Realism and Ambiguity 13 2

The copyright of this thesis vests in the author. No quotation from it or information derived from it is to be published without full acknowledgement of the source. The thesis is to be used for private study or non- commercial research purposes only. Published by the University of Cape Town (UCT) in terms of the non-exclusive license granted to UCT by the author. University of Cape Town A Strange Mirror: Realism, Ambiguity and Absence in the work of Harrnony Korine Alexia Jayne Smit SMTALEOlO A dissertation submitted infuljillment of the requirements for the award of the degree of Master of Arts in Film Studies Faculty of the Humanities University of Cape Town 2007 The financial assistance of the National Research Foundation (NRF) towards this research is hereby acknowledged. Opinionsy ofexpressed Cape and conclusions Town arrived at, are those of the author and not necessarilysit to be attributed to the NRF. COMPULSORY DECLARATION This work has not been previously submitted in whole, or in part, for the award of any degree. It is my own work. EachUniver significant contribution to, and quotation in, this dissertation from the work, or works, of other people has been attributed, and has been cited and referenced . Signature: __---'~~ _____________Date: 67101107 UNIVERSITY OF CAPE TOWN GRADUATE SCHOOL IN HUMANITIES DECLARATION BY CANDIDATE FOR THE DEGREE OF MASTER IN THE F ACUL TY OF HUMANITIES I, (name of candidate) Alexia Jayne Smit of (address of candidate) 37 Anerley Road, Morningside, Durban 4001 do hereby declare that I empower the University of Cape Town to produce for the purpose of research either the whole or any portion of the contents of my dissertation entitled A Strange Mirror: Realism, Ambiguity and Absence in the work of Harmony Korine. University of Cape Town in any manner whatsoever. oJ/Or/Of CANDIDATE'S SIGNATURE DATE 11 Acknowledgements I am deeply indebted to my supervisor, Associate Professor Lesley Marx, for her enthusiastic, engaged and incisive supervision. Lesley has regularly gone beyond the call of duty for me and this thesis has benefited greatly from her knowledge and guidance. I must also thank Lesley for many much-needed hugs. I would like to thank the administrative and academic staff at the Centre for Film and Media Studies at the University of Cape Town for their support and guidance. lowe thanks to the National Research Foundation and the University of Cape Town for the funding that allowed me to undertake this thesis. Town I am deeply thankful to Rael who provided the love and many cups of tea that sustained me through this process. Thanks to my sister, OliviaCape who has dealt very gracefully with the absence and abstraction of her older sisterof over the last two years. Finally, I could not have completed this thesis were it not for the unwavering support of my parents. My father, Dan, has counselled me through many personal and academic crises and I am eternally indebted to my mother, lenni, who has sacrificed so much of her own time and energy to help me complete this thesis. lowe her my deepest thanks for taking on the arduousUniversity task of proofreading this thesis and for being the kind of woman I aspire to be. 11l Abstract This dissertation examines the work of Harmony Korine with a particular focus on his use ofrealism as a disruptive critical tool. My study combines a theoretical and an analytical project. My aim is to defend Korine's works against charges of naIve realism by revealing the limits of a structuralist approach to Korine's realism and arguing, instead, for the adoption of the phenomenologically grounded, realist criticism of Andre Bazin. I use Bazin' s observations about the referential or indexical relationship between the camera and the physical world and his definition of 'phenomenological realism' to argue for a privileged and fruitful relationship between Korine's realism and the physical or affective dimensions of the cinematic image. I supplement this discussion with a critical application of theories of affect forwarded by such theoristsTown as Vivian Sobchack and Laura U. Marks, as well as theories of the grotesque. In addition, my thesis extends the links that Bazin draws between the restraint defining phenomenological realism and a productive ambiguity to argue that, rather than presentingCape an unsophisticated realist approach, Korine's realism operates as the primary critical tool in a confrontation with dominant sign systems and, ultimately, withof the limitations of both verbal and filmic language. My thesis examines three films: Kids, Korine's screenwriting debut, Gumma, his first attempt at directing and julien donkey-boy, which Korine directed in line with the rules of Dogma 95. My analysisUniversity of Kids demonstrates the difference between phenomenological realism and the classical Hollywood model ofrealism which is so often criticized for using realism to disguise an ideological argument. Drawing on Bazin' s discussion of Italian neorealism, I explore the deflection of importance from narrative arrangement onto physical appearances in Kids. This chapter introduces the role of the grotesque and camivalesque in Korine's work and reveals the film's emphasis on sex, 'vulgar' bodily acts and explicit violence as an important device in the film's critique of dominant constructions of whiteness. IV My analysis of Gumma explores how a play with documentary and fictional modes, operates along with sensual excess and an emphasis on grotesque physical anomaly, to destabilize commonsense ideas about the ethics of representation and to foreground and denaturalize dominant sign systems that play an important role in normative American identity construction. My analysis ofjulien donkey-boy considers the relationship between the indexicality of photographic realism and the threat of death and absence. I critique Vivian Sobchack's arguments about sensual affect and use my analysis of this film to counter her argument against what she sees as a current theoretical overemphasis on the role of absence and lack in our sensual engagement with the cinema. Rather, the restraint demanded by julien donkey-boy 's adherence to the Dogma 95 conventions encourages an engagement with the inadequacy of verbal language and with the partiality of the Towncinematic referent. By drawing on Laura U. Marks's definition of haptic cinema, I show that the partiality of the cinematic referent may be revealed through an emphasis both on the indexical elements of the photographic image and through the cultivationCape of sensory longing. of University Contents Acknowledgments Abstract iii Introduction 1 PART ONE 1. Bazin's Phenomenology: Realism and Ambiguity 13 2. Reading the Realism of Kids 23 3. Gummo: America Through the Looking-Glass 44 Town PART TWO 4. Bazin's Mummy: Indexicality and Absence 88 5. Julien donkey-boy: Sense, Absence and DogmaCape 95 110 Conclusion: On the Other Side of Things of 152 Filmography 157 Other Media 160 Works Cited 161 University Introduction I'm obsessed with realism. The only thing that matters to me in film and artwork is realism or the presentation of realism. But, at the same time, I realize that film can never be real and that movies are never real, even documentary falls short. (Korine 1997 a: par 6) I wanted to make my own movies the way they should be made. More like a collage or a tapestry. Something more like a feeling. Something that you are affected by. (Korine 1997a: par 3) My interest in the work of the controversial screenwriter and director, Harmony Korine, was sparked not only by the compelling originality of his films, but because his unorthodox filmmaking poses exciting questions and challenges for the theory and practice of film analysis, particularly with regard to issues ofrealism. My project in this dissertation is two-fold. On the one hand, I aim to rescue Korine from critical disdain and dismissal on the grounds of his supposedly nai've realism and exploitativeness. On the other hand, I use Korine' s work to explore the limitations of semiologically based approaches to film analysis, arguing instead for the applicability of the phenomenologically inflected realist criticism of Andre Bazin. My thesis, thus, involves a dialectical exchange between a theoretical investigation and an analytical project, in which my analyses of Korine's films provide an occasion to test my theoretical arguments, while my exploration of theory provides valuable insights into Korine's filmmaking. University of Cape Town In the quotations that open this introduction, Korine defines his own approach to cinema. His comments highl ight several features of his style that will form key entry points for my discussion. Firstly, Korine announces, somewhat paradoxically, his passionate interest in realism as "the only thing that matters" while admitting that true realism is impossible. The complexity of Korine's approach to questions of realism has far too often been ignored by critics. Instead of dismissing Korine's attachment to realism as deceit or naIvety, I aim to consider the ways in which Korine knowingly makes use of the 2 difficulties and ambiguities that attend attempts at realism to produce a disquieting assault on mainstream aesthetics and ideologies. Ultimately, I will show that Korine uses the inadequacies of cinematic realism to problematise representation in general. Secondly, Korine announces the importance of cultivating an affective response from audiences while rejecting traditional approaches to narrative structure in favour of a "tapestry" or "collage". I will connect these aspects ofKorine's aesthetic to his particular approach to realism. Korine's films foreground bodily excess and filth while offering little comment on these provocations by means of narrative. My contention is that Korine sees the realism of cinema as an opportunity to engage with the physical dimensions of his subject matter and to communicate with viewers through the affective appeal of the image rather than through an articulate system of signs.

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