New PhilosoPhies of film: ThiNkiNg images Also available from Continuum Aesthetics and Film Katherine Thomson-Jones Aesthetics: Key Concepts in Philosophy Daniel Herwitz Aesthetics: The Key Thinkers Edited by Alessandro Giovannelli Deleuze and World Cinemas David Martin-Jones Introducing Aesthetics and the Philosophy of Art Darren Hudson Hick Terrence Malick: Film and Philosophy Edited by Thomas Deane Tucker and Stuart Kendall New PhilosoPhies of film ThiNkiNg images RobeRT siNNeRbRiNk Continuum International Publishing Group The Tower Building 80 Maiden Lane 11 York Road Suite 704 London SE1 7NX New York NY 10038 www.continuumbooks.com © Robert Sinnerbrink 2011 All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or any information storage or retrieval system, without prior permission in writing from the publishers. Author has asserted his/her right under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act, 1988, to be identified as Author of this work. British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library. ISBN: 978-1-4411-4619-9 Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Sinnerbrink, Robert. N ew philosophies of film : thinking images / Robert Sinnerbrink. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. Includes filmography. ISBN 978-1-4411-2257-5 (hardback) 1. Motion pictures--Philosophy. I. Title. PN1995.S514 2011 791.4301--dc22 2011016505 Typeset by Fakenham Prepress Solutions, Fakenham, Norfolk NR21 8NN For Louise, my ideal movie companion, and for Eva and Mimi, film-philosophers of the future! CoNTeNTs Preface viii Introduction: Why Did Philosophy Go to the Movies? 1 PART I: The Analytic-Cognitivist Turn 11 Chapter 1: The Empire Strikes Back: Critiques of ‘Grand Theory’ 13 Chapter 2: The Rules of the Game: New Ontologies of Film 28 Chapter 3: Adaptation: Philosophical Approaches to Narrative 45 PART II: From Cognitivism to Film-Philosophy 65 Chapter 4: A. I.: Cognitivism Goes to the Movies 67 Chapter 5: Bande à part: Deleuze and Cavell as Film-Philosophers 90 Chapter 6: Scenes From a Marriage: On the Idea of Film as Philosophy 117 PART III: Cinematic Thinking 137 Chapter 7: Hollywood in Trouble: David Lynch’s INLAND EMPIRE 141 Chapter 8: ‘Chaos Reigns’: Anti-Cognitivism in Lars von Trier’s Antichrist 157 Chapter 9: Song of the Earth: Cinematic Romanticism in Terrence Malick’s The New World 177 Coda: ‘The Six Most Beautiful Minutes in the History of Cinema’ 194 Notes 197 Appendix: Further Reading, Filmographies, Websites 208 Bibliography 220 Filmography 233 Index 239 vii PRefaCe At first blush, film and philosophy appear to be uneasy bedfellows. Going to the movies and having a philosophical conversation seem to share little in common. Philosophers feature very rarely in films, though it is usually intriguing when they do. In a memorable scene from Jean-Luc Godard’s Vivre sa vie (1962), for example, the beautiful Nana [Anna Karina] engages a ‘real life’ philosopher [Brice Parain] in conversation at a café. They talk of the necessity to talk, the difficulty of saying what one means, the way speech and action conflict, whether one can speak and live at once. At one point during the philosopher’s monologue, Nana turns to the camera, addressing us with her ambiguous, mesmerizing gaze. Her gesture is simple but poses many questions: What is this experience we call ‘cinema’? How are film and philosophy related? Can their relationship be a true meeting of minds (and bodies)? Can films ‘do’ philosophy? This book is dedicated to these questions, exploring, in particular, the film-philosophy relationship. From strangers in the night they have become more than good friends. Indeed, the recent flourishing of philosophical writing on film has been a very welcome surprise. What are these ‘new philosophies of film’? Why have philosophy and film theory come together in such fruitful (and sometimes fractious) ways? New Philosophies of Film examines the new wave of philosophical film theory that has challenged the older paradigm (so-called ‘Grand Theory’). These philosophical approaches are distinguished by their retrieval and renewal of some of the problems of classical film theory, including the ontology of film, the question of film as art, and how we understand and interpret film. In the chapters that follow I focus on three major currents: the analytic- cognitivist turn in film theory; an alternative stream (inspired by viii PRefaCe Stanley Cavell and Gilles Deleuze) that explores how film and philosophy respond to shared problems (film-philosophy); and the idea of ‘film as philosophy’ (that films not only illustrate but can ‘do’ philosophy in their own way). Because it is better to show than to describe a way of thinking, the final three chapters of this book offer instances of ‘film-philosophy’ in action, focusing on specific films by three challenging contemporary filmmakers: David Lynch, Lars von Trier and Terrence Malick. In so doing, I wish to show how the relationship between film and philosophy has the possibility of becoming a mutually transformative encounter — an aesthetic experiment in new ways of thinking. A book has many parents who contribute to the conception and maturing of ideas that eventually appear in written form. Among the many friends and colleagues who have encouraged me over the years, I owe a special debt of thanks to the following people, whether for inspiring conversation, constructive suggestions, or invaluable support: Louise D’Arcens, Michelle Boulous-Walker, William Brown, Romana Byrne, Havi Carel, Alan Cholodenko, Felicity Colman, Marc de Leeuw, Damian Cox, Jean-Philippe Deranty, Lisabeth During, Joanne Faulkner, the Film-Philosophy editorial crew, Gregory Flaxman, Daniel Frampton, Berys Gaut, Michael Goddard, Greg Hainge, Laleen Jayamanne, Fiona Jenkins, Noel King, Andrew Klevan, Tarja Laine, Adrian Martin, David Martin- Jones, John Mullarkey, Miread Phillips, Orna Raviv, Daniel Ross, William Rothman, Richard Smith, David Sorfa, Jane Stadler, Lisa Trahair, Greg Tuck, Thomas Wartenberg and Magdalena Zolkos. I would also like to thank David Avital, Tom Crick, Giles Herman, and Moira Eagling from Continuum for their encouragement in fostering this project and in preparing my manuscript for publication. Acknowledgements Some of the chapters in this book draw on material previously published elsewhere. I would like to thank the editors of the following publications for their kind permission to use material from the following texts. For the Introduction and Chapter 1: Sinnerbrink, Robert (2010), ‘Disenfranchising Film? On the Analytic- Cognitivist Turn in Film Theory,’ in Jack Reynolds, Ed Mares, James ix