Philosophy and Cinema
Objectives
1) To acquire advanced critical knowledge of the fundamental problems of the relationship between philosophy andcinema;
2) To acquire advanced critical knowledge of how the issues that are currently discussed in the philosophical debateabout cinema fit into the philosophical tradition.
3) To acquire the capacity to acknowledge and reflect upon critically a variet of different philosophical positions on thefundamental problems of the philosophy of cinema;
4) To acquire the capacity to conceive of cinema as an art form from a philosophical point of view.
General characterization
Code
722031092
Credits
10.0
Responsible teacher
Paolo Stellino
Hours
Weekly - 3
Total - 280
Teaching language
Portuguese
Prerequisites
N/A
Bibliography
BAZIN, André (1992). O que é o cinema? Lisboa: Livros Horizonte.
DANEY, Serge (1996). “O travelling de Kapò”, Revista de Comunicação e Linguagem 23, pp. 205-221.
DARDENNE, Luc (2005). Au dos de nos images. 1991-2005. Paris: Seuil.
DELEUZE, Gilles (2004 e 2006). A Imagem-Movimento: Cinema 1; A Imagem-Tempo: Cinema 2. Lisboa, Assírio & Alvim.
RANCIÈRE Jacques (2001). “S’il y a de l’irreprésentable”, Le Genre humain 36/1, pp. 81-102.
RIVETTE, Jacques (1961). “De l’abjection”, Cahiers du cinéma 120, pp. 54-55.
STELLINO, Paolo (2020). “What Is It Like to Be in the Land of Silence and Darkness? Werner Herzog and the Paradox of Representing the Unrepresentable”, Estetica. Studi e Ricerche X/1, pp. 43-62.
STELLINO Paolo (2024). “Nietzschean Themes in Béla Tarr’s The Turin Horse”, Film-Philosophy 28/2, pp. 226-247.
WARTENBERG, Thomas E. (2006). “Beyond Mere Illustrations: How Films Can Be Philosophy”, The Journal of Aesthetics and Art Criticism 64/1, pp 19-32.
Teaching method
1) Use of PowerPoints
2) Screening films and debating them
3) Analysis of selected texts
Evaluation method
1) Mid-term assessment (relating to the first part of the course unit) - 40%
2) Final paper (15 pages) - 40%
3) Attendance and class participation - 20%
Subject matter
The main objective of this course unit is to reflect on the relationship between philosophy and cinema and, in particular, on the way in which cinema can convey philosophical content and even stimulate or advance philosophical reflection. The course will be divided into two parts. The first part will be devoted to the following theoretical question: is it possible to philosophize through cinema? This question will be addressed through the discussion of both practical examples and texts by a range of authors (including A. Bazin, S. Cavell, G. Deleuze, S. Mulhall and T. Wartenberg). Two classes will also be devoted to the relationship between ethics and aesthetics. In particular, ethical questions concerning the limits of cinematic representation will be examined through texts by A. Bazin, J. Rivette and S. Daney. In the second part, each class will be devoted to a distinct philosophical problem, and a specific film will be associated with each problem. For example, the paradox of representing the irrepresentable through Land of Silence and Darkness by Werner Herzog (1971); nihilism through The Turin Horse by Béla Tarr (2011); existentialism through Cléo from 5 to 7 (Two Hours in the Life of a Woman) by Agnès Varda (1962); and the recognition of the other through Rosetta by Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne (1999).