COPYRIGHT AND USE OF THIS THESIS This thesis must be used in accordance with the provisions of the Copyright Act 1968. Reproduction of material protected by copyright may be an infringement of copyright and copyright owners may be entitled to take legal action against persons who infringe their copyright. Section 51 (2) of the Copyright Act permits an authorized officer of a university library or archives to provide a copy (by communication or otherwise) of an unpublished thesis kept in the library or archives, to a person who satisfies the authorized officer that he or she requires the reproduction for the purposes of research or study. The Copyright Act grants the creator of a work a number of moral rights, specifically the right of attribution, the right against false attribution and the right of integrity. You may infringe the author’s moral rights if you: - fail to acknowledge the author of this thesis if you quote sections from the work - attribute this thesis to another author - subject this thesis to derogatory treatment which may prejudice the author’s reputation For further information contact the University’s Director of Copyright Services sydney.edu.au/copyright There’s a Problem with the Connection: American Eccentricity and Existential Anxiety Kim Wilkins 305165062 A thesis submitted in fulfilment of the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. University of Sydney. 1 I hereby declare that, except where indicated in the notes, this thesis contains only my own original work. As I have stated throughout this work, some sections of this thesis have been published previously. A version of Chapter Two features in Peter Kunze’s collection The Films of Wes Anderson: Critical Essays on an Indiewood Icon, published by Palgrave Macmillan in 2014, and Chapter Three was published under the title ‘The sounds of silence: hyper-dialogue and American Eccentricity’ as an article in New Review of Film and Television Studies no. 11 (4):403-423 in 2013. Some comments on Sherry B. Ortner’s book Not Hollywood: Independent Film at the Twilight of the American Dream were previously published as a review in Media International Australia no. No 146, in February 2013. 2 Abstract David Foster Wallace’s essay ‘E unibus pluram: Television and U.S Fiction’ (1993) describes ironic self-consciousness as the default tone of American cultural expression in the early nineties. For Wallace, this self-conscious mode of address incorporates a paralysing problem in regard to conveying meaning in texts—irony has become an end in itself. The pervasiveness of irony and cynicism in films of the 1980s and early 1990s led to concerns that sincere expression would be taken as naïve or lacking sophistication. I argue that the cinematic mode I am investigating, American Eccentricity, negotiates a different relationship to sincerity—it is not a rejection of irony, but a mode of cinematic expression that incorporates irony with sincerity. The balance of emphasis may shift between the two positions, however, ironic articulation co-exists with sincere meaning. Films in the American Eccentric mode, such as those by Wes Anderson or Charlie Kaufman, take the cultural and ideological imprints of the New Hollywood (1967-1979). The New Hollywood filmmakers who emerged in the late 1960s with films like Bonnie and Clyde, The Graduate (Nichols 1967) and Easy Rider (Hopper 1969), demonstrated in their films an American cultural uneasiness, isolation, and disconnection with their contemporary society, in the light of the Vietnam War and the contemporary questioning of institutional authority. Where the New Hollywood presented existential anxieties as cultural manifestations through actual events and reactions to real-life concerns, American Eccentricity does not bind anxiety to external sources—in the absence of the cultural and national tumult that presented external and legitimate sites for existential concern in the 1960s and 1970s, anxiety in the American Eccentric mode is essentially objectless. While both American Eccentric and New Hollywood films centre on a yearning for human connection, I argue that American Eccentric films portray a genuine hope for human connection from an ironic position in which they predict and anticipate failure before the first frame. American Eccentric films portray four notable textual characteristics: transgressions, subversions, and ironic play with genre; the use of ‘hyper-dialogue’ as a dramatic device that functions to mediate sincere underlying thematic concerns for the viewer through ironic, reflexive speech; the shift toward pure cinematic characterisation; and the formulation of Eccentric cinematic worlds. These four textual characteristics – which provide the analytical foci for my thesis – facilitate a cinematic engagement with the spectator that promotes access and connection with genuine existential anxieties, while simultaneously positioning her at a safe distance. 3 Acknowledgments Researching and writing this thesis has been a privilege and pleasure thanks to a number of inspirational people who offered their support, expertise, and, most generously, their time. I have been incredibly fortunate to have had the expert guidance of two brilliant supervisors, Dr. David Kelly and Dr. Bruce Isaacs. Over the years I have been constantly impressed by Dave’s encyclopaedic knowledge of film, literature, and history. I greatly admire Dave’s genius and eloquence, but above all I appreciate his sensitive approach—he is a gentleman, a remarkable intellectual, and, just the coolest dude. I am equally indebted to Bruce, whose enthusiasm for my project—but more importantly for film—is entirely infectious. I am forever grateful to Bruce for his academic excellence, but also for his generosity, and kindness. Dave and Bruce, this experience has been incredibly rewarding, I thank you for your advice, and good humour. I will cherish this experience, always. I wish thank the Joshis for welcoming not only me, but my thesis, into their family with understanding, patience, and warmth. To my brother, and best friend, Chris I extend my thanks and affection for his unique perspectives on life, and his grounding words when I need them most. To my parents, Elke and David, there is no way to adequately express my gratitude for all you have done for me. Without your love, trust, support, encouragement—and critically, your active interest in my passions—not only would this project never have eventuated—but I certainly would not be the woman I am. I love you both. And finally, to my husband. Ketan—you’ve always been beyond my words. I dedicate this thesis to you. 4 Contents Abstract 3 Acknowledgments 4 Contents 5 List of Figures 6 Introducing American Eccentricity 9 i. Locating the Eccentric in Film 10 ii. Eccentric Articulations of Existential Anxiety Through Irony 19 iii. Existing Classifications and the American Eccentric Mode 39 iv. American Eccentricity Beyond ‘Indie’ Categorisation 44 v. New Hollywood and Eccentric Connections 61 Chapter One: Transgressing Genre 1.1 From East to West (and back): The Road and the Western 68 1.2 Genre Transgression and Subversion 73 1.3 Road Film: Genre and Generic Inheritance 88 1.4 American Eccentricity and the Postmodern 99 1.5 The New Sincerity and Postmodern Genericity 102 1.6 From the Easy Rider to The Darjeeling Limited 106 1.7 The Road and Kaufman’s Mind Trips 127 Chapter Two: Pure Cinematic Characterisation 2.1 Pure Cinematic Characterisation and Eccentricity 140 2.2 Smart Cinema and Eccentricity 151 2.3 Wes Anderson’s Eccentric Characters 165 Chapter Three: The Role of Hyper-dialogue in American Eccentricity 192 3.1 Hyperdialogue and Performance 206 3.2 Hyper-dialogue and Metamodernism 210 3.3 Hyper-dialogue as Dramatic Function 212 3.4 Hyper-dialogue and Sincerity 217 Chapter Four: Eccentric Worlds 223 4.1 Naturalistic Worlds in the New Hollywood 227 4.2 Eccentricity and the Film-Born World 244 4.3 Eccentric Worlds and the Quirky 269 4.4 Impossible Cities 279 Conclusion 312 References 331 5 List of Figures Figure 1 Wes Anderson’s Moonrise Kingdom (2012) 9 Figure 2 Arthur Penn’s Bonnie and Clyde (1967) 9 Figure 3 Alice’s isolation. The final shot of Alice's Restaurant 25 Figure 4 The quest for ‘America’ killed in the final shot of Easy Rider 25-26 Figure 5 Simon ‘It hurts to breathe’ 29 Figure 6 Pilot Abilene’s dance sequence 33 Figure 7 Busby Berkeley’s ‘By a Waterfall’ sequence 35 Figure 8 The Big Lebowski ‘Gutterballs’ sequence 35 Figure 9 Pilot Abilene’s hallucination 36 Figure 10 The introduction of Steve Zissou 52 Figure 11 Romance genre conventions in Punch-Drunk Love 55 Figure 12 Godard’s use of lighting re-emerges in Anderson’s work 56 Figure 13 Émile and Angéla in Une femme est une femme 56 Figure 14 Lena and Barry in Punch-Drunk Love 57 Figure 15 Poster for Easy Rider 68 Figure 16 The title sequence of Easy Rider 70 Figure 17 Altman’s McCabe and Mrs. Miller 74-75 Figure 18 The final moments of The Searchers 81 Figure 19 Monument Valley in John Ford’s Stagecoach 92 Figure 20 Monument Valley in John Ford’s The Searchers 92 Figure 21 Monument Valley in Dennis Hopper’s Easy Rider 92 Figure 22 The juxtaposition of motorcycle and horse in Easy Rider 93 Figure 23 The Darjeeling Limited’s first train chase 107-108 Figure 24 Francis’ plans for enlightenment 110-111 Figure 25 American tourists in India 114 Figure 26 Wyatt and Billy experience an hallucinatory ‘trip’ 115 Figure 27 The Whitman brothers anaesthetise themselves for their trip 116 Figure 28 Two paralleled funerals 120 Figure 29 An ironic meditative ritual 122-123 Figure 30 The film’s bookend as Satyajit Ray looks on 126 Figure 31 Craig’s first Malkovich ride 130-131 Figure 32 Drag races in Two Lane Blacktop 132 Figure 33 A rider being sucked in to the Malkovich portal 132 Figure 34 The view from the Malkovich portal 133 Figure 35 Malkovich takes the Malkovich ride 135 Figure 36 The burning film at the end of Two-Lane Blacktop 138 Figure 37 Craig’s ever decreasing frame 138 Figure 38 Craig ineffectually pleads Emily to ‘look away’ 139 6 Figure 39 Steve Zissou introduces his son Ned on film 140 Figure 40 Team Zissou watch their footage 141 Figure 41 Violet’s dance in Damsels in Distress 146 Figure 42 Dr.