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Revisiting the Relevance of Conceptualism of Godardâs Film |
97www.jrfm.eu
2018, 4/2, 83â113
Godardâs film comes into play, wherein gestures and dialogues emerge from a
collective sense of uncertainty and, exactly because of that, become infused
with a spirit that captivates the viewer. In that sense, thanks to Godardâs insist-
ence that actors should never get fully into their stage characters and leave their
real-life characters behind, Godardâs film could be even said to have contributed
to the birth of mumblecore, a rare fresh new genre of the American indie film,
alongside being true to Truffautâs vision of La Nouvelle Vague as ânot a ânewâ
cinema, but a realer and more believable cinemaâ35 than the âcompartmental-
izedâ, theatrical French cinema âruled over by an Inquisition-like regimeâ,36 as
Godard christened the tradition against which he heartily rebelled in the 1960s.
In dissecting the ideological core of Godardâs filmmaking in an attempt to dis-
cern the source of these intrinsic questions, David Sterritt recognized three
major influences: (a) Brechtâs idea of the epic theater, which would, unlike the
traditional, dramatic theater, circumvent the emotional identification of the
spectator with the characters or events on the stage and prompt self-reflection
instead, playing a metacognitive role to that end and influencing the viewer
from a deeper angle, affecting his/her worldviews and subsequent effects on
the world more than a theatrical experience built on climactic catharsis; (b) Dzi-
ga Vertovâs idea that preconceived visions should give way to images emerging
from spontaneous encounters between the eye of the camera and the world in
the most genuine form of filmmaking; and (c) Mao Zedongâs âcommitment to
the Third World as a key site of struggle against bourgeois oppression and super-
power imperialismâ.37 Every element of this triad can be found in the approach
to creative expression in natural sciences idealized here. As for (a), for example,
the way of presenting science that I have championed is all about forsaking the
style that would be comparable to watching a soap opera wherein one finds a
momentary emotional solace, may laugh and decompress, but eventually leaves
it without deep insight, the style that is common among the most appreciat-
ed instructors and presenters in natural sciences today. As in accordance with
Brechtâs idea of the epic theater, the teaching method I proponed is based on
the renouncement of camaraderie and the embracement of remoteness and se-
crecy, all so as to spur self-analysis, foster individuality, and perpetuate noncon-
formity. For science, like everything else, evolves by drawing differences, not by
having everyone confirm the paradigm and try hard to be yet another sheep in
the flock. This is not to say that science is to be deprived of a sense of geniality;
rather, it is to say that the sense of unity and integrity, the peak of every crea-
tive expression, as ever, is best achieved when it comes from such depths of our
35 Laurent 2010.
36 Labarthe 1964.
37 Sterritt 1997.
JRFM
Journal Religion Film Media, Band 04/02
- Titel
- JRFM
- Untertitel
- Journal Religion Film Media
- Band
- 04/02
- Autoren
- Christian Wessely
- Daria Pezzoli-Olgiati
- Herausgeber
- Uni-Graz
- Verlag
- SchĂŒren Verlag GmbH
- Ort
- Graz
- Datum
- 2018
- Sprache
- englisch
- Lizenz
- CC BY-NC 4.0
- Abmessungen
- 14.8 x 21.0 cm
- Seiten
- 135
- Kategorien
- Zeitschriften JRFM