Examines the work of one of the central figures of the avant-garde from her first feature-length film in 1972, Lives of Performers, through Privilege (1990). The comprehensive study surveys critical reaction and includes Rainer's critical writings, photos, full biographical information, a complete filmography and bibliography. A valuable resource for students and instructors of critical studies in film, the book investigates dominant structural elements which enliven Rainer's filmic texts: her complex and disjunctive use of language, speech, repetition, interpolated texts, fragmentation, self-conscious camera movement, autobiography and the formulation of alternative narrative codes.