Masterclass
“Early film theory and the problem of modernity”
A Postgraduate Masterclass led by Professor Francesco Casetti (Yale University)
Sunday 5th June 2011
University of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand
Otago University, Richardson 6N4 9.30-3
Cinema is a peculiarly controversial object: it is deeply loved by many, who see in the reality on the screen the fulfillment of their desires, but i, but i , t is also hated by many, who are scared by the intensity of the represented world, and by the social effects that such representations could trigger. More precisely, film is a controversial object as an emblem of modern life: it unfolds all the possibilities, but also all the risks, tied to a new model of life. It is a controversial object from the aesthetic point of view, too: if it is often devoid of any artistic qualities, it also entails another an kind of art – one based on totally new values. And finally it is a controversial object because through its impressive work on space and time, it liberates us from any constraints – it releases our bodies and our minds – but in the meantime, because of its excess of freedom, it needs a control, a discipline, that channels its action towards a positive, though even limited, goal. Film is good and is evil: behind such oscillation of confidence and apprehension, we may read the resurrection of iconophilia and iconophobia (if not iconoclasm), which, in film, find their last battlefield.
Professor Francesco Casetti will lead discussions of film, modernity, and iconophobia through a selection of (pre-read) texts. These will include Giovanni Papini's, Luigi Pirandello's, Jean Epstein's, Georg Lukacs' writings. A complete list of readings will be available before the masterclass.
This event is free to Post-graduates and early career staff. But all those interested should register with Catherine.fowler@otago.ac.nz in order to receive a reading pack.
READINGS
Giovanni Papini, “Philosophical observations on the motion picture,” La Stampa, Turin, May 18th,1907, pp. 1-2.
Luigi Pirandello, The Notebooks of Serafino Gubbio, (1915), Cambridge, Dedalus, 1990, pp. 3-33; 77-116
Georg Lukács, “Thoughts on an Aesthetics of Cinema,” (1913), in McCormick, Guenther-Pal, eds. German Essays on Film, New York, London: Continuum, 2004, pp. 11-16
Jean Epstein, “Magnification,” (1921) “The Senses I (b)” and “On certain characteristics of Photogénie” in Abel, ed., French Film Theory and Criticism, vol. 1 1907-1939, Princeton, Princeton University Press, 1984, pp. 235-241, 241-246 and 314-318
Ricciotto Canudo, “The Birth of Sixth Art”, (1911) and "Reflections on the seventh art"in Abel, vol.1, pp. 58-66