narratives exploring the connection between drive and jouissance. Drive is not only unravelled as a direct endorsement of explosive enjoyment, but also as a formal gesture which is both imperceptible and absolutely decisive for the symbolic reconfiguration of the filmic text.