CINEJ Cinema Journal
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Socio-Cultural Archetypes: Interrogating African Virginity Discourse in Tunde Kelani’s Films.
Get PDFIn African culture generally, virginity is associated with innocence from sexuality; it is ascribed the position of the pride of every woman and for the Yorubas’, one who has not “spoiled” herself. Public and empirical discourses on the influences of westernisation on cultural values like virginity in Nigeria-Africa have been significantly negative as a paradigm shift from the indigenous concept of communal honour and personal/ public morality and modesty to representations of westernisation and modernisation. This study examines four films by Tunde Kelani (Narrow Path, Magun, Campus Queen, and Arugba) to explain the unevolved socio-cultural importance attached to virginity before and after the embrace of westernization
The Blair Witch Project: Metatextual Layers of Subverting the Female Gaze
Get PDFWhile recent scholarship has discussed the gendered subject/object relations within The Blair Witch Project and Heather’s victimization by the male gaze of the horror-genre’s camera, my work rebuts and clarifies the level through which this victimization is occurring. I argue we must understand how BWP functions on three different metatextual layers—Heather’s documentary, the implied documentary of The Blair Witch Project, and the Myrick and Sánchez mockumentary—to see the ways in which Myrick and Sánchez have exploited spectator expectations of the horror genre to underwrite a critique of the genre’s reliance on the villainization and objectification of women, both through the cinematic absence of the Blair Witch herself and the use of Heather as ‘vanished’ female filmmaker.
Autobiographical Traces in Chantal Akerman’s Jeanne Dielman and Meetings with Anna
Get PDFThis article explores two seminal films Akerman wrote and directed early in her career, Jeanne Dielman, 23 quai du Commerce, 1080 Bruxelles (1975) and Les Rendez-vous d’Anna (Meetings with Anna) (1978), in the context of her later autobiographical writings, Une famille à Bruxelles (1998) and Ma mère rit (2013) (My Mother Laughs). While scripted many years earlier, the two films address themes later developed in Ma mère rit and Une famille à Bruxelles, notably Akerman’s intense relationship with her mother and the trauma of the Shoah. The article outlines the key elements of the two films and autobiographical works and then explores a number of shared themes between the films and autobiographical writings. Firstly, it analyses the two films in the context of Ivonne Margulies’ identification of “hindered communication” as a key feature in both films. It next develops an analysis of the privileged role Akerman attributes to communication within the family. The traumatic and pervasive influence of the Shoa in Akerman’s films and autobiographical works is then examined in the context of her mother’s history as a survivor of the camps. The article then contextualises Akerman’s use of the French language in the context of Deleuze and Guattari’s theory of a minor literature. Akerman’s treatment of the notion of home and her usage of Freudian themes - the oedipal complex, the incest taboo and mother-daughter ambivalence – is examined with examples from both Jeanne Dielman and Meetings with Anna. In conclusion, the value of a reading of Akerman’s autobiographical works, Une famille à Bruxelles (1998) and Ma mère rit, is highlighted as a means of furthering an understanding of Jeanne Dielman and Meetings with Anna
Existence is a Location: “The Others” in the Form of Conceptual Metaphor
Get PDFThe need for a safe, stable, and suitable place of residence is fundamental for human beings. Nevertheless, having such a place, particularly in a city, remains unattainable for too many people. This study aims to examine how “the others” are metaphorically represented in contemporary South Korean films that portray city dwellers struggling to find a place of residence in urban areas and fighting for their existence. The multimodal analysis of conceptual metaphors enabled us to comprehend how the metaphor of EXISTENCE IS A LOCATION emphasized the significance of physical space for one’s being. Furthermore, the vertical movements in visual representations, such as GOOD IS UP, BAD IS DOWN, connect to more abstract meanings of precarious existence, social hierarchy, and otherness
Cinematic Mythology in the Narrative and Design of Tomm Moore’s The Secret of Kells
No full textThis paper examines the Irish animated film The Secret of Kells. The conflict of the pagan world with the monotheistic world has been going on for millennia, and the reflections of these conflicts are clearly manifested both in the religious and artistic fields. In different geographies of the world, the call of mother nature still resonates in the depths of the subconscious of most people, images of pagan faith are transmitted from generation to generation and become visible in the works of artists. The life story of Brendon, the hero of the film, which is the subject of this article, makes viewers feel the sensitivity of cinematic aesthetics and folkloric narratives and mythologies through a characteristic Irish animation. The ethnic expressive style of Irish animation has been studied in detail in this article both in the sense of animated cinema and cultural studies
Seeking the Political Function of Time-Image in New Turkish Cinema from a Deleuzian Perspective
Get PDFIn the study, minor-being is discussed together with Deleuze\u27s cinema approach and the concepts he produced in philosophy. In this context, the film A Tale of Three Sisters, which allows a wide contextual analysis and focuses on micropolitics, has been examined. In the film, it was seen that subjects such as being-woman, being-other, poverty, class difference and majority domination were included. The study aims to analyze Deleuze\u27s thoughts on modern political cinema, which he associates with minor literature, and to show that there are minor components in Turkish cinema
An Examination of Red Dragon (2002) in Light of the Deleuzian Theory of Becoming‑Animal
Get PDFThis paper explores the character development in the movie Red Dragon (2002) in relation to the Deleuzian theory of becoming-animal, and paintings by William Blake. A character analysis is made on Francis Dolarhyde in light of the theory of becoming, and parallels are drawn between connectionism and relationality, apparent in both Blake’s paintings and the Deleuzian theory. It’s argued that the theory of becoming‑animal resonates with the character development in the film, and the connectivity and contradictions of concepts in Blake’s paintings by which Dolarhyde’s character is inspired. Dolarhyde’s character is described in terms of a continuous, non‑teleological process where he disrupts binaries between the man persona and the dragon alter ego, and is characterized by virtue of his becoming
Reading Bhadralok Cultural Memory, Kitsch And Culture Industry In Ritwik Ghatak’s Films
Get PDFThe paper problematizes Ghatak’s Marxist treatment of the Bengali as well as the Brahmanical repertoire of cultural knowledge, for the purpose of carving out a Communist significance of the period. Rather than a recontextualization of traditional myths, the paper reads in this attitude a nostalgic particularistic abstraction of a rich array of aesthetic ideas, which are best appreciated in their diverse cultural context. The paper argues that Ghatak utilizes creative opuses of vast potential to serve political goals, with an aim of strengthening the East Bengali immigrant population in post-Partition West Bengal. The paper criticizes how Ghatak breaks down the traditions from different spatial and temporal coordinates for serving the representation of the plights of the Bengali Refugee – making a powerful integrated identity of the traumatized subject at the expense of erasing class, caste, communal and gender distinctions. In this, there is an effort to fashion an imaginary unified East Bengali sub-national entity, which is politically evened out for realization of unique identity and clout
Understanding masculinity in Turkey through the films of male auteur directors
Get PDFThis study focuses the representation of male characters in the films of contemporary male auteur directors in Turkey. Once Upon a Time in Anatolia (Zeki Demirkubuz, 2011), Underground (Demizkubuz, 2012), and Big World (Erdem, 2016) are explored using sociological film analysis. Unlike mainstream cinema, the protagonists in these directors’ films do not demonstrate hegemonic masculinity; the supporting male characters that do demonstrate hegemonic masculinity category are not white Turks. Arguably, the male characters embody a new hybrid hegemonic masculinity that combines various masculinities to reproduce patriarchy. It can be stated that “Others” in these films are negatively affected
Exposing the world through Emanuel Lubezki\u27s method
Get PDFThis article is based on the concept of exposing the world through the lens of cinema by a cinematographer. Without a cinematographer, movies are not as visually and emotionally impactful on audiences. Cinema is trying to penetrate beyond things and create an utterly phenomenological experience. Cinematographers are responsible for creating the audience\u27s emotions through various cinematic techniques. It is perhaps one of their most significant roles is to promote the cinematic frame as a mediator. This research claims that the cinema’s camera illuminates the world through focusing and framing components. It provides the cinematic image with a cinematic presence and makes it feasible in a phenomenological sense (return to things themselves). And eventually, this leads to viewer buoyancy and immersiveness.