Intimacy and Romance in Film Theory

Author(s):  
John Tulloch ◽  
Belinda Middleweek

Chapter 3 explores the critical frame of feminist Lacanian postmodernism, underpinning an understanding of real sex films like Romance as art-house cinema in mutual dialogue with pornography. It argues that this fusion and tension between genres misses significant disparities within art house, and neither offers a robust history nor acknowledges that the Romance narrative focuses on Marie’s negotiation of her own sexuality and embodiment via a picaresque series of female/male encounters in a changed modernity. In its detailed analysis of Romance, the chapter draws on Giddens’s concepts of plastic sexuality and confluent love, Raymond Williams’s notion of emotional realism, and Trevor Griffiths’s historical understanding of the (raced and classed) wandering vagrant in an interdisciplinary “extension” of Tanya Krzywinska’s analysis of real sex cinema. This textual analysis combines “mutual understanding” of feminist mapping theory with risk sociology’s recognition of history as the growth of dialogue with the ars erotica.

ΠΗΓΗ/FONS ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
pp. 9
Author(s):  
Veronika Konrádová

Resumen: El artículo examina la interconexión entre los principios fundamentales de la sociabilidad humana y el elemento de lo divino. Específicamente, se enfoca en la estrecha conexión entre las nociones de dios y justicia, establecidas en los trabajos de tradiciones pre-filosóficas y filosóficas, es decir Hesíodo y Platón. Se presta especial atención a los motivos, que pueden ser compartidos por Hesíodo y Platón en relación con los principios que subyacen en la vida social y política humana. La investigación comienza con una referencia a la imagen de Zeus como garantía de justicia, permitiendo una vida comunitaria plenamente humana y ordenada (Hes. Op. 213-285). Sobre esta base, se plantea la cuestión de hasta qué punto Platón se basa en esta imagen y en qué medida promueve la visión de Hesíodo en sus propios escritos. La respuesta se busca a través de un análisis detallado del mito de los orígenes de la cultura en el Protágoras (320d-322d). Entre otros ecos de Hesíodo, el pasaje contiene la imagen clave de Zeus que proporciona a la humanidad justicia y vergüenza, es decir, principios indispensables de la vida social en las ciudades. En cuanto al problema de autoría de toda la narración, presentada por Protágoras en un escenario dialógico, el artículo defiende la posición es platónica en sus puntos esenciales. Los argumentos a favor de esta orientación incluyen: 1) la detección de diferencias significativas en comparación con otras partes del tratamiento sofístico de la cuestión de los orígenes de la cultura (a este respecto, se examinará el fragmento del Sisyphus, B25 en particular); 2) resaltar elementos de la antropología y teología platónica presentes en el mito. Aquí, un punto de referencia importante son las Leyes de Platón, especialmente una larga exposición sobre las amenazas del ateísmo en el libro X (889a-906c), que rechaza el convencionalismo como un modelo explicativo de coexistencia política. Con un análisis textual detallado, el artículo pretende mostrar cómo Platón desarrolla y transforma la concepción de los principios de la sociabilidad humana, tanto en respuesta a sus predecesores como en contraste con la discusión contemporánea. La interpretación propuesta enfatiza el papel fundamental de Dios en la organización de los asuntos humanos, como una característica constante del tratamiento de este tema por parte de Platón, también reconocible en la estructura del mito de Protágoras.Palabras clave: Hesíodo, Platón, Protágoras, mito, origen, cultura, dios, justicia.Abstract: The paper examines the interconnection between fundamental principles of human socia-bility and the element of the divine. Specifically, it focusses on the close connection between the notions of god and justice, established in the works of pre-philosophical and philosophical tra-ditions, namely Hesiod and Plato. Special attention is paid to motives, which may be shared by Hesiod and Plato regarding principles underlying human social and political life. The examina-tion opens with a reference to Hesiod’s image of Zeus as a guarantee of justice, enabling a fully human and well-ordered communal life (Hes. Op. 213-285). On this basis, the question is raised to what degree Plato draws from this basic image and to what extent he prolongs Hesi-od’s vision in his own writings. The answer is sought in a detailed analysis of the myth of the origins of culture in Plato’s Protagoras (Prot. 320d-322d). Among other Hesiodic echoes, the passage contains Zeus’ key image providing humankind with justice and shame, i.e. indispen-sable principles of social life in the cities. Concerning the authorship problem of the whole nar-ration, presented by Protagoras in the dialogue’s dramatic setting, the paper defends the posi-tion that the story is Platonic in its essential points. Arguments in favour of this conviction in-clude: 1) detection of significant differences in comparison with other pieces of sophistic treat-ment of the issue of the origins of culture (in this respect, the Sisyphus fragment B25 will be ex-amined in particular), 2) highlighting elements of Platonic anthropology and theology present in the myth. Here, a significant reference point is Plato’s Laws, especially a long exposition on threats of atheism in Book 10 (889a-906c), refusing conventionalism as an explanatory model of political co-existence. With a thorough textual analysis, the paper aims to show how Plato develops and transforms the conception of underlying principles of human sociability, both in response to his predecessors and in confrontation with ongoing contemporary discussion. The proposed interpretation emphasises god’s fundamental role in the arrangement of human af-fairs, as a constant feature of Plato’s treatment of the issue, also recognisable in the structure of Protagoras’ myth.Keywords: Hesiod, Plato, Protagoras, myth, origin, culture, god, justice.


2016 ◽  
Vol 15 (2) ◽  
pp. 567-584
Author(s):  
Clare Sandford-Couch

Taking an interdisciplinary approach the article offers a fresh legal historical understanding of the Fifth Story of the Eighth Day in Giovanni Boccaccio’s Decameron. Detailed analysis of the tale reveals much about the realities of the administration of justice in fourteenth century Florence and contemporary expectations of those exercising judicial authority. In making apparent the expectation that judges would look and act in a certain manner, the article suggests that Boccaccio’s story can be interpreted as offering an insight into the extent to which public perception of a man’s identity as a judge was dependent upon his appearance and attire.


2010 ◽  
Vol 90 (4) ◽  
pp. 547-578
Author(s):  
Ineke Cornet

AbstractThe anonymous Arnhem Mystical Sermons (Royal Library, The Hague, ms. 133 H 13), copied around 1560–1575 in the St. Agnes convent in Arnhem, is the largest sermon collection that has no other corresponding compilation. Till now, no concrete sources had been identified. This article elaborates on my discovery that one sermon (111) has incorporated a part of Ruusbroec's Spiritual Espousals with significant adaptations. This article provides a detailed analysis of the similarities and modifications, thereby showing the continuity and discontinuity with the fourteenth-century Ruusbroec and relating these differences to the context of the sixteenth-century by showing parallels with other mystical works from the region of Arnhem, namely the Evangelical Pearl and the Temple of Our Soul.


Author(s):  
Lucy Fife Donaldson

On-screen bodies are central to our engagement with film. As sensory film theory seeks to remind us, this engagement is sensuous and embodied: our physicality forms sympathetic, kinetic and empathetic responses to the bodies we see and hear. We see a body jump, run and crash and in response we tense, twitch and flinch. But whose effort are we responding to? The character’s? The actor’s? This article explores the contribution of an invisible body in shaping our responsiveness to on-screen effort, that of the foley artist. Foley artists recreate a range of sounds made by the body, including footsteps, breath, face punches, falls, and the sound clothing makes as actors walk or run. Foley is a functional element of the filmmaking process, yet accounts of foley work note the creativity involved in these performances, which add to characterisation and expressivity. Drawing on detailed analysis of sequences in Cabaret (Bob Fosse, 1972) and Die Hard (John McTiernan, 1988) which foreground exertion and kinetic movement through dance and physical action, this article considers the affective contribution of foley to the physical work depicted on-screen. In doing so, I seek to highlight the extent to which foley constitutes an expressive performance that furthers our sensuous perception and appreciation of film.


2019 ◽  
Vol 29 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Joshua Usman

The paper seeks to consider the employment of folkloric tales (traditional stories) in indigenous Nigerian films as stimuli for establishing a definitive film industry. The integration of oral features into Nigerian films dates back to the era (1980–1990s) of early films in Nigeria: consider Ajani Ogun (1976), Daskin da Ridi (1990), Egg of Life (2003), Festival of Fire (1999) etcetera. Studies on Nigerian film and oral culture established that the strong narratives of Nollywood films are drawn from indigenous folk stories; indeed, the films are mostly adaptations of folktales. This article demonstrates Nigeria’s cultural history through investigating the role of culture as a strong contributor to media development in Nigeria. The research is based on textual analysis of three Nigerian films, namely The Fish Girl (2016), Hypocrisy (1992) and Daskin da Ridi (1990) as primary texts. The methodology is primarily textual. The study draws on a textual analysis of selected Nigerian films to determine their sources. The study adopts the African film theory which juxtaposes the pre-modern with modernity where the oral tradition and filmmakers are fused together, as highlighted by Tomaselli (1992). The hypothesis is that traditional folktales play an important role in the development of the Nigerian film industry (Nollywood). The study reveals that folktales and other oral genres set a footprint for film texts in Nollywood movies. Therefore, this indicates that there is a clear (although thus far, often ignored) bond between indigenous folk narratives and modern Nigerian films.


Author(s):  
John Tulloch ◽  
Belinda Middleweek

This book has provided a new reading of the transformation of intimacy that can be found in real sex films using an interdisciplinary perspective drawing on new risk sociology; feminist critical geography; and literary and film studies concepts such as structure of feeling, narrative, genre, stardom, social audience, spectatorship, and mise en scène. In this pursuit the book has incorporated a bricoleur methodology of social audience and textual analysis and devised a “soft ethnography” to explore the different authorial signatures on a filmic text. By viewing real sex cinema through a variety of theoretical, empirical, sociohistorical, and reflexive lenses, it has suggested ways that readers can bring to the cinematic experience their own search for a mutual understanding of ideas and perspectives and yet also, like our social audience groups in their discussions with one another, a sense of critical extension as well.


2015 ◽  
Vol 63 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Jihae Chung

AbstractUsing a detailed analysis of scenes from Into the Wild (2007), this study aims to demonstrate how the theory of the sublime, particularly Kant’s theory, can be applied to film. To this purpose, the sublime will be referred to in the film heuristically as the Cinematic Sublime. My basic assumptions here are as follows: First, Kant’s theory of the sublime can be seen as a philosophical and aesthetic emotion-oriented teaching. Second, the emotional-sensory experience of the sublime is always manifested in the interconnection of both the film’s technical apparatus as well as its physical and mental perception. So the different modes of experiencing of the Cinematic Sublime can be described as filmic emotions. As a consequence, the phenomenon of the Cinematic Sublime is a textually constructed sensation, which can be analyzed with the help of textual analysis. Third, the Cinematical Sublime can be experienced through intersubjective activities of the audience during film reception, requiring a high degree of imagination, empathy and constitutive perception. Thus, I am undertaking a film-philosophical investigation that can be described as an analysis of film emotions based upon the textuality of film


Author(s):  
Ewa Maria Romaniak

The paper concerns the analysis of the building of Cricoteka in terms of theatricality, which is the role of architecture in the performance of city life. It discusses such aspects as the transfer of the idea of theatre onto architectural form, the dialogue with the viewer, the place of the building in the city and the influence of the object on the environment by generating tension between individual elements of composition solids. Theatrical dimension of architecture might be understood as a spectacle, invented and robust physiognomy, but also intriguing visual appeal. Through the versatile architectural costumes the architecture puts on, especially contemporary architecture, which stands out from the other buildings, tends to be incomprehensible to its recipients. Aiding the comprehension of the message, as well as its conscious shaping by the authors, is key to mutual understanding and establishing the dialogue. The detailed analysis of the building’s interior, which is the key aim of a project of Cricoteka, remains out of scope of this work.


2017 ◽  
Vol 14 (7-8) ◽  
pp. 707-723 ◽  
Author(s):  
Diane Carr

This article is about textual analysis, methodology, and representations (of bodies, identities and social groups) in digital games. The issues under consideration include textual analysis as procedure, the role of fragmentation in textual analysis, game ontology and the remit of textual analysis, and the role of the player-as-analyst in relation to subjectivity and embodied interpretation. These issues are discussed using a combination of game studies literature, film theory, and literary theory–and with reference to Deus Ex: Human Revolution (2011).


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