Real Objects in Unreal Situations

Modern Art in Fiction Films

Real Objects in Unreal Situations is a lucid account of a much-neglected subject in art and cinema studies: the material significance of the art object incorporated into the fiction film. By examining the historical, political, and personal realities that situate the artworks, Susan Felleman offers an incisive account of how they operate not as mere objects but as powerful players within the films, thereby exceeding the narrative function of props, copies, pastiches, or reproductions. The book consists of a series of interconnected case studies of movies, including The Trouble with Harry, An Unmarried Woman, The Player, and Pride & Prejudice, among others, ultimately showingthat when real art works enter into fiction films, they often embody themes and discourses in ways that other objects cannot.