KHARON

Thanatology Review

Electronic Journal

Content

Volume 26

Number 1 · 2022

Original article


DR. LÁSZLÓ TARNAY
DR. LÁSZLÓ TARNAY

filozófus, filmesztéta

tarnaylaszlo@gmail.com

On the representation of death in film

Abstract · The present paper investigates some disciplinary counter-arguments against the representation of death in film. They are in the order of the discussion as follows: first a physical argument about the irreversible process of entropy of any organic and non-organic system, according to which every entity or pattern disintegrates with time. The fundamental aims of every living community is survival and the reproduction, which are automatically passes on to its newly born individuals. For every community can only survive by means of the deaths of its individual participants. Consequently, the scene of individual death is taboo and it should be hidden from the public eye. The same argument, but from social sciences states that the death of an individual is replaced by life affirming positive activities like sexuality, ecstasy or even violence. The representation of violence as the theme of “sudden” death in film is essentially aesthetic. The argument from visual aesthetics states that the main purpose of film is to be attractive, “spectacular” in order to exceed the threshold of attention. Consequently it inaugurates a cognitive viewpoint that the meaning of a film is determined by the cognitive conditions of the viewer. According to cognitive theory since film represents motion by motion and death occurs as a lack of motion, film can represent death only metaphorically. Last but not least the so-called sensorial turn in film and film theory highlights the material characteristics of the work of art including film, which reiterates the starting point, namely, the relevance of entropy. A sensorial work may represents death indexically or by analogy, rather than metaphorically. It confronts the viewer with death directly. That is it prompts him/her to face himself/herself which is an inherently ethical gesture.

DR. GÁBOR GELENCSÉR
DR. GÁBOR GELENCSÉR

filmesztéta, docens

gelencser.gabor@btk.elte.hu

The other(s) world - The motif of death in Hungarian cinema

Abstract · The motif of death demonstrates with exceptional clarity the dual nature of Hungarian film culture: (1) the genre film dominated period up to the end of the WW II, and (2) the author film dominated period after WW II. An examination of the motif also reveals the specificities of genre and auteur film: the so called "shyness" of the crime films, the differences between classical and modernist melodramas, the richness of auteur films in this respect, from abstract depictions of death to ironic and transcendent-metaphysical perspectives. The essay examines the motif of death in Hungarian film along the lines of genre and auteur film, presenting some specific examples of films and formal devices.

DR. ERVIN TÖRÖK
DR. ERVIN TÖRÖK

filmteoretikus, oktató

et51ma@yahoo.com

Death’s own space (and photography)

Abstract · As a starting point, the study considers some of the founding theses of classical photography theories. According to the first one, photography is the mummification of the moment (Bazin, 2002). The other is Walter Benjamin’s theory, who links media of mechanical reproduction to the notion of the "shock”. If media of mechanical reproduction cannot confront us with the unattestable event of (our own) death, but rather with the reality of the corpse, then the main question – referring to contemporary documentaries – is how they deal with their own technological foundation. The study examines the documentary entitled Terminal Stage (Végstádium) by Ilona Gaal and Balázs Wizner. Through the analysis of the film’s structure and closing scenes, the study aims to provide, how the film presents the last days of a cancer patient in a terminal stage without “victimizing” the protagonist and preserving the “private space” of his death.

DR. KATA ANNA VÁRÓ
DR. KATA ANNA VÁRÓ

filmtörténész, filmesztéta, docens

varokataanna@gmail.com

Love and death in Venice

Abstract · Located in the corridor between the East and the West, Venice became one of the most prosperous cities in Italy, which attracted the finest architects and artists. The city’s splendor and liminality; the fact that it is founded partly in water and partly on the solid ground have become a major source of inspiration for poets and literary figures alike, a dream location for wealthy honeymooners and spectacular funerals, not to mention tourists from all over the world. The floating city with all its dichotomies has served as a setting for both literary romances and tragedies and from the 20th century as a backdrop of Hollywood pictures, Italian giallos, or international art films dealing with love, death, and the tourist condition, as in the three features: The Wings of the Dove (1997), Don’t Look Now (1973) and The Comfort of Strangers (1990) discussed in this paper. Venice’s moldering buildings serve as a metaphor for moral decay, the disintegration of relationships, and death in these films. The reflecting water surfaces blur images of the past, present, and future, dissolve identities, and release inhibitions. In the labyrinth-like streets, danger, or even death lies in wait for strangers. The films reveal the darker side of the city as well as of the human intentions. With the help of their location, the films explore the fragility of relationships, the tourist condition and the tourist gaze, and the elusive boundaries between life and death. In all three of them, the city of water becomes much more than a picturesque setting, it represents the mental and/or physical state of the protagonists and their relationships.