Thinking about movies, theory, and meaning

1. CH8. Thinking About Movies, Theory, and Meaning

IB Film

2. Movies and Meaning

Movies and Meaning
Movies can mean a great number of things, and there is plenty of
room for argument about those meanings.
Question to ask yourself:
Why has a movie stimulated my
intellectual or
emotional responses?
In IB Film we always want to go beyond “ I loved, liked or hated
it” to find convincing reasons within the movie to support our
opinions.
In this next unit, we are going to examine and apply the many
different theoretical and critical models that allow us to enrich
our film viewing experience and improve our ability to offer an
intelligent and provocative analysis of the films we see.

3. Film Theory and Film Criticism

> Film Theory is a way at looking at movies from a particular intellectual
or ideological perspective. It is concerned with many areas of
investigation, including:
1.
The film text itself - its structural properties and meanings.
2.
The film text’s connection to culture and history.
3.
The relationship between film and reality and anti-realism
(formalist theory).
4.
The production of movies as the result of art, economics or technology.
5.
Our psychological reaction to the world projected on the screen.
>Film Criticism is generally focused on evaluating a film’s artistic merit
and appeal to the public.

4. Q. Which of the following statements characterize film theory?

It is based on general principles concerning how
we might analyze the movies.
a.
Its purpose is to give us a model for contemplating
and understanding a movie’s various meanings.
a.
It is a way of looking at movies from a particular
intellectual or ideological perspective.
a.
All of the above.
b. a and b only
a.

5. The 3 Phases of Film Theory

1.
The First Phase- a formalist movement that spanned from 1916-1935
and included the work of Hugo Munsterberg, Rudolph Arnheim, and
Sergei Eisenstein.
1.
The Second Phase- a realist reaction to formalism that began with the
coming of sound in 1927 and continued to the 1960s and was
primarily influenced by Andre Bazin and Siegfried Kracauer.
2.
The Third Phase- began in the late 1950s/1960s and continues today
and includes a wide range of new interpretive approaches,
including: auteurism, feminism, psychoanalytic criticism, Marxism
and cultural studies. Among the seminal writers are
Laura Mulvey, David Bordwell, Stanley Cavell, and Christian Metz.

6. A Film’s Meaning I

Explicit Meaning- everything that a movie
presents on its surface. Our ability to notice
associations and relationships among the many
pieces of information in the film.
Implicit Meaning- an association, connection,
or inference that a viewer makes on the basis
of the explicit story and form of the film.
Lying below the surface of explicit meaningclosest to the everyday sense of the word
meaning.

7. A Film’s Meaning II

Ideological Meaning- body of ideas expressed
by a film that reflects beliefs on the part of
filmmakers, characters, or the time and place of
the movie’s setting.
Ideological meaning is the product of social,
political, economic, religious, philosophical,
psychological, and sexual forces that shape the
filmmakers’ perspectives.

8. Q. Ideological meaning

a. Is the product of social, political, economic,
religious, philosophical, psychological, and
sexual forces that shape filmmakers’
perspectives.
b. May be either intentional or unconscious.
c. May be symptomatic of the time and place in
which a film is made.
d. a and c only
e. All of the above

9. Q. Ideological meaning

e.
All of the above

10. Critical Approaches

Critical Approaches
Traditional criticism attempts to place a value on a work of art, a genre or an
Traditional criticism attempts to place a value on a work of art, a genre or an
artist; to establish hierarchies of good and bad and to distinguish between
timeless classics and forgettable pulp or tasteless junk.
Formalism is a traditional type of criticism; when applied to film, it entails
seeing cinematic form as the most important source of a movie’s meaning, and
attempting to explain how the filmmakers’ techniques create the movie’s
layered meanings.
We might contrast formalism which looks inward at a film with the
contextualism which looks outward at critical theories.
Theories offer specific world views (e.g. feminism, Marxism) that make
expansive claims to explain the place of works of art within a larger context,
and they offer critical lenses into the implicit and ideological meanings within
those works.

11. Q. What is the principle difference between realist and formalist film theory?

a.
b.
c.
d.
e.
Realist theory is concerned more with the film’s structural properties
and formalist theory concerns itself with a film’s connection to culture
and history.
Realist theory holds that cinematic language and technology are
capable of achieving an almost perfect representation of reality while
formalist theory holds the belief that cinema is more than a mere
reproduction of reality and that the film artist gives form to reality.
Realist theory explores the production of movies as the result of an
artistic system, while formalist theory is concerned with genre
distinctions.
Realist theory investigates the psychological relationships of the viewer
to the world projected onscreen, while the formalist theory delves into
the screen actors’ psychology.
None of the above.

12. Q. What is the principle difference between realist and formalist film theory?

b.
Realist theory holds that cinematic language and technology are
capable of achieving an almost perfect representation of reality while
formalist theory holds the belief that cinema is more than a mere
reproduction of reality and that the film artist gives form to reality.

13. Interpretive Frameworks

14. Mimesis and Catharsis

Mimesis and Catharsis: In the Western tradition, the effect of art on
people and society begins with the Greek philosophers and dramatists.
On one side you had –most prominently Plato- who viewed the arts as
dangerous in their potential influence.
Plato opposed the idea of mimesis, the Greek word for the imitative
representation of the world in art and literature.
On the other side of the Greek debate were the defenders of art. In the
Poetics, Aristotle argued that humans acquire knowledge through
imitation. More famously, he used the term catharsis-to describe a
therapeutic by-product of watching tragedy, which, through fear and
pity, purged viewers of such emotions.
e.g. In film studies, genres like horror, b-moves, pornography and
violent films like Oliver Stone’s Natural Born Killers (1994) or Mel
Gibson’s The Passion of the Christ (2004) generate complex issues in
discussions about film violence.

15. Q. Mimesis:

a.
b.
c.
d.
e.
Is a Greek word for the imitative
representation of the world in art and
literature.
Is the process by which viewers interpret a
movie’s explicit meanings.
Is another name for film criticism.
Is, according to Plato, an imperfect and
morally questionable activity.
a and d only

16. Q. Mimesis

e.
a and d only

17. Q. Catharsis:

a.
b.
c.
d.
e.
Is a Latin word meaning “to run away.”
Is the name for the therapeutic purging of
emotions such as fear and pity.
Is frequently invoked to defend art that
contains negative content (such as
violence, criminality, or hatred)
b and c only
a, b, and c

18. Q. Catharsis

d.
b and c only

19. Binary Oppositions(Dualism)

According to structuralist anthropologist Claude Levi- Strauss (b.
1908), all human cultures share an underlying reliance on dualism, the
tendency to see the world in terms of opposing binary oppositionsraw/cooked, nature/culture, man/woman, for example.
In addition, each binary opposition reveals an underlying tension, a
potential conflict that myth or art tries to reconcile. The form of such
resolutions reflect the prevailing culture.
e.g. In James Cameron’s Terminator films we see the machines vs.
humanity. In Terminator 2 (1991) the T-800=“human” and T1000=“machine”. In Wizard of Oz (1939) It’s A Wonderful Life (1946)
we see rural vs. urban and (“There’s no place like home”).
Dramatic conflict, in and of itself, creates binary oppositions.

20. MAJOR FILM THEORIES

21. Auteurism

The auteur theory postulates that the film director is the
“author” of a film.
Auteurism has roots in 1920s France; its popularity
peaked there in the 1950s with the influential film journal
Cahiers du cinema, founded and edited by Andre Bazin.
Contributors to this journal and early proponents of this
theory (both as critics and directors) included the New
Wave filmmakers Francois Truffaut, Jean-Luc Godard,
Eric Rohmer and Claude Chabrol.
A director must have made a significant body of films
(oeuvre) to be considered an auteur.

22. Auteurism II

A film director’s style should be as distinctive as a
novelist’s and the cinematic style is the DNA by which
that author can be identified.
In the 1960s, this auteur theory was promulgated by The
Village Voice film critic Andrew Sarris.
In his influential book, The American Cinema:
Directors and Directions, 1929- 1968 his “pantheon”
of 14 directors has inspired a great many arguments.
Pauline Kael, a longtime critic for The New Yorker,
particularly took umbrage with Sarris and his list.
Despite its weaknesses, Auteurism is a useful approach
to film criticism and helps identify those directors whose
work displays ideological and stylistic consistency.

23. Q. What is the title of the influential film journal helped create and support auteur theory?

a.
b.
c.
d.
e.
Cahiers du Cinéma
The Village Voice
The New York Times
Camera Obscura
Wide angle

24. Q. What is the tile of the influential film journal helped create and support auteur theory?

a.
Cahiers du Cinéma

25. Psychological Film Theories:

FREUDIANISM
• Sigmund Freud, the Austrian founder of
psychoanalysis, believed that each person has a
profoundly influential unconscious.
A good deal of this unconscious manifests itself
through art, narratives and entertainment and the
venting of the unconscious is therapeutic and
cathartic.

26. Films with Notable Freudian Influence

Ingmar Bergman’s Fanny & Alexander(1982)
Alfred Hitchcock’s Spellbound(1945) & Vertigo
(1958)
Jacques Tourneur’s Cat People(1942)
Fred Wilcox’s Forbidden Planet(1956)
Ken Russell’s Altered States(1980)

27. Freudian Film Theory

Art may reveal emotional dynamics not
deliberately fashioned by the artist.
Expressions of sexual desire in art are intertwined
with incompletely suppressed aggression, fear and
guilt.
A critic can link an artwork and an artist’s
biographical background within an interpretation
that reveals unconscious manifestations of desire,
aggression, fear and guilt.

28. Q. Which of the following is true of Freudian theory?

a.
b.
c.
d.
e.
It is based on Sigmund Freud’s belief in “the
unconscious.”
It asserts that desire and aggression is
unconsciously expressed through art, narrative, and
entertainments.
It has had a major impact on film theory.
All of the above
a and c only

29. Q. Which of the following is true of Freudian theory?

d.
All of the above

30. Psychological Theories: Cognitive Psychology

Draws on perceptual psychology and aesthetic studies
to explain how we fit elements into orderly patterns,
experience joy and sadness through art.
Film scholars David Bordwell and Noel Carroll are
among the principal proponents of this movement.
A viewer is seen as an active participant in the
creation of a film’s effects and meaning.

31. Cognitive Psychology II

A foundational idea of cognitive psychology is that
people use schemas to make sense of a perceptually
incomplete world.
Schemas are mental concepts that filter our
experience.
e.g. Films such as M.Night Shyamalan’s Sixth
Sense(1999) requires an active viewer to determine
the meaning of the film’s conclusion.

32. Q. Which of the following is true of cognitive psychology theories?

a.
b.
c.
d.
e.
They deal with practical perceptual, emotional, and
conscious responses of film viewers.
They attempt to explain how viewers fit disparate elements
into orderly patterns, experience emotions through art, and
simultaneously understand multiple meanings.
They are premised on the notion that people use schemas
to make sense of the world.
They counterbalance the traditional notion that the artist is
the sole active contributor to the effects and meanings of a
film.
All of the above

33. Q. Which of the following is true of cognitive psychology theories?

e.
All of the above

34. Ideological Theory-An Overview

Ideological criticism attends to the formal and
informal beliefs, feelings and habits of
individuals, groups and nations.
Films reflect ideology.
e.g. Triumph of the Will (1935)
Why We Fight (1943-1945)
genre film

35. Q. Which of the following is NOT considered an ideological theory?

a.
b.
c.
d.
e.
Auteurism
Feminism
Marxism
Cultural theories
None of the above

36. Q. Which of the following is NOT considered an ideological theory?

a.
Auteurism

37. Marxist Film Theory

1.
2.
3.
Marxism: a body of doctrine developed by
Marx and Hegel in the mid 19th Century.
It consists of:
A philosophical view of humanity that is
non-religious.
A theory of history (thesis + antithesis=
synthesis).
An economic and political program.

38. Marxist Film Theory II

The idea of the proletariat as hero, rising up
and creating a classless society with prosperity
for all was reflected in the films of:
>Dovshenko
>Eisenstein
>Pudovkin
>Vertov
>Shub

39. Q. Marxism:

a.
b.
c.
d.
e.
Is a system of thought developed in the mid
nineteenth century by Karl Marx and
Friedrich Engels.
Describes the emergence of a classless
society.
Provides a critical method for analyzing
power structures and class inequities.
All of the above
a and c only

40. Q. Marxism:

a.
All of the above

41. Feminism

1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Feminism brings the following issues to the
forefront in the movies:
A desire for equality with men in society and the
arts.
The roles of women in society.
The patriarchal structure of society.
The stereotypes of women.
Gender discrimination.

42. Feminist Film Theory

1.
2.
3.
Feminist film theory focuses on how
the media, and film, in particular, have
represented women in a
condescending manner as:
Objects of desire.
Passive beings.
Dependent on men.

43. Feminist Film Theory II

Two of the most important issues
facing feminist film theory are:
1. Deterministic Feminist Theory
2. Liberal- Progressive Feminist Theory

44. Deterministic Feminist Theory

Many feminist critiques focus on whether woman
and men can challenge patriarchy.
Laura Mulvey’s landmark essay “Visual Pleasure
and Narrative Cinema”(1975) stated patriarchy is
a systemic condition that is virtually
unchangeable because classic narrative cinema
views women as objects to be watched.
This theory was popular in the 1960’s and early
1970’s.

45. Liberal-Progressive Feminist Film Theory

Molly Haskell’s “From Reverence to Rape: The
Treatment of Women in the Movies”(1974)
surveys the unrealistic depiction of women in
films.
She states that most depictions of women in films
made before 1960 are demeaning.
Haskell argues that stereotypes should be replaced
with images that are real and positive.
Today we embrace this form of feminist theory.

46. Q. Laura Mulvey’s essay, “Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema” (1975), is an example of _______ feminist theory, which takes the position that patriarchy is a systemic condition that neither film artists nor viewers can change.

a.
b.
c.
d.
e.
Deterministic
Liberal progressive
Binary
Structural
None of the above

47. Q. Laura Mulvey’s essay, “Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema” (1975), is an example of _______ feminist theory, which takes the position that patriarchy is a systemic condition that neither film artists nor viewers can change.

a.
Deterministic

48. Q. Molly Haskell’s theory in From Reverence to Rape: The Treatment of Women in the Movies (1974), which argues that the stereotypes of women as virgins, victims, and sex goddesses should be replaced with depictions that are more diverse, faithful to wom

Q. Molly Haskell’s theory in From Reverence to Rape: The
Treatment of Women in the Movies (1974), which argues
that the stereotypes of women as virgins, victims, and sex
goddesses should be replaced with depictions that are more
diverse, faithful to women’s actual lives, and positive is
known as:
a.
b.
c.
d.
e.
Deterministic feminist theory.
Liberal-progressive feminist theory.
Binary feminist theory.
Structural feminist theory.
None of the above.

49. Q. Molly Haskell’s theory in From Reverence to Rape: The Treatment of Women in the Movies (1974), which argues that the stereotypes of women as virgins, victims, and sex goddesses should be replaced with depictions that are more diverse, faithful to wom

Q. Molly Haskell’s theory in From Reverence to Rape: The
Treatment of Women in the Movies (1974), which argues
that the stereotypes of women as virgins, victims, and sex
goddesses should be replaced with depictions that are more
diverse, faithful to women’s actual lives, and positive is
known as
b.
Liberal-progressive feminist theory.

50. Cultural Studies

In the 1920’s The Frankfurt Institute attempted to incorporate
politics, culture, psychology and sociology into a single
discipline. (i.e. cultural studies)
Works by intellectuals such as Siegfried Kracauer’s “From
Caligari to Hitler: A Psychological History of German
Film”(1947) opened a new perspective on movies as a popular
art rather than a traditional one.
A branch of cultural studies called reception theory studies how
the audience received the movie (not its director or theme)
evaluating age, politics, sex, class, ethnicity, socio-economics
etc.
Cultural studies goes deep beneath the surface of a movie to
explore implicit and hidden meanings.

51. APPLIED READINGS

52. Applied Readings

Let’s now look at a number of films that are
well suited to specific critical and
theoretical approaches.
Although all approaches are broadly
applicable to almost any film, some movies
yield more interesting answers to particular
kinds of questions, as the case studies that
follow illustrate.

53. Mimesis and Catharsis: Die Hard

Die Hard(1988) presents violence in a form that
can entertain and horrify. It becomes perfect
fodder for a mimesis/catharsis debate.
To explore Die Hard’s treatment of violence, you
could do basic research into the film’s receptionreading reviews, criticism, marketing materials,
interviews of viewers and fans-to learn how the
violence was received and then begin your
analysis.

54. Binary Oppositions: Die Hard

Compose a list after watching the film such as:
>Man versus Woman
>Black versus White
>West Coast versus East
>Local Cops versus FBI
>USA versus Japan
>USA versus Europe
>Outlaw Hero versus Official Hero

55. Freudianism: Wall Street

Oliver Stone’s Wall Street(1987)provides a
textbook example of a classic Freudian oedipal
conflict between a caring and supportive father
and his prodigal son.
Freud’s central idea is that oedipal aggression
expresses itself indirectly, accidentally and
unconsciously.

56. Cognitive Psychology: Vertigo

1.
2.
3.
4.
Alfred Hitchcock’s brilliant Vertigo(1958)is
interesting cognitively for:
POV depiction of vertigo effects.
Visually dramatic dream sequences.
The viewer’s sharing of Scottie’s visions of
Madeleine and then his memory of her through
Judy.
Our ability to remember and recognize a familiar
face or profile.

57. Auteurism: Rear Window(1954)

Hitchcock’s film is a good example of how the
director, together with his cast and crew created a
unified work.
Hitchcock is an auteur because he is a director
who manifests a consistency of style( e.g.
shooting in a confined space) and theme (e.g.
interest in voyeurism) across his films.
Film Slang
Oeuvre: the total body of work of a filmmaker

58. Marxism: Metropolis(1927)

Fritz Lang’s silent masterpiece was the high point of
German expressionism.
The sci-fi story presents a society with a social
structure much like that described by Marx.
The owners live above ground and the slave workers
toil beneath.
Marxism’s central tenet of exploitation of workers by
those who control capital is evident.
Hitler’s favorite film!

59. Feminism: Thelma and Louise(1991)

1.
2.
Ridley Scott’s film is the first big budget
Hollywood film to assert a feminist perspective
with its details debatable:
The film traffics in stereotypes of male
chauvinism.
Thelma and Louise take on traditional male
roles.

60. Feminism: Thelma and Louise II

3.Thelma and Louise develop into proud, fearless,
satisfied people.
4. The road picture and western overlap feminist
concerns.
5. The film condemns criminal justice and its failure
to protect women victimized by sexual assault.
6. The movie deflects the traditional Hollywood
male gaze by allowing T&L to ogle handsome
J.D. (Brad Pitt).

61. Cultural Studies: Repo Man(1984)

1.
2.
3.
4.
Alex Cox’s low- budget, dark comedy speaks
eloquently about social conditions and attitudes.
It depicts subcultures of disaffected youth and:
Examines the punk movement.
Urban legends.
Conspiracy theories.
Provides a deadpan commentary on American
social conditions and attitudes.

62. Buzz Words

Cult: any cause, person or object admired by a
minority.
Cult Movie: Repo Man is a cult film which means
that it has a small but devoted audience that
admires and values certain aspects of this film.
Cult Movies are either ‘so bad they’re good’ (e.g.
world’s worst director Ed Wood) or are the
objects of a quasi-religious worship (Star Wars).

63. Other Forms of Film Analysis

GENRE STUDY
The study of individual films within a certain genre.
One simple but very effective way of analyzing
genre convention and a particular film’s place
within a genre is to break down a movie into three
discrete temporal aspects:
(continued)

64. GENRE STUDY

1.
2.
3.
Story Formula-overall plot structure found in a
genre. e.g. In the science fiction genre consider the
plot of E.T.(1982), or Starman(1984)
Scene Convention-In science fiction, the scene in
which the visitor exhibits otherworldly powers.
Iconic Shot-an immediately recognizable visual
symbol. In Sci-Fi this might be homesick shots of
the night sky.

65. Q. _______ is the overall plot structure found in a genre.

a.
b.
c.
d.
e.
Scene type
Iconic image
Story formula
Stylistic framework
Rhetorical layout

66. Q. _______ is the overall plot structure found in a genre.

c.
Story formula

67. Film Slang

A media franchise is an intellectual property
involving an original work of fiction. Multiple
sequels are often planned well in advance and, in the
case of motion pictures, actors and directors often
sign multi-film deals to ensure their participation.
e.g. The Scary Movie(2001-2006) franchise.

68. Genre Homage & Hybridization

Genre Homage & Hybridization
Wes Craven’s Scream(1996)echoes and plays
homage to Psycho(1960), Halloween(1978)and
the horror genre itself.
Hybridization: the tendency to combine genres in
a single film.
e.g. Blade Runner(1982)=thriller,sci-fi,adventure
&
The Matrix(1999)=action, adventure, illusionist
sci-fi.

69. Film History Study

“The term itself suggests a two-part definition. Film
history involves the study of the phenomenon we
commonly refer to as ‘film’…Further it involves
studying film from a particular perspective and with
particular goals in mind-perspective and goals that
are historical”.
Film historians Douglas Gomery and Robert C. Allen from “Film History, Theory
and Practice”(1985)

70. Film History Study II

In its broadest sense, film history, examines the
development of the movies from their invention in
1895 to the present.
Film historiography=different
types of historical
historiography=
writing about the cinema.
Human conflict has been depicted in the movies not
only to entertain but to inspire and educate.
e.g. Saving Private Ryan(1998)

71. Film History Study III

> Some historical movies are biased or melodramatic.
e.g. Birth of a Nation(1915)
Gone With The Wind(1939)
> Some historical movies tend to smooth- over
history’s facts and blur its moral ambiguities.
e.g. Scarlet Express(1934)
Gandhi(1982)
Malcolm X (1992)

72. Types of Film Historiography

>The aesthetic approach.
Sometimes called the masterpiece or
great man approach seeks to evaluate:
1.
Individual movies
2.
National cinemas
3.
Directors
>The economic approach
Studio system (Hollywood) vs. Independents
(“Indiewood”)

73. Types of Film Historiography II

>The technological perspective:
• optics
• chemistry
• digital processing
>Social history:
• movies and how they affect culture, society and
influence social change.

74. Q. Which of the following are traditional approaches to film history?

a.
b.
c.
d.
e.
Aesthetic
Technological
Economic
Social
All of the above

75. Q. Which of the following are traditional approaches to film history?

e.
All of the above

76. Q. _______ offer familiar story formulas, conventions, themes, and conflicts, as well as immediately recognizable visual icons.

a.
b.
c.
d.
e.
Hybrids
Genres
Scenarios
Formalism
Realism

77. Q. _______ offer familiar story formulas, conventions, themes, and conflicts, as well as immediately recognizable visual icons.

b.
Genres

78. Q. The chapter discuss three interpretive frameworks, “ideas so fundamental and resonant that they underlie most theoretical camps and disciplines.” What are these three ideas?

a. Auteurism, formalism, and contextualism
b. Genre, history, and theory
c. Mimesis, catharsis, and binary oppositions
d. Freudianism, Marxism, and cultural studies
e. None of the above

79. Q. The chapter discuss three interpretive frameworks, “ideas so fundamental and resonant that they underlie most theoretical camps and disciplines.” What are these three ideas?

c.
Mimesis, catharsis, and binary oppositions

80. THANK YOU!