From apparent melodrama and eroticism to fantasy and horror, these eight directors redefine satire’s limits, providing evidence that irony in cinema often goes unrecognized.

In Without Empathy, MK Raghavendra investigates how irony and satire function in cinema by focusing on the work of eight visionary directors—Luis Buñuel, R.W. Fassbinder, Stanley Kubrick, Robert Altman, Paul Verhoeven, Aki Kaurismäki, Aleksei Balabanov, and David Lynch. At a time when irony is increasingly scrutinized as a mode of expression, this book reconsiders its role in film, revealing how these auteurs deploy wit and subversion in ways that unsettle audience expectations.

Through close readings of selected works, Raghavendra identifies layers of meaning beneath the surface of films often misread. The book situates these directors within broader traditions of cinematic satire, while simultaneously interrogating what their work has to say about society, culture, and human folly. Without Empathy is a lucid read for scholars and students of film studies and communication, providing a provocative lens on how satirical intent is not always recognizable today and how its actual targets can make society uncomfortable.

MK Raghavendra is an Indian film and literary scholar with thirteen published books on film, culture, and politics.

Acknowledgments
Introduction: Irony, Satire, and Empathy

1. Luis Buel: Unaffiliated Radicalism
2. Stanley Kubrick: The Failure of Human Systems
3. RW Fassbinder: The Original Sin
4. Robert Altman: History, Ideology, and Generic Revision
5. Paul Verhoeven: Satirical Impulse Goes Clandestine
6. Aki Kaurismäki: Irony and Hopelessness
7. Aleksei Balabanov: Collapsed Utopia
8. David Lynch: Public Mythologies and Personal Fantasies

Afterword: Targets and Strategies
Bibliography
Index