Cinematic Thought: the Representation of Subjective Processes in the Films of Bergman, Resnais and Kubrick
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Cinematic Thought: The Representation of Subjective Processes in the Films of Bergman, Resnais and Kubrick Gavin Extence Thesis submitted for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy at the University of Sheffield Department of English Literature September 2008 1 Summary Drawing on a wide range of critical and theoretical material, this thesis explores the representation of subjective phenomena, such as dream, memory and fantasy, in the films of Ingmar Bergman, Alain Resnais and Stanley Kubrick. My introduction outlines my argument concerning how film represents or communicates non-verbal thought processes, before examining theories and depictions of cinematic thought in the silent era. Subsequently, the thesis is divided into three sections, each consisting of two chapters and focussing on the work of a single director. In the first section, I explore Bergman's representation of subjective processes. Chapter 2 offers a close formal analysis of the dream sequences in Wild Strawberries, while chapter 3 examines the stylistic properties and thematic concerns of Bergman's later, experimental work of the 1960s and '70s. In chapter 4, I analyze Resnais' work, emphasizing in particular his early innovations in representing imagination, memory and streams of consciousness. Chapter 5 extends this analysis by examining the concept of collective memory (or imagination) in relation to Resnais' interrogation of France's recent history (the Occupation and the Algerian War). In the final section, I focus on Kubrick's work. Chapter 6 explores Kubrick's 1962 adaptation of Lolita and the notion of 'first-person' cinematic narration. My formal analysis of the film is contextualized through a discussion of its production history, and examines the relationship between cinematic thought, censorship and the values and norms of Hollywood. Chapter 7 builds upon this analysis, exploring different forms of subjective narration and 'uncanny' thought in Kubrick's later work. In conclusion, I summarize the key ideas developed in my thesis in order to support my central argument that cinema has a unique capacity for representing specific aspects of non verbal thought. 2 Acknowledgements Firstly, I wish to thank Jonathan Rayner for his diligent supervision of this thesis. Working with Jonathan over the past few years has been an extremely enjoyable and rewarding experience, and his advice, expertise, acuity and attention to detail have been invaluable throughout this project. Thanks also go to Sue Vice for her insightful comments on the draft, and for the much-needed reassurance that she provided. I would also like to thank Erica Sheen for her guidance and encouragement during the early stages of this project. In addition, I would like to thank all of my family and my friends in Sheffield who have been so supportive over the past four years. Finally, special thanks go to Alix for her love, support, industrious proof-reading and endless patience. 3 Contents 1. Introduction ............................................................................ 6 1.1 Two Types of Thought. .................................................................. 9 1.2 Language, Image and Thought. ........................................................ 10 1.3 Bergman, Resnais and Kubrick: Why These Filmmakers? ................................. 16 1.4 Cinematic Thought in the Silent Era: Theory and Practice ................................. 21 1.5 Miinsterberg ......................................................................................................... 22 1.6 Soviet Montage Theories: Pudovkin, Eisenstein and Political Thought. .......... 26 1.7 Expressionism ............................................................................. 34 1.8 Caligari's Legacy ........................................................................ 43 1.9 Surrealism ................................................................................. 48 Part 1: Bergman 2. Thinking Without Language ..................................................... 59 2.1 Wild Strawberries: Dreams, Memories and the Silent Cinema ..................... 62 2.2 The First Dream Sequence ............................................................... 69 2.3 The Later Subjective Sequences ........................................................ 74 2.4 Psychoanalytic Dream Theory .......................................................... 79 3. Sensation and the Intellect in Bergman's Chamber Films ........ ... 89 3.1 The Silence: Expressionistic Space ..................................................... 98 3.2 'An Eye Unprejudiced': The Child's Point of View ................................. 104 3.3 Persona: The Subjective Response to the Documentary Image .................... 107 3.4 Shot/ Reverse Shot: Identification and Self-Reflexivity ............................. 112 3.5 The Close-Up and the Mask ............................................................ .119 3.6 Narrative Structure and Characterization .............................................. 129 3.7 'No Scruples, No Laws': Censorship and Unconscious Thought .................. 135 3.8 Memory and Free Association .......................................................... 139 Part 2: Resnais 4. Thinking Modernity ................................................................. 150 4.1 Cinematic Authorship .................................................................... 154 4.2 Representing the Individual's Consciousness: Hiroshima mon amour ............ 158 4.3 The Ambiguous Internal Monologue: Last Year at Marienbad .................... 165 4.4 Speculation and Dream: The War Is Over and Providence ......................... 173 4 5. Cinema and the Collective Imagination ..................................... 186 5.1 Censorship and Repression .............................................................. 192 5.2 State Propaganda and the Algerian War: 'Managing' Public Perceptions ........ 199 5.3 Reinterpreting the Recent Past. ......................................................... 206 Part 3: Kubrick 6. Thinking Through Hollywood ................................................... 223 6.1 Orson Welles, Robert Montgomery and First-Person Narration ................... 227 6.2 Film Nair and Subjectivity ............................................................... 239 6.3 How Did They Ever Make a Movie of Lolita? .................................................... 249 6.4 Point of View and the Ambiguous Image ............................................. 256 6.5 Conclusions: The Problematic Adaptation ............................................ 262 7. Disturbing Fantasies: Kubrick's Later Films ............................. 270 7.1 From Lolita to A Clockwork Orange ................................................... 272 7.2 A Fascination with Violence ............................................................ 281 7.3 'No Other Country but the Mind' ...................................................... 289 7.4 Uncanny Thought ......................................................................... 293 8. Conclusion ............................................................................... 314 8.1 The End of an Era? .............................................................................................. 321 Filmography .................................................................................... 330 Bibliography ................................................................................... 333 5 Introduction Approximately twenty minutes into Kubrick's 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968), there is one of the most remarkable cuts in the history of cinema. Having discovered the possibility of using animal bones as weapons, a tribe of apes is able to fight off a rival clan and thus secure the territory and resources (a small waterhole) crucial to its survival. Subsequently, the leader of the anned tribe, who has demonstrated his supremacy by killing one of the rival apes, celebrates his newfound power by triumphantly throwing his bone-weapon into the air. The bone spins through the air in slow-motion, begins to descend, and is abruptly replaced by a new object - a man made satellite orbiting the earth, which slowly drifts downwards across the screen. Numerous critics have commented on the originality, audacity and narrative economy of the transition, which silently elides four million years of human evolution, moving us instantaneously from 'The Dawn of Man' to the space age of the not-too-distant future. 1 Equally, many have expounded upon the aesthetic elegance of the graphic match between the bone descending in slow-motion and the satellite gliding past the earth. Yet, surprisingly, few have given due attention to the thematic and conceptual significance of the cut, or have acknowledged its full complexity in articulating an extensive network of ideas that are essential to the film as a whole. 2 Embedded in a twenty-five minute 'prologue' that has neither dialogue nor explanatory voiceover, the cut's essential function is, I believe, to produce meaning non-verbally. More than being an elision or a transition, 2001's most famous edit is a juxtaposition of images that suggests a specific set of ideas and themes. It is an example of what I would tenn cinematic thought: the audiovisual expression of an abstract mental process. 6 In the context of 2001's prologue, the ape's use of the bone as a tool and weapon marks an evolutionary juncture, a first moment of creative thinking that becomes synonymous with 'The Dawn of Man'.