Daniel Morgan’s work focuses largely on the intersection between cinema and aesthetics. He has written extensively on André Bazin and other figures within the history of film theory, on contemporary trends in film and media theory, and on the broader implications posed by considerations of film form: the virtuosic camera movements of Max Ophuls; the perceptual games of Orson Welles; the shifts in subjectivity in Fritz Lang’s early films; the production of conceptual knowledge in Robert Gardner’s ethnographic documentaries; and the role of backgrounds in classical animation. His first book, Late Godard and the Possibilities of Cinema (2012), is about the films and videos of Jean-Luc Godard since the late 1980s, especially Soigne ta droite (1987), Nouvelle vague (1990), and Allemagne 90 neuf zéro (1991)—as well as the video series Histoire(s) du cinéma (1988-1998). Through detailed analyses of extended sequences, technical innovations, and formal experiments, the book argues for the importance of philosophical aesthetics for an understanding of Godard’s late work. It also takes up wider debates on film and politics; the representation of history; the place of nature in cinema; and the relation between film and other media.

To learn more about Daniel Morgan's research and publications, please visit his profile page at the Department of Cinema and Media Studies.