Page - 35 - in JRFM - Journal Religion Film Media, Volume 02/02

Realistic Humanism | 35www.jrfm.eu 2016, 2/2, 33–44 the way they want to write their scenarios and work with the crew. Although they do not use a philosophical background as an explicit starting point, the discussion of philosophical and literary references plays an important part in Luc Dardenne’s diaries and justifies the spectators’ interest in these sources. In an interview with Nathan Reneaud in 2014, Luc Dardenne said, with great understatement, that he was not sure if he could be called a philosopher.7 Such cautious self-definition should be used much more often by professional phi- losophers, who are not always able to produce original philosophical ideas as does Dardenne. In comparison with many academic writers, Luc Dardenne can be considered an independent, profound and convincing thinker, and can there- fore legitimately be called a philosopher. PHILOSOPHY AND FILM: AN OBVIOUS AND COMPLICATED RELATIONSHIP Since the invention of the seventh art, films have regularly attracted philoso- phers who are fascinated by their powerful representations of reality and by the stimulating imagining of worlds that help the spectators escape their real- ity. Both tendencies have been present from the very beginning: films are tools of realistic discoveries of the world as it is, and they can function as magical ma- chines of enchantment, entertainment and escapism. Each of these functions is seen as problematic from different points of view. Popular films are often criti- cised as superficial distractions from the adequate perception of things. Similar controversies are also known in the area of literature and other arts. Some philosophers look for inspiration in films, and some film directors look for conceptual tools in philosophy. As far as ethical issues are concerned, the American philosopher Stanley Cavell is among the protagonists of a new wave of philosophical investigation of cinema. In his analysis of Hollywood comedies, he coins a term for what he identifies as a specific genre of films: the “comedy of remarriage” that shows the search for happiness by couples as they separate and get together again. Their stories can be read as serious studies of respect for the needs of the other and of the inevitable problems of the naive dream of marital harmony. Known as a filmmaker interested in philosophy, Luc Dardenne has been invited to connect to Cavell’s theory,8 but the link seems to be less intense than critics inspired by Cavell might have hoped.9 7 Cf. Reneaud 2014. 8 Cavell 1981. In his interview with Nathan Reneaud, Luc Dardenne mentions his participation in a semi- nar about Cavell and admits that he has some difficulty with the author’s concepts (Reneaud 2014). See also Dardenne 2015, 180. 9 See Pianezza 2012.