פסיכואנליזה וקולנוע

Introduction to Film Theories

• This course is part of the theoretical-research area in the film department, focusing on moving images on screens.
• Topics include feature films, cinemas, television, the internet, film, digital cinema, animation, TikTok, and augmented reality, etc.
• They investigate texts (including film segments), the historical-political context in which films appear, relationships between film and other cultural areas, questions about the industry (from employment and economic perspectives), how audiences watch films, and their impact on the brain, etc.
• Film theories are difficult to define as there are debates within the field itself.
• The course will discuss texts written in Europe and North America, focused on film.

Classical Film Theory

• Primarily focuses on:
• The essence of film – attempts to define the nature of a relatively new art form (at the time these theories were written).
• Film as art – is film art? How, when, and whether?
• Film's uniqueness – how film differs from other cultural fields.

Arnheim (1904-2007)

• Example of classical film theory.
• Biographic Background:
• Born into a Jewish family in Berlin in 1904.
• Died in 2007.
• Interested in art, philosophy, and psychology.
• Completed his doctorate in Gestalt psychology in 1928 (a psychologist by training).
• During his studies, he focused on culture.
• Was an art and film critic, known for wit and sharpness.
• Published a book about film in German in 1932.
• Moved from Germany to Italy in 1933 due to the Nazi regime.
• Worked at a film institute in Rome, which was sponsored by the Fascist government and supported the creation of films, including the Venice Film Festival.
• Participated in creating an encyclopedia of film, but the writings were unpublished and did not survive.
• Fled to London in 1937.
• Moved to the USA in 1940.
• His 1932 book, "Film as Art" ("film as art"), was translated into English.
• Published a revised and expanded English version in 1957.
• This later version became widely known and influential.

Film Form

• Arnheim's theory: focuses on the material of the medium, not just the content, but rather the structure itself.
• Differences between art forms are more essential than the object being depicted. This "material" is a crucial concept.
• His theory's foundations include:
• Lessing (a philosopher of aesthetics).
• Gestalt psychology.

Lessing (1729-1781)

• German theorist, playwright, and philosopher.
• His work focused on delineating the boundaries between painting and poetry.
• Criticized earlier views that suggested similarities between art forms.
• Argued instead for unique rules for each art form. Exemplified this by the myth of Laocoön.

Gestalt Psychology

• Believed our perception of reality results from our senses via patterns and forms.
• Perception is based on principles like proximity, similarity, and repetition, and even applies to facial perception.
• This supports the idea that film uses its unique structure to represent reality, analogous to how the mind organizes sensory data.

Film as Imitation, Art, and Essence

• Addresses the argument that film is merely a recording of reality.
• This opposes the belief that film isn't art because it only copies reality mechanically.
• Demonstrates the essence and nature of film as art through comparisons between the elements and how humans perceive reality.

The Partial Illusion, and Fear of the Complete Film

• Film offers a partial illusion of reality, as human sensory systems only capture essential information.
• Each art form presents a unique partial illusion.
• Film creates a broader illusion than photography but less than theater, due to limitations.

The Drive to Imitate vs. The Artistic Drive

• Two drives led to the creation of film:
• The human drive to imitate, to create similar things (a primitive desire for control).
• The artistic drive to produce something original involves interpretation.

Virginia Woolf (1882-1941)

• Pioneer in stream of consciousness writing.
• Discusses the nature of thought and emotion in film.
• "The Cinema" (1926) – discusses film's revolutionary power in capturing modernity, contrasting it with the perceived stagnation of established arts.
• Argues that film's direct connection to reality allows it to be more visceral than other established art forms.
• Posits film as a representation that can encompass past realities (e.g., pre-war era).
• Emphasizes film's visual depiction of thoughts and feelings as a unique mode of expression.
• Critiques conventional film adaptations of literature, stating they fail both artistic mediums.

Modernism

• Discusses the modernist context of early film's emergence (late 19th and early 20th centuries in specific cities like Paris, Berlin, and London).
• Points out differing opinions: some see film as a continuation of modernism, while others as its antithesis.
• Often, the same article argues both points.

Realism

• Addresses the connection between film and reality, citing various theories.
• Aristotle's "mimesis" – imitation of reality; this applies to different art forms, not just film.
• Film as a recorder of reality highlights differences between a historian's account and a poetic one.
• Film's portrayal of reality is contextual – is it purely factual or fictional?

Andre Bazin

• A significant, influential French film critic after WWII.
• Founder of the magazine, Cahiers du cinéma.
• Famous essay, "The Ontology of the Photographic Image," discusses film as an extension of photography.
• His philosophical stance, ontology, explores what exists, asking questions on identity over time and the relationship between the physical body and mind.
• The essay examines the philosophical history of imitation in the arts (mimetics), focusing on the notion of mimesis and the "mummy complex," the unconscious desire for immortality.
• Examines the photographic image, discussing its essence.

Siegfried Kracauer

• German-Jewish intellectual who studied the modernist condition.
• Writes on film that is linked to the problems of the urban experience.
• Sees the film as reflecting a specific society/culture.
• Noted for viewing film as a product of society.

Formalism

• A Russian art movement that developed in parallel with futurism.
• Focused on analyzing the specific elements of a form, rather than the subject.
• Russian Formalists (early 20th century):
• Viktor Shklovsky
• Yuri Tynianov
• Roman Jakobson
• Russian Formalism – movement that critiques the mimetic approach to art and seeks to establish an independent science of literary study.
• Main goals:
• Denounce the mimetic view of art as a mere copy of reality.
• Challenge the expressionist view of art as an expression of the artist's mind.

Fabula vs. Sujet

• Fabula (story): The chronological order of events in a narrative.
• Sujet (plot): The arrangement of those events within a work of art.

Formalist analysis of Film

• Film's approach to reality – Film material is not just representing reality but can also alter it.
• Techniques of formalist filmmaking – The purpose and function of a film technique.
• The formalist investigation of the film – The manner in which films use editing, framing, and compositions to achieve unique effects.

Sergei Eisenstein

• Key figure in the development of film.
• Worked in theatre and later in film.

Dziga Vertov

• Filmmaker and theorist.

Neo-Marxism and Ideology

• Examines the hidden power dynamics within film-making.
• Ideology in film: explores the ways films reinforce existing power structures and assumptions.
• Possible challenges to ideology – How can film expose contradictions within systems of power?
• Historical context of ideology’s development – how the concept of ideology emerged.

Post-Theory

• Reactionary approaches to film theory.
• Desire to move beyond the grand theories of the past.
• Seek new tools for analysis, often drawing on contemporary theoretical traditions of other fields, to analyze film and culture more thoroughly and deeply.
• Recognize the limitations of grand theories and look for new ways to understand how films function and convey meaning.

Structuralism

• Emphasizes the importance of structure and frameworks when examining culture.
• Vladimir Propp – studied Russian folktales, discovering recurring patterns and functions.

Genre

• How film genres function, reflect, and reinforce cultural assumptions (using a structuralist lens).

Auteur

• The role of the director as an author or creator.

Star

• The significance of stars in relation to their roles in the film and the wider cultural landscape.