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The Modern Theatre is the Epic Theatre
- What does Brecht mean by the term "culinary opera"?
- He suggests that "dramatic theater" is culinary. Some film critics suggest that Hollywood classicism is also culinary. Do you agree? Explain.
- Consider the key aspects of "epic theater" that are boldfaced below. Do you think Breathless fits any of these aspects? Why or why not?
Brechtian alienation
- "Alienation effect"--Verfremdungseffekt
| DRAMATIC THEATRE |
EPIC THEATRE |
| plot |
narrative |
| implicates the spectator in a stage situation |
G3: turns the spectator into an observer, but |
| wears down his capacity for action |
G4: arouses his capacity for action |
| provides him with sensations |
forces him to take decisions |
| experience |
picture of the world |
| the spectator is involved in something |
he is made to face something |
| suggestion |
argument |
| instinctive feelings are preserved |
G1: [instinctive feelings are] brought to the point of recognition |
| the spectator is in the thick of it, shares the experience |
the spectator stands outside, studies |
| the human being is taken for granted |
the human being is the object of the inquiry |
| he is unalterable |
he is alterable and able to alter |
| eyes on the finish |
eyes on the course |
| one scene makes another |
each scene for itself |
| growth |
montage |
| linear development [of plot] |
G2: in curves |
| evolutionary determinism |
jumps |
| man as fixed point |
man as a process |
| thought determines being |
social being determines thought |
| feeling |
reason |
Counter Cinema
- What is Wollen's "counter cinema"? What is it counter to?
- Apply the following aspects of counter cinema to Breathless. Do they fit?
- Cite specific scenes, shots, dialog, etc. that support your answer.
- Group 2: In your own words, explain the "narrative intransitivity" aspect of counter cinema.
- Group 3: In your own words, explain the "estrangement" aspect of counter cinema.
- Group 4: In your own words, explain the "foregrounding" aspect of counter cinema.
- Group 1: In your own words, explain the "aperture" aspect of countercinema.
- Groups 1 and 2: make the case for Breathless as a classical film.
- Groups 3 and 4: make the case for Breathless as a counter-cinema and/or Brechtian film.
- What aspects of Wollen's list match Brecht's list?
| "DEADLY SINS" OF THE CLASSICAL CINEMA |
"CARDINAL VIRTUES" OF COUNTER CINEMA |
| Narrative transitivity |
Narrative intransitivity |
| Identification |
Estrangement |
| Transparency |
Foregrounding |
| Single diegesis |
Multiple diegesis |
| Closure |
Aperture |
| Pleasure |
Un-pleasure |
| Fiction |
Reality |
Bibliography
- Brecht, Bertolt. "The Modern Theatre is the Epic Theatre." In Brecht on Theatre, pp. 33-42. Edited and translated by John Willett. New York: Hill and Wang, 1964.
- MacCabe, Colin. Godard: Images, Sounds, Politics. Bloomington, IN: Indiana University, 1980.
- Wollen, Peter. "Godard and Counter Cinema: VENT D'EST." In Readings and Writings: Semiotic Counter-Strategies. London: Verso, 1982.
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