Table Of Content

3-D Cinema and Trauma Poetics of Remembrance and Loss Dor Fadlon 3-D Cinema and Trauma “In this erudite book, Dor Fadlon develops a most compelling account of 3D cinema as telling of transformations in cultural trauma in America from the Cold War to the Way on Terror—and from analog to digital. Fadlon adds here a crucial, perviously missing, dimension (literally!) in understanding the social life trauma as technologically mediated. This book will prove valuable to those interested in criti- cally analyzing the intersections of film studies and trauma studies.” —Amit Pinchevski, Professor of Communication, Department of Communication and Journalism, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem. Author of Transmitted Wounds: Media and the Mediation of Trauma “This rigorously researched and thought-provoking text brings an entirely new lens to our understanding of 3D cinema’s history. By deftly weaving together theories of trauma, phenomenology and the distinct aesthetics of the medium, Fadlon has expertly laid out the complex ways in which 3D cinema speaks to its audiences. The interlinking of 3D cinema with its surrounding socio-cultural contexts allows a nuanced understanding of the medium that lays to rest public and scholarly tendencies to diminish 3D cinema as simply a profit- oriented gimmick. This book contains significant coverage of the contexts in which 3D cinema oper- ates and the scholarly theories necessary to understand its impacts, all supported by rich textual analysis to illustrate its points. With close attention to some of the best-known 3D films and lesser known but equally significant works, this book provides a range of thoughtful insights into the ways that 3D cinema has caught the public imagination and channelled underlying societal currents into a unique visual experience.” —Miriam Ross, Independent Scholar. Author of 3D Cinema: Optical Illusions and Tactile Experiences “Dor Fadlon’s observation that there is a clear relationship between the popularity of 3D cinema and traumatic events in recent American history is so simple and yet so profound that it begs the envious question: why did we not all see earlier what was jutting out of the cinema screen and staring us directly in the face? Luckily for us, though, Fadlon has not only made precisely this link, but he has made it in a meticulous, detailed and engaging fashion. 3-D Cinema and Trauma: Poetics of Remembrance and Loss adds great depth to the scholarship on stereoscopic cinema, progressing beyond attack or defence of the form (or medium), and instead articulating in a fascinating and astute fashion what it is that 3D cinema is actually doing – formally as well as in terms of the stories that it tells. This is a provocative book that will generate further debates – not least because 3D would seem on the verge of yet another so-called comeback, which of course coincides with the col- lective trauma of a global pandemic. A crucial and critical addition to the field.” —William Brown, Associate Professor of Film, University of British Columbia. Author of Supercinema: Film-Philosophy for the Digital Age “The shifting fortunes of 3D cinema have elicited a considerable body of scholarly analysis, and Dor Fadlon opens up new vistas for the subdiscipline with this inno- vative study of the 3D format’s intersections with trauma as both a psychological phenomenon and a complex of issues relating to cinema, narrativity, and modes of vision and representation. Casting a wide historical and theoretical net, Fadlon examines the classical 3D epoch of the 1950s, the wave of digital 3D that followed in the 2000s, and the divergent approaches of stereoscopic documentary, pornog- raphy, and horror in the 1980s. Probing the B-movie intricacies of It Came from Outer Space and House of Wax in the first section, the more sophisticated work- ings of Life of Pi and Gravity in the second, and the variegated attractions of the nonfiction Cave of Forgotten Dreams, the transgressive Love, and the exploita- tional Jaws 3D in the third, to mention only some of the films analyzed in these pages, Fadlon employs conceptual frames derived from Marx, Freud, Benjamin, Deleuze, Sobchack, Buckland, and many others to support his arguments and solidify his conclusions, which illuminate areas of cinema that are as important as they are understudied in the existing literature. Combining academic rigor with clear and vigorous language, Fadlon’s study should be welcomed by cinephiles and trauma scholars alike.” —David Sterritt, editor-in-chief, Quarterly Review of Film and Video Dor Fadlon 3-D Cinema and Trauma Poetics of Remembrance and Loss Dor Fadlon The Steve Tisch School of Film and Television Tel Aviv University Tel Aviv, Israel ISBN 978-3-031-12820-2 ISBN 978-3-031-12821-9 (eBook) https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-12821-9 © The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2022 This work is subject to copyright. All rights are solely and exclusively licensed by the Publisher, whether the whole or part of the material is concerned, specifically the rights of translation, reprinting, reuse of illustrations, recitation, broadcasting, reproduction on microfilms or in any other physical way, and transmission or information storage and retrieval, electronic adaptation, computer software, or by similar or dissimilar methodology now known or hereafter developed. The use of general descriptive names, registered names, trademarks, service marks, etc. in this publication does not imply, even in the absence of a specific statement, that such names are exempt from the relevant protective laws and regulations and therefore free for general use. The publisher, the authors, and the editors are safe to assume that the advice and information in this book are believed to be true and accurate at the date of publication. Neither the publisher nor the authors or the editors give a warranty, expressed or implied, with respect to the material contained herein or for any errors or omissions that may have been made. The publisher remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations. Cover illustration: SuperStock / Alamy Stock Photo This Palgrave Macmillan imprint is published by the registered company Springer Nature Switzerland AG The registered company address is: Gewerbestrasse 11, 6330 Cham, Switzerland To Dana, Renen, and Matti A cknowledgements As much as this book has been an academic journey, it has also been an emotional one, and it was made possible by many people, too many to thank. Nonetheless, here is a short list. I wish to thank Miriam Ross and Paul Wolffram who supervised my PhD thesis, which served as the depar- ture point for this book. I will be forever grateful for their advice and input. Their knowledge, generosity, criticism, advice, and patience had an immense impact on this project. To Yaron Bloch and Raz Yosef of Tel Aviv University, for taking an interest in my work and making time to hear me ramble on about 3-D cinema. A special thank you to Boaz Hagin, for discussing trauma and 3-D with me at length, for reading early versions of some of the chapters, and for always suggesting new and fruitful routes to explore. To Paul Frosh and Amit Pinchevski, of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, who during my post-doctorate year helped further shape ideas regarding media and trauma. To the Golda Meir Postdoctoral Fellowship Trust for their generous support through 2020–2021, a COVID-19- ridden year, when the writing of this book commenced. To the 3D Film Archive, for their wonderful work of restoring 3-D films and for being an immense source of knowledge on 3-D. To my editor Lina Aboujieb, pro- duction editor Kishor Kannan, and the rest of the team at Palgrave Macmillan—thank you for seeing this project through. It has been a plea- sure working with you. To my family for their unconditional love and support. Particularly to my little sister, Shiri, for teaching me what courage is and always giving the best advice; to my father, Gedi, for his sensitivity, support, and persistence; to my mother, Judy Fadlon, for the long talks, vii viii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS the longer reads, and for paving the road in which I now walk. I am so so lucky to have you. Last but not least, To my wife, Dana Direktor, and my sons Renen and Matti—I love you in all the possible dimensions, and then some more. The analysis of Life of Pi in section II is derived in part from an article published in Quarterly Review of Film and Video, 2022, ©Taylor and Francis. Available online: https://www.tandfonline.com/10.1080/105 09208.2022.2077622. c ontents 1 Introduction 1 Part I History and Trauma in 3-D Cinema of the Fifties 17 2 They Won’t Believe It Back Home: 3-D Cinema, Trauma, and Representation 23 3 Films That Ache, Films That Injure: 3-D Cinema and the Body 47 4 Any-Space-Whatever and Radioactive Fossils: 3-D Cinema Meets Deleuze 67 Part II Digital 3-D Cinema and September 11 83 5 Which Story to Believe? Mediating Trauma in Digital 3-D Cinema 89 6 Becoming Bodies and Empowering Kinaesthesia 107 7 From Bodies to Worlding 131 ix x CONTENTS 8 Deleuze and the Traumatic Temporalities of Digital 3-D Cinema 149 Part III Ongoing Fascinations 175 9 Documentary and 3-D Cinema: Preserving Absence 183 10 3-D Sex 213 11 3-D Horror Cinema of the Eighties 233 12 Conclusion 249 Bibliography 255 Index 277