JCM312/French Modernism: Jean-Luc Godard & Bertolt Brecht (Discussion)
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The Modern Theatre is the Epic Theatre
- All Groups: 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.
- All Groups: 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 | turns the spectator into an observer, but |
wears down his capacity for action | 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 | [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] | in curves |
evolutionary determinism | jumps |
man as fixed point | man as a process |
thought determines being | social being determines thought |
feeling | reason |
Counter Cinema
- All Groups: 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.
- Groups 2 and 5: 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, 2, & 4: Make the case for Breathless as a classical film.
- Groups 3 & 5: Make the case for Breathless as a counter-cinema and/or Brechtian film.
- Cite specific scenes, shots, dialog, etc. that support your answer.
- 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.
External links
- Godard illustrations
- Breathless illustrations
- Wind from the East online — UbuWeb, TCF
- Hommage Kit (Butler, 1978)