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WestminsterResearch http://www.westminster.ac.uk/research/westminsterresearch Illusions for life: On the importance of illusions for our life and the role of cinema in creating these illusions Sylvie Magerstädt School of Media, Arts and Design This is an electronic version of a PhD thesis awarded by the University of Westminster. © The Author, 2011. This is an exact reproduction of the paper copy held by the University of Westminster library. The WestminsterResearch online digital archive at the University of Westminster aims to make the research output of the University available to a wider audience. Copyright and Moral Rights remain with the authors and/or copyright owners. Users are permitted to download and/or print one copy for non-commercial private study or research. Further distribution and any use of material from within this archive for profit-making enterprises or for commercial gain is strictly forbidden. Whilst further distribution of specific materials from within this archive is forbidden, you may freely distribute the URL of WestminsterResearch: (http://westminsterresearch.wmin.ac.uk/). In case of abuse or copyright appearing without permission e-mail [email protected] Illusions for Life On the importance of illusions for our life and the role of cinema in creating these illusions Sylvie Magerstädt A thesis submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements of the University of Westminster for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy March 2011 1 Thesis Abstract The relationship between art, illusion and reality has been part of philosophical debate for centuries. With the increasing use of digital technologies in modern cinema, this debate entered a new dimension. This thesis aims to discuss the notion of illusions as a system of stories and values that inspire a culture similar to other grand narratives, such as mythology or religion. Cinema thus becomes the postmodern ‗mythmaking machine‘ par excellence in a world that has increasing difficulties in creating unifying concepts and positive illusions that can inspire a culture and give hope. I will argue that illusions have always been a crucial element of culture, and my hypothesis is that they are not necessarily a sign of people‘s naivety or unconscious manipulationas has often been argued but a conscious choice, deriving from a longing for positive inspiration. This longing is particularly strong in times of ideological crisis, when other institutions fail to provide relief and guidance. This seems to be emphasised by the fact that in the last decade, at a time of deep ideological crisis, mainstream cinema has seen a significant revival of grand mythic epics. The thesis focuses on three key aspects: the area of belief, illusion and the creation of myths; the relationship between realism and illusion; and the possibilities of modern cinema in relation to these aspects. I chose to base my research project on continental philosophy rather than classic film theory or analytic philosophy in order to stimulate a new debate in film studies and philosophy that links traditional aesthetic concepts with contemporary thoughts on society and cinema. To begin with I draw on theories by Nietzsche, Kracauer and Deleuzeto unravel the interesting similarities in their works, such as the redemptive capacities of art and the acknowledgement that illusion/art/cinema is always closely related to the state of the society that produces them. This is then applied to recent Hollywood epics, namely The Lord of the Rings (P. Jackson, 2001-04), Troy(W. Petersen, 2004) and Avatar (J. Cameron, 2009). Here I argue that rather than being mere escapism, mainstream cinemacan have an important function in providing postmodern culture with important illusions, which is significantly facilitated by new digital technologies.The thesis concludes that these technologies present new creative opportunities for filmmakers and philosophers alike. 2 “We have art in order not to perish of the truth.” Friedrich Nietzsche, Will to Power, §822 3 Contents Acknowledgements 5 Prologue: Introduction and Background 6 Part I: How real is reality? – A review on the relation of reality, art and illusion Chapter One: From dream factory to cathedrals of pop culture – 26 mythological, religious and ideological approaches to cinema 1.1 Why we need illusions - Nietzsche‘s philosophy ofart 27 1.2 Cinema as modern myth – contemporary approaches to the relationship 42 between art and faith Chapter Two: The realm of the real – Concepts of reality, perception and 55 cinematic Realism 2.1 Seeing is Believing – Kracauer and the redemption of physical reality 57 2.2 Realism, not Reality – Kracauer, Bazin and contemporary film theory 77 Chapter Three: Back to the future? – Contemporary cinema and the new 83 challenges for theorists 3.1 Cinema as philosophy – Deleuze and beyond 83 3.2 Brave new worlds – computer generated images and a new aesthetics 103 Part II: May we really believe in Hollywood? – Towards a new movement-image Chapter Four: Redemption through illusion? – Cinematic myths 119 4.1 Never ending stories – Redemption, storytelling and artistic creation 121 4.2 The myth to rule them all – The Lord of the Rings film trilogy 128 Chapter Five: Healthy illusions? – Hollywood’s Realism and the return 151 of the epics 5.1 Truth as Totalisation– Movement-images, action-thought and history 153 5.2 Heroes in Action – Ancient Troy in modern epics 163 Chapter Six: Possible Worlds, impossible Narratives? – The potentials 182 and limits of digital storytelling 6.1 Postmodern heroes inclassic myths – Storytelling in the digital age 185 6.2 When virtual realities become actual – Avatar and the future of cinema 191 Epilogue: Further reflections and future directions 211 Bibliography 216 Filmography 224 4 Acknowledgements Over the past five years a number of people have supported me on this journey. I would like to thank my principal supervisor Uriel Orlow for his meticulous reading of my chapters, his always constructive and helpful criticism as well as his moral support in times of desperation. I am equally grateful to my director of studies, Joram ten Brink, for giving me the opportunity to partake in this PhD programme and for his continuous encouragement and support throughout this project. In addition, I would like to thank Alexander Düttmann from Goldsmiths College for his input, particularly in the first part of this thesis. I also had the opportunity to present papers at a conference in Budapest, organised by the European Network of Cinema Studies (NECS), where I gave a talk on theories on digital cinema and realism, which inspired chapter 3 and 5. Thanks also to Bangor University, which invited me to a conference on Religion, Spirituality and Faith, where my paper ‗Cinema as Religion‘stimulated an inspiring debate. Most recently, I spoke at the 3rd Film-Philosophy conference at the University of Warwick on Troy and digital storytelling, which is part of my fifth chapter. I would like to thank both organisers and participants of these events for the opportunity to discuss ideas and receive valuable feedback on my ideas. Most importantly, I would like to express my gratitude to my parents, Bernd and Gisela, for their inspiring examples and their continuous love and support. Without their moral and financial help I would never have been able to attempt this project and I would like to thank them for always giving me the feeling that I can achieve everything. Last but not least, Iwould like to thank my partner John, whose love, support and extensive library got me over the final hurdles. I am forever grateful to him for proofreading this thesis as well as forlighting up my days when I wasdespairing. You are my inspiration. Sylvie Magerstädt, March 2011 5 Prologue: Introduction and Background In the summer of 2002 I completed my MA dissertation on the philosophical basis of Gilles‘s Deleuze‘s cinema books, where I discussed the ways in which Deleuze uses the theories of Henri Bergson and Friedrich Nietzsche for his analysis of cinema. This interesting project brought up a variety of further questions that could not be answered within the scope of this work and suggested a more in-depth research project. One of the problems that arose was Deleuze‘s apparently dismissive attitude towards modern Hollywood cinema, or what he perceived as the mainstream. As an enthusiast for this cinema I wondered why he seems to assume that a critical and thorough analysis of modern cinema should be confined to art cinema and experimental film. In addition, I had also previously written an essay on Nietzsche‘s The Birth of Tragedy,1 and was somehow surprised that Deleuze, despite discussing Nietzsche‘s theories at length in his second cinema book, makes no mention of this first of Nietzsche‘s works, which so directly discusses our relationship with art and aesthetics and its importance for our life. While these questions were lingering in my head, I came to notice in the following years a sudden flood of historic epics, with Hollywood blockbusterfilms like Troy (dir. W. Petersen, 2004), Alexander (dir. O. Stone, 2004), King Arthur (dir. A. Fuqua, 2004) andHidalgo (dir. J. Johnston, 2004) all coming out in one year. I started wondering about the reasons for this surprising new interest in a type of film that seems to have been a distinct feature of the 1950s but has rarely been made since. There were of course the odd exceptions throughout the years, in the Nineties for example the historic epicsDances with Wolves (dir. Kevin Costner, 1990) and Braveheart (dir. Mel Gibson, 1995), but we could argue that these productions were largely driven by the individual interests of their respective main actor, who tellingly also take on the role of the director. 1 Magerstädt, S. (2001). Der tragische Gott – Über den Begriff des Dionysischen in Nietzsches ‗Die Geburt der Tragödie‘.