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Two Nordic Existential Comedies: Smiles of a Summer Night and the Kingdom

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Two Nordic Existential Comedies: Smiles of a Summer Night and the Kingdom Two Nordic existential comedies: Smiles of a Summer Night and The Kingdom Grodal, Torben Kragh Published in: Journal of Scandinavian Cinema DOI: 10.1386/jsca.4.3.231_1 Publication date: 2014 Citation for published version (APA): Grodal, T. K. (2014). Two Nordic existential comedies: Smiles of a Summer Night and The Kingdom. Journal of Scandinavian Cinema, 4(3), 231-238. https://doi.org/10.1386/jsca.4.3.231_1 Download date: 29. sep.. 2021 BK;9, +!hh&*+)Ç*+0Afl]dd][lDaeal]\*(), BgmjfYdg^K[Yf\afYnaYf;af]eY Ngdme],FmeZ]j+ *(),Afl]dd][lDl\9jla[d]&=f_dak`dYf_mY_]&\ga2)(&)+0.'bk[Y&,&+&*+)W) Copyright intellect 2015 do not k`gjlkmZb][l LGJ:=F?JG<9D Mfan]jkalqg^;gh]f`Y_]f LogFgj\a[]pakl]flaYd distribute [ge]\a]k2Kead]kg^Y Kmee]jFa_`lYf\ L`]Caf_\ge 9:KLJ9;L tors best known for tragic films that C=QOGJ<K evoke existential angst and melan- 1. The article analyses Ingmar Bergman’s Lars von Trier choly. The driving force of the deep 2. Smiles of a Summer Night and Lars Ingmar Bergman pain in their tragic films is linked 3. von Trier’s The Kingdom. By means of comedy theory to concerns about human nature, 4. evolution and-neurology-based humour social ritual especially the inability to establish 5. theory it shows how the two directors – film aesthetics bonds to other people and the prev- 6. who ordinarily make dark and tragic Smiles of a Summer alence of selfish desires (see Grodal 7. films – use humour mechanisms from Night 2009, 2012 on von Trier). Both film- 8. mainstream entertainment to trans- The Kingdom 9. form tragic and painful situations into a makers, however, have made come- 10. social ritual of mirth. dies that play through some of the 11. same interpersonal problems but 12. use comic frames to derive pleasure 13. from the pain. In this article I will Ingmar Bergman and Lars von Trier 14. use Bergman’s Sommarnattens leende/ are two outstanding Nordic direc- 15. Smiles of a Summer Night (1955) and *+) JSCA 4.3_SS_Grodal_231-238.indd 231 6/2/15 11:37:42 AM LgjZ]f?jg\Yd Trier’s TV series Riget/The Kingdom are sophisticated ways of working 1. (1994, 1997) to show how this comic through arousing but often quite 2. reframing of existential pain takes painful events. The wide range of 3. place. subgenres includes horror comedies, 4. To clarify the mechanisms of action comedies, romantic comedies 5. Copyright intellect 2015such a reframing,do not let me first sketch and not least, comedies that play 6. some fundamental mechanisms in through scenes of shame, failure, loss 7. comic entertainment based on what I and embarrassment in social interac- 8. propose as a new theory of the comic, tion. 9. synthesizing the most important In erotic encounters, the play situ- 10. previous theories within a neuro- ation serves to dismantle the modes- 11. logical framework (Grodal 2014). The ty-related protection of the body 12. synthesis aims to resolve a series of from intrusion by others. By using 13. problems that arise if the focus is play-chasing, Bergman highlights in 14. solely on one aspect of the complex a joyful manner the conflict between, 15. reaction mechanisms (on humour on the one hand, the need for body 16. see also Martin 2007). autonomy and the fear of losing 17. Comic entertainment is a sophis- control and, on the other hand, the 18. ticated development of mammalian playful pleasures of abandoning that 19. play mechanisms. The most primitive autonomy in tender and erotic bodily 20. forms consist of performing actions fusion. This contrasts with Bergman’s 21. that might normally evoke negative tragic films where the body is a seat 22. emotions and lead to problematic of pain. 23. consequences, such as fighting and Central to comic situations is thus 24. pursuit, but also todistribute exploration and not only to produce such arousal that 25. growth. Due to deep-seated mental would normally motivate muscu- 26. mechanisms, young animals and lar actions that could alleviate the 27. children may play through situations cause of arousal (escaping, killing 28. of aggression and fear without hurt- an opponent, satisfying sex drives, 29. ing each other, instead gaining pleas- crying out of sadness, evading loss 30. ure from the activities. of body autonomy) but also to define 31. To give an example: in Smiles the situation as ‘unreal’ or ‘playful’, 32. of a Summer Night a central narra- making any such action unneces- 33. tive transition that convinces the sary. The audience can just enjoy the 34. puritan young clergyman Henrik arousal, even if it is caused by pain 35. to abandon Christian chastity is or shame. In contrast to the domi- 36. signalled when the coachman Frid nant conceptions of the comic, such 37. play-chases Petra, the maid, and she as incongruence theories (see Martin 38. screams with playful sexual excite- 2007), in which some behaviours or 39. ment while pretending to elude him. mental states are in their essence 40. Her screaming is also a play signal, funny, the general theory claims that 41. and thus the arousal caused by being the ‘fuel’ of the comic is ordinary 42. chased is transformed to signals of arousal and the comic result is caused 43. sexual abandonment. If a situation, by situation-specific signalling and 44. say a fight or flight, is signalled as negotiation of a play situation that 45. playful, the participants are on the makes the arousal ‘unreal’, backed 46. one hand aroused, activating stress up by innate physiological reactions, 47. hormones like adrenaline and corti- including the release of endorphins 48. sol, but at the same time quantities of (pleasure-evoking neurotransmit- 49. pleasure-and-relaxation neurotrans- ters). It is important to emphasize 50. mitters of the opioid group, such as that the comic evaluation of some- 51. endorphins, are released. Comedies thing as ‘unreal’ or ‘playful’ can be 52. *+* JSCA 4.3_SS_Grodal_231-238.indd 232 6/2/15 11:37:42 AM LogFgj\a[]pakl]flaYd[ge]\a]k 1. 1. seen as a bail-out mechanism from elevated than pure avant-garde art, 2. 2. negative experiences, because often comedy activates the very roots of 3. 3. their causes are very real, and only art: to create a social ritual to regu- 4. 4. the shared decision to laugh at them late the emotional impact of central 5. 5. makes it possible to enjoy the painful human experiences. 6. Copyright6. intellectarousal. 2015 do not 7. 7. The signalling and negotiation ;GEA;;GFN=FLAGFKE==L 8. 8. of the play situation rely on basic 9. 9. mechanism of bonding, and thus EGJ9D9FPA=LQ 10. 10. comedy is a profoundly social institu- Smiles of a Summer Night was forced 11. 11. tion by means of which groups may on Bergman in the sense that he was 12. 12. gain comfort by playful sharing of under economic pressure to make 13. 13. their negative experiences (but also a film that could succeed at the box 14. 14. by exclusion so that the group laughs office. Perhaps in part for that reason, 15. 15. at other persons and groups). A diffi- he borrows proven formulas from 16. 16. cult question, however, remains how several centuries of French theatri- 17. 17. to signal and negotiate that a given cal tradition, including the comedies 18. 18. event should be experienced as play- of Pierre de Marivaux and Pierre 19. 19. ful, pleasurable and ‘unreal’. Animals Beaumarchais and plays from the 20. 20. and children may emit play signals so-called belle époque, for instance 21. 21. such as specific sounds or laughter those of Georges Feydeau; French 22. 22. to convey that ‘this fight is for fun’, film comedies such as Max Ophuls’ 23. 23. and audiences of comic entertain- La Ronde/The Round (1950) also 24. 24. ment likewise express themselves served as models. Central in such 25. 25. by laughing, thus also signallingdistribute to comedies is the use of promiscuous 26. 26. other members of the audience that sex and moral transgressions such as 27. 27. the event is experienced as comic, infidelity to create arousal. Bergman 28. 28. playful and shared by the group. even follows a centuries-old French 29. 29. Film characters, however, cannot tradition by portraying the servant 30. 30. usually signal the playfulness of the class and the aristocracy as more 31. 31. comedy by laughing all the time. promiscuous than the middle classes: 32. 32. Instead they need to signal arousal, the maid Petra signals her willing- 33. 33. for instance surprise, pain or shame. ness to the men around her, and 34. 34. A person who laughingly slips on a Count Malcolm is on principle a Don 35. 35. banana peel is not as funny as the Juan with no intention of being faith- 36. 36. person who shows surprise, shame or ful to his wife. Part of the arousal is 37. 37. pain by falling. Comic entertainment thus caused by portraying relatively 38. 38. therefore develops other ways to uncontrolled sexual behaviours and 39. 39. signal playfulness, which I will exem- by a series of embarrassing confron- 40. 40. plify in relation to works of Bergman tations caused by the philandering. 41. 41. and Trier. Some of these signals are However, the arousal is partly 42. 42. conventions – even highly original transformed, becoming humorous 43. 43. film-makers such as Bergman and and unrealistic, by the use of charac- 44. 44. Trier need conventional play signals ter stereotypes and conventional plot 45.
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