Critical Theory and Film: Rethinking Ideology Through Film Noir

185 Pages·2012·1.07 MB·English

by  Fabio Vighi

Critical Theory
and Film
Critical Theory and Contemporary Society
Series Editor

Darrow Schecter
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ABOUT THE SERIES
Critical Theory and Contemporary Society explores the relationship
between contemporary society as a complex and highly differentiated phe-
nomenon, on the one hand, and Critical Theory as a correspondingly sophis-
ticated methodology for studying and understanding social and political
relations today, on the other.
Each volume highlights in distinctive ways why (1) Critical Theory offers
the most appropriate concepts for understanding political movements, socio-
economic confl icts and state institutions in an increasingly global world and
(2) why Critical Theory nonetheless needs updating in order to keep pace
with the realities of the twenty-fi rst century.
The books in the series look at global warming, fi nancial crisis, post–nation
state legitimacy, international relations, cinema, terrorism and other issues,
applying an interdisciplinary approach, in order to help students and citizens
understand the specifi city and uniqueness of the current situation.
Darrow Schecter,
Series Editor,
Reader in the School of History, Art History
and Humanities, University of Sussex, UK
BOOKS IN THE SERIES
l Critical Theory and Film : Fabio Vighi, Reader and Co-director of the
Žižek Centre for Ideology Critique at Cardiff University, UK
l C ritical Theory and Contemporary Europe : William Outhwaite, Chair
and Professor of Sociology at Newcastle University, UK
l Critical Theory, Legal Theory, and the Evolution of Contemporary Society :
Hauke Brunkhorst, Professor of Sociology and Head of the Institute of
Sociology at the University of Flensburg, Germany
l Critical Theory in the Twenty-First Century : Darrow Schecter, Reader
in the School of History, Art History and Humanities, University of
Sussex, UK
l Critical Theory and the Digital : David Berry, Department of Political and
Cultural Studies at Swansea University, UK
l Critical Theory and the Contemporary Crisis of Capital : Heiko Feldner,
Co-director of the Centre for Ideology Critique and Žižek Studies at
Cardiff University, UK

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Critical Theory

and Film
Rethinking ideology through fi lm noir
FABIO VIGHI
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Continuum International Publishing Group
The Tower Building 80 Maiden Lane
11 York Road Suite 704
London SE1 7NX New York NY 10038
www.continuumbooks.com
© Fabio Vighi, 2012
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced,
stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means,
electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise,
without the permission of the publishers.
EISBN: 978-1-4411-3912-2
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Vighi, Fabio, 1969-
Critical theory and fi lm : rethinking ideology in cinema / Fabio Vighi.
p. cm. – (Critical theory and contemporary society)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-1-4411-1142-5 (hardcover : alk. paper) – ISBN 1-4411-1142-5 (hardcover : alk. paper)
1. Film noir–History and criticism. 2. Motion pictures–Philosophy. 3. Critical theory.
I. Title.
PN1995.9.F54V55 2012
791.4301–dc23
2012002426
Typeset by Newgen Imaging Systems Pvt Ltd, Chennai, India
Printed and bound in the United States of America

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For Alice, Elena and Sofi a
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Contents
Introduction
1
Enlightening deceptions . . . 1
. . . As real as masks 5
A theoretical premise on Adorno’s theme of
the ‘preponderance of the object’ 8
1 The dialectic’s narrow margin:
Film noir between Adorno and Hegel
19
Self-limitation in fi lm noir 19
The noir panorama beyond spectatorship 27
Adorno goes to Hollywood 3 0
The negative and the whole 35
Ontology of self-deception in fi lm noir 42
The Narrow Margin and double visions 52
A detour on ideology 66
2 Critical Theory’s dialectical dilemma 8 7
Horkheimer’s method 87
The Kantian subtext 90
Hegel: Contradiction (not) resolved 94
From mimesis to utopia 104
Critical Theory’s fetishistic disavowal 109
3 A confi guration pregnant with tension:
Fritz Lang for Critical Theory
120
Beyond the doubt of appearances 1 21
On photos and truth 124
Framing the subject 127
Sublimation in T he Blue Gardenia 132
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viii CONTENTS
From paranoia to repetition 136
The gaze in the frame 143
The art of excremental painting 152
Coda: The enjoyment of fi lm in theory
161
R eferences 1 67
I ndex 1 73

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Introduction
Enlightening deceptions . . .
In the underrated fi lm noir H ollow Triumph (1948, Steve Sekeley), also known
as T he Scar , the hero’s repeated attempts to deceive his enemies eventually
turn into fatal self-deception. Following an aborted hold-up against a casino
run by the mob, John Muller (Paul Henreid), a compulsive criminal, goes
into hiding to avoid the gangsters’ vengeful fury. By chance, he discovers
his double in the person of a Dr Bartok and promptly decides to change his
identity by appropriating Bartok’s life. The only difference between him and
the doctor, he notes, is a long scar the latter has on his cheek. Muller, who
has some medical knowledge, proceeds to cut a matching mark on his face
guided by a photograph of his double. When he discovers that the photo he
used had been wrongly processed, and that as a result he has incised the
wrong cheek, he becomes understandably anxious. However, to his surprise,
nobody notices the difference, so he proceeds to murder Bartok and take
over his medical practice, even beginning an affair with Bartok’s secretary
Evelyn (Joan Bennett). Safe in his new identity, he believes to have escaped
all trouble. However, two twists of fate await him. First, he fi nds out that
the gangsters are no longer after him, which retrospectively makes the pain-
ful and risky identity change unnecessary. Second, in a shattering fi nale, he
learns that Dr Bartok was a compulsive gambler who had run up huge debts
with another unforgiving casino owner. When the new gangsters fi nally catch
up with him, he gets his comeuppance, for there is no way of demonstrating
that he is not the real Dr Bartok . . .
The many twists that typify classical Hollywood fi lm noir as a rule reveal
a subtle dialectical logic at work within the narrative. In Hollow Triumph this
logic implies, in an exemplary way, that the more the subject tries to control
and manipulate external events, the more he dupes himself, since he para-
doxically turns into the very object of his manipulation. As if in a short circuit,
the subject comes to coincide with the object, the target of his actions. Thus,
Muller’s assertive resolve to control reality, characterized by his sharp albeit
amoral criminal intelligence, ironically culminates in self-framing, a gesture
that makes him appear simultaneously as the subject and the object of his
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