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JRFM 2016, 2/2
CALL FOR PAPERS
From Social Criticism to Hope
The Cinema of the Dardenne Brothers
The November 2016 issue of JrfM explores the possibilities of cinema to relate to
the world, and its capacity to express social criticism and the hope for a better world
through stories and images.
in particular, this issue focuses on the œuvre of the Dardenne Brothers and their spe-
cific style of “responsible realism” (Philip Mosley), from their first documentaries in
the 1970s to their feature films. Their attention to individual characters within their
socio-economic context allows for empathy with their individual struggles, and at the
same time points out the larger structural problems restrict them. This criticism of
social conditions is transcended by a vision of hope and the possibility for transforma-
tion, both individually and socially. The Dardennes represent a valuable case for the
study of the social commitment of cinema because their clear vision of the problem-
atic issues within their Belgian context (and more broadly speaking, the industrialized
North-Atlantic sphere) is grounded in a particular filmic style. From the perspective of
the study of religions and theology, their cinema is interesting for a variety of reasons,
such as the ethical challenge to assume, individually and socially, responsibility for
the other; the persistence on the possibility of transformation within the conditions
of the world as a form of secularized religion; the way in which images, sound and
narrative are used to carefully observe a particular situation while, at the same time,
transcending its specificity.
This issue then pursues two goals: first, the analysis and evaluation of the critically
acclaimed, rich work of the Dardenne Brothers from the perspective of the study of
religions and theology; and second, departing from this analysis of the Dardennes’
cinema and through the comparison of their work to that of other socially committed
filmmakers in relation to the broader debates about realist filmmaking, a more funda-
mental reflection on the relationship between cinema and “reality” and the questions
of responsibility and hope that may emerge from it.
JRFM
Journal Religion Film Media, Band 01/01
- Titel
- JRFM
- Untertitel
- Journal Religion Film Media
- Band
- 01/01
- Autoren
- Christian Wessely
- Daria Pezzoli-Olgiati
- Herausgeber
- Uni-Graz
- University of Zurich
- Verlag
- Schüren Verlag GmbH
- Ort
- Graz
- Datum
- 2015
- Sprache
- englisch
- Lizenz
- CC BY-NC 4.0
- Abmessungen
- 14.8 x 21.0 cm
- Seiten
- 108
- Kategorien
- Zeitschriften JRFM