Landscape Allegory in Cinema: From Wilderness to Wasteland

215 Pages·2010·1.61 MB·English

by  David Melbye (auth.)

Landscape Allegory in Cinema
Landscape Allegory
in
Cinema
From Wilderness to Wasteland
David Melbye
LANDSCAPE ALLEGORY IN CINEMA
Copyright © David Melbye, 2010.
Softcover reprint of the hardcover 1st edition 2010
All rights reserved.
First published in 2010 by
PALGRAVE MACMILLAN®
in the United States—a division of St. Martin’s Press LLC,
175 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10010.
Where this book is distributed in the UK, Europe and the rest of the world,
this is by Palgrave Macmillan, a division of Macmillan Publishers Limited,
registered in England, company number 785998, of Houndmills,
Basingstoke, Hampshire RG21 6XS.
Palgrave Macmillan is the global academic imprint of the above companies
and has companies and representatives throughout the world.
Palgrave® and Macmillan® are registered trademarks in the United States,
the United Kingdom, Europe and other countries.
ISBN 978-1-349-28855-7 ISBN 978-0-230-10979-7 (eBook)
DOI 10.1007/978-0-230-10979-7
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Melbye, David
Landscape allegory in cinema : from wilderness to wasteland / David
Melbye.
p. cm.
1. Landscape in motion pictures. I. Title.
PN1995.9.L29M35 2010
791.43966—dc22 2009050883
A catalogue record of the book is available from the British Library.
Design by Newgen Imaging Systems (P) Ltd., Chennai, India.
First edition: July 2010
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
For My Parents:
Ann Davis Melbye and Roy Wilbur Melbye
Contents
Acknowledgments xi
Introduction: Defining Landscape Allegory 1
Pre-Cinematic Appearance of Landscape Allegory 8
Landscape Allegory as an Avant-Garde Gesture 11
Narrative Cinema’s Assimilation of
Landscape Allegory 14
Mainstream Allegories of Imperialist Politics 16
Continuation of Landscape Allegory 18
One Landscape Depiction before Cinema 21
Anthropocentric Landscape in the Middle Ages 22
Classical Landscape in the Renaissance 25
Landscape as Subject in Seventeenth-Century
Dutch Painting 27
The Influential Sunscapes of Claude Lorrain 30
Neoclassical Landscape as Subject in the
Eighteenth Century 32
Two Spiritualized Landscapes of the Nineteenth Century 35
European Sublime Landscape 37
American Sublime Landscape 39
Landscape Sketches of Edgar Allan Poe 42
Three Advent of Filming Landscape Allegory 47
Early Wilderness Photography 48
Early Abstract Landscape Photography 51
Early Cinematic Depiction of Landscape 52
Four Depiction of Landscape in Avant-Garde Films 59
Brakhage’s Dog Star Man 59
Confluence of Avant-Garde and Mainstream Cinema 62
Enrico’s La rivière du hibou 63
La rivière du hibou’s River Progression 66
La rivière du hibou’s Overland Segment 68
La rivière du hibou’s “Home” of the Avant-Garde 69
viii Contents
Five Spiritual Wasteland Films 73
The Western’s “Duel in the Sun” Allegory 73
The Wasteland Informed by Space/Place Theory 78
Jodorowsky’s El Topo 81
Six Italian Wasteland Allegory 85
Antonioni’s Island Allegories 87
Pasolini’s Mountain Allegories 91
Desert Allegories: From Spaghetti Westerns to
Zabriskie Point 93
Seven Australian Outback Allegory 99
Roeg’s Walkabout 100
Weir’s Picnic at Hanging Rock 103
Eight Landscape Allegory in Hollywood 111
The Western Megalomaniac versus the
Third World Landscape 112
Lean’s Lawrence of Arabia 113
Huston’s The Man Who Would Be King 116
Coppola’s Apocalypse Now 118
Nine River/Jungle and Other Imperialist Allegories 123
Herzog’s Aguirre: The Wrath of God 123
Herzog’s Fitzcarraldo 126
Boorman’s Deliverance 128
Friedkin’s Sorcerer 130
Futureworld Landscapes: Planet of the Apes,
Zardoz, and 2001: A Space Odyssey 132
Reversal of Landscape Allegory 135
Ten Landscape Allegory in Other Narrative Contexts 139
Landscape in Noir Films 140
High Sierra 141
Treasure of the Sierra Madre 142
Landscape in Hitchcock Films 144
Spellbound 145
Vertigo 146
Landscape in Road Films 148
Easy Rider 149
Vanishing Point 150
Landscape Allegory as a Critical Discourse 151
Contents ix
Conclusion: Landscape Allegory into the Future 153
Landscape Allegory Returns to Avant-Garde Origins 154
Landscape Allegory in Recent Hollywood Films 156
Landscape Allegory in Asian Cinema 159
The Human Mind as Macroscopic Space 161
Appendix: Chronology of Landscape Allegory 163
Notes 183
Bibliography 189
Index 197
Acknowledgments
This study is an accumulation of interests reaching back as far as
high school, where my senior thesis paper was on Edgar Allan Poe. I
eventually became familiar with his landscape sketches in courses I
took during my undergraduate years at University of California San
Diego, and, in at least one of these courses, I recall how much I appre-
ciated seeing corollary nineteenth century American paintings, which
the professor provided in class. I also took courses on European and
American Art History, which introduced me to the sublime and other
landscape movements. And I first came into contact with allegory in
courses on Chaucer and Medieval Literature, as well as in courses for
a minor I pursued in Classical Studies. I wish I could thank all the
professors I came across in my youth who in their own way contrib-
uted to my discovery of landscape and allegory.
In my early years as a graduate student at California State University
Los Angeles, I found the opportunity to devote particular attention
to Poe’s landscape sketches. A research paper I did on this topic, in
turn, contributed content to this book. I am deeply appreciative of
one professor in particular, John Cleman, who demonstrated an un-
common passion for topics covered in his seminars. He gave his time
generously out of class as well to exchange ideas and grapple with
the complexities of Poe’s prose. His encouragement stayed with me
through the years, well beyond my brief time there in completing a
Masters degree in English Literature.
Finally, during my time as a doctoral student at University of
Southern California, I developed relationships with a number of pro-
fessors who would inspire me to rein in my broad interest in landscape-
oriented art, literature, and cinema. Before he left to teach at New
York University, Dana Polan was my committee chair and offered
me much guidance over the years in approaching my research to the
general topic of landscape in cinema. Like John Cleman, he gave his
time generously and always showed a great enthusiasm for my focus.
Marsha Kinder, a longtime leader of the department, was also very
encouraging, and, at one point, was able to facilitate my inclusion
in an exclusive seminar on allegory, held at the Getter Center. Leo
xii Acknowledgments
Braudy, the outside member of my dissertation committee, offered me
invaluable help in compiling the most important s tudies on landscape
within the broader Humanities, not to mention the worthy attention
he gave to my evolving drafts. Anne Friedberg, also on my committee,
provided the most rigorous notes for improvement on my drafts—
something I appreciate more in hindsight. Despite the caring attention
of so many brilliant minds, I could not have gotten through the writ-
ing phase of my dissertation without Akira Lippit, who was willing
to take on my project despite an extremely pressured deadline. As my
chair, he provided the insight and encouragement I needed to com-
plete my study.
The process of revising and expanding my dissertation for publica-
tion was grueling, but immensely rewarding. I could not have done it
without the help my longtime friend Damon Pipitone, who, serving as
my copy editor, brought so much clarity to my work as well as con-
tributed worthy ideas for untried approaches. And I deeply appreciate
the insights and film suggestions of my close friend Andrew Syder,
who was at USC with me. Robert Folkenflik’s review for Palgrave
was also particularly helpful in guiding my revisions. Lastly, I am in-
debted to my friend Ruley Espiritu for giving his time generously in
the design of this book’s cover art.