Philosophy, Myth and Epic Cinema: Beyond Mere Illusions PDF
Preview Philosophy, Myth and Epic Cinema: Beyond Mere Illusions
Philosophy, Myth and Epic Cinema Philosophy, Myth and Epic Cinema Beyond Mere Illusions Sylvie Magerstädt London•NewYork PublishedbyRowman&LittlefieldInternational,Ltd. UnitA,WhitacreMews,26-34StannaryStreet,LondonSE114AB www.rowmaninternational.com Rowman&LittlefieldInternational,Ltd.isanaffiliateofRowman&Littlefield 4501ForbesBoulevard,Suite200,Lanham,Maryland20706,USA WithadditionalofficesinBoulder,NewYork,Toronto(Canada),andLondon(UK) www.rowman.com Copyright©2015bySylvieMagerstädt Allrightsreserved.Nopartofthisbookmaybereproducedinanyformorbyany electronicormechanicalmeans,includinginformationstorageandretrievalsystems, withoutwrittenpermissionfromthepublisher,exceptbyareviewerwhomayquote passagesinareview. BritishLibraryCataloguinginPublicationInformationAvailable AcataloguerecordforthisbookisavailablefromtheBritishLibrary ISBN:HB978-1-78348-250-4 ISBN:PB978-1-78348-251-1 LibraryofCongressCataloging-in-PublicationData Magerstädt,Sylvie Philosophy,mythandepiccinema:beyondmereillusions/SylvieMagerstädt. pagescm. Includesbibliographicalreferencesandindex. Includesfilmography. ISBN978-1-78348-250-4(cloth:alk.paper)—ISBN978-1-78348-251-1(pbk.:alk.paper)— ISBN978-1-78348-252-8(ebook:alk.paper) 1.Motionpictures—Philosophy.2.Mythinmotionpictures.I.Title. PN1995.M24352015 791.4301—dc23 2014036549 TMThepaperusedinthispublicationmeetstheminimumrequirementsofAmerican NationalStandardforInformationSciencesPermanenceofPaperforPrintedLibrary Materials,ANSI/NISOZ39.48-1992. PrintedintheUnitedStatesofAmerica Contents Acknowledgements vii Abbreviations ix Introduction:Philosophy,MythandSpectacle xi ChapterOutline xv Notes xx I:HowRealIsReality?—AReviewontheRelationofReality, ArtandIllusion 1 FromDreamFactorytoCathedralsofPopCulture: Mythological,ReligiousandIdeologicalApproachesto Cinema 3 WhyWeNeedIllusions:Nietzsche’sPhilosophyofArt 4 FromTragicHeroestoJediKnights—CinemaasModern Myth 18 Conclusion 28 Notes 28 2 TheRealmoftheReal:Reality,ImagesandCinematic Realism 31 SeeingIsBelieving—KracauerandtheRedemptionof PhysicalReality 34 Realism,NotReality:Kracauer,BazinandtheProblemof GrandNarratives 52 Conclusion 54 Notes 55 3 BacktotheFuture?:ContemporaryCinemaandthe ChallengesforTheorists 57 Images,Action,Thought:Deleuze’sPhilosophyofCinema 58 BraveNewWorlds:LivingDinosaurs,CGIandaNew Aesthetics 71 Conclusion 79 Notes 80 v vi Contents II:MayWeReallyBelieveinHollywood?—TheCreationof ModernMyths 4 RedemptionThroughIllusion:CinematicMyths 85 Never-endingStories—Redemption,Storytellingand ArtisticCreation 86 TheMythtoRuleThemAll:TheHobbitandTheLordofthe RingsFilmTrilogies 92 Conclusion 116 Notes 117 5 HealthyIllusions:Hollywood’sRealismandtheReturnof theEpics 119 TruthasTotalization—Movement-Images,Action- ThoughtandHistory 121 HeroesinAction:AncientTroyinModernEpics 132 Conclusion 148 Notes 149 6 PossibleWorlds,ImpossibleNarratives?:ThePotentials andLimitsofDigitalStorytelling 151 PostmodernHeroesinClassicMyths:Storytellinginthe DigitalAge 155 NewGods?ClashoftheTitansandtheFutureofCinema 160 Conclusion 172 Notes 173 Epilogue:FurtherReflectionsandFutureDirections 175 Bibliography 179 Filmography 185 Index 187 Acknowledgements A large number of people have provided inspiration, support and feed- back for this project. To start with, I would like to thank my employer, theUniversityofHertfordshire,foritsongoingsupportandinparticular the Social Sciences, Arts and Humanities Research Institute (SSAHRI), who provided me with a grant that facilitated the completion of this book. I am also grateful to Uriel Orlow and Joram ten Brink from the UniversityofWestminsteraswellasStephenMulhall,UniversityofOx- ford,fortheircommentsandfeedbackonearlierversionsofthisresearch project.Inaddition,Iwouldliketothanktheunnamedreviewersofthis manuscript for their input, as well as John Davenport for his extensive and extremely helpful feedback on this work. Finally, I would like to express my gratitude to my editor Sarah Campbell at Rowman & Little- field International, for her faith in this book and her encouragement throughthereviewprocess. Most importantly, I am forever indebted to my parents, Bernd and Gisela, for their inspiring examples and their continuous love and sup- port. Last but not least, I owe more than I could express here to my wonderful partner John, whose love, support and extensive library is alwaystherewhenneeded.Youaremyinspiration. vii
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