Week 3: Movies through the eyes of Banyamin

This week we're going back to the topic of the first week, " Do you prefer stage play/theatre or movies? ".

In the 1930s, when Benjamin wrote "Art Works in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction", movies were just beginning to have sound and color. Critics were not yet familiar with this emerging technology. Everyone was arguing whether movies could enter the elegant hall of art. This article is Benjamin's response to the times, and the insights of the prophets.

Thank you to everyone who participated in the first week of discussions around the fireplace, @Talala,@Reita226, @大年Silkworm 's Cocoon Life, @Jeger, for expressing our views on movies and theaters in 2021, and more The harvest surpassed my expectations. I sorted out everyone’s views on the two arts in three dimensions— artistic features, materials, and participation costs . From the observation, we can see the influence of the small theater movement in Taiwan. The content of the arrangement can be seen in the following table, and the original text of the content is not named at the end of the text.

Do you prefer stage play/theatre or movies? - Discussion around the fireplace

So what's the difference between a movie and a theater?

As observed by friends around the fireplace, the most significant difference between film and theater is the liveness and movement of the camera . Before we get into Benjamin's ideas, we must first understand his originality: Emmanuel.

What is Aura?

We can think of it first as liveness . When a theater actor performs, the energy of body and speech will be conveyed to the audience, and the audience will put their emotions on their faces and respond. At this time, the actors can watch the audience's reaction and adjust the performance at any time. Therefore, no performance is the same. , If you have seen a theater that emphasizes interaction, such as improvisation and co-creation, you can better understand the liveness of the theater, or if we go to a concert where we like singers, even if the songs are the same, there will be different interactions between the singers and the scene. With dialogue, that night is unique, and this is the aura of theater and concerts, the side that cannot be duplicated.

Benjamin used the word aura not only in drama, but also in aesthetics, literature, linguistics, and philosophy of history. So I'm going to quote two great interpretations. First, Podcast host Stephen West said in Philosophize This! One night, he saw a bright and round moon. At that moment, he thought it was incredible. He took a picture of the moon with his mobile phone, and every few days When I see my friends, I take out photos to show them off, but I feel embarrassed even myself. I suspect that it seems to be just an ordinary moon now. That night, the host saw the aura of the moon.

Then there is the interpretation of aura in the way of seeing by aesthetician John Berger. "There is only one original Mona Lisa in the world, and it is now lying in the Louvre." This sentence sounds reasonable, but we think further, how does the Louvre prove that the Mona Lisa in its hands is What about Da Vinci's real work? The Louvre needs to identify the painting for experts and preserve the transaction records of the painting. The uniqueness of this painting needs to be reviewed by experts . To the public, the <Mona Lisa> is mysterious. What's more, when appreciating this painting, It sits silently on the walls of the Louvre, we don't have Da Vinci's annotations on the painting at hand, we rely on the museum's guides and written sources. The public relies on experts for the authenticity and interpretation of paintings, and this mysterious veil is also the inspiration of paintings.

Let’s follow Berger’s explanation and recall the Marxism in the second week. Because laborers do not have production tools, such as factories, they are forever weak in labor-management relations. They can only choose to work in another factory, and cannot choose to be the owner of the factory. , back to <Mona Lisa>, we don't have the record of the original painting in our hands. The authenticity of the painting is determined by experts. If you want to understand the painting, you have to understand what the experts are saying. Such a black-box operation (mystification), It also makes us lose the power and tools of interpretation, and keeps the public away from art . Unlike movies, it is an art that belongs to the public.

Cinema as a Mass Art

Cinemas in every city

Continuing the discussion of the Mona Lisa, there are two reasons why painting is so mysterious, one is that it has only one painting, and the other is that it is still , without before and after pictures, before and after text, and no narration, allowing art galleries, art museums, and experts There is a chance to control its market and artistic value, but the film is different. The same film, no one will discuss that the original film is broadcast in Taipei Cinemas, and the reproduction film is broadcast in New York, not to mention the digital recording. We have long ago. There is no habit of distinguishing original files, because the cost of copying and duplicating is too low. Unlike theaters, time and place will not be the primary considerations for us to watch movies. The characteristics of movies that can be copied quickly make it accessible to the public, so that the public can approach it with less scrutiny .

movie eyes

Friends around the fire said, "The movie is a bit like seeing things through the director's eyes", "What is presented on the four-corner screen... It can focus more on the facial expressions and eyes of the actors." The mirror is different from what we usually see with the naked eye. We can't use our eyes to see others in slow motion. Although we can close up passers-by with the naked eye, we will definitely be caught by the police, not to mention the bird's-eye view of Taiwan like Zeppelin. Even in the air, our eyes can't have such a wide angle. The director uses a close-up shot to make us focus, uses a wide-angle lens to give us an atmosphere, and uses front and back images, narration, and lines to tell us what we want to express . The mirror, the actor's performance, that is, the director's eyes, let the audience understand the meaning of the film .

Compared to painting, the film expels the aura of the art form, and even uses the lens to weaken the aura of the actors. As mentioned earlier, theater actors can interact with the audience when performing live, exuding the inspiration of the actors, but under the camera lens, the crew considers the shooting process and cost, and will not shoot according to the narrative sequence. The actors are in front of the camera. The performance is not holistic. Even if the performance knows which machine is going to feature me at the moment, the actors cannot predict how the director and editor will handle the performance materials, and the actors that the audience sees when they watch the movie, except for the interaction between the actors and the camera. Also through the post-production of the film, the uniqueness of the actors themselves and the presence of the scene have been minimal. Ben Yaming went on to explain how the Western European film market shaped film actors into celebrities or idols at that time to complement the talents of actors. This is the first thing that Ben Yaming mentioned. On the other hand, because movies weaken the barriers of traditional art (the so-called aura), art can be popularized. This sounds a bit too optimistic. In fact, Benjamin also understood that Western European movies at that time (or the Hollywood movies we watch now) were not to criticize capitalism. Or breaking through elite art is the main subject, but Benjamin still pointed out the possibility of the film putting forward a revolutionary criticism of the social situation and the private property system.

Cinema as a Mass Art

When we go to a hotel, we will naturally ask whether the bed is good for sleep, whether the room is beautiful, the lobby is beautiful, what is the appearance of the whole hotel, and architecture is also a popular art, we can Touch it, feel it, live in it, get used to it, we can stare attentively, but more often we are based on the need for rest, and as a popular art, film meets everyone's need for relaxation, which is very inspiring in the eyes of Benjamin Sex: Movies make art no longer belong to the elite, the powerful, and the experts, weaken the aura, and open up a new mode of participation in art. You don’t have to read a bunch of materials before you go to the movies, and anyone can watch it. After finishing the film, they can express their own opinions and act as the censor of the film.

Beyond the context of the article

Finally, this article is intended to sort out Ben Yaming’s views on film in <Art Works in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction>. For the sake of the smoothness of the writing, many interesting points in the article are not mentioned, such as the connection between film shots and the unconscious, or the The relationship between Darism and the new technology of film. In addition, the discussion around the fire is about our views on film and theater in 2021. For example, the <Camera Movement> mentioned by a friend is the diverse themes and performance methods shown in the theater after the small theater movement in Taiwan. I have no idea. The ability to comprehend the development of movies and theaters from 1935 to the present written by Ban Yaming is not a deliberate vacuum for this period. If you have any doubts about the above two points or any statement in this article, be sure to leave a message and let us discuss together!

Attachment: The original text of the discussion around the fireplace

participant 1

• I still like them, but the movie is more popular?
• In fact, I watch very few stage plays, and movies.... I have watched even less in recent years 😢 Movies are a bit like seeing things through the director's eyes, sometimes I can't get stage plays hahaha

participant 2

• I don't usually watch movies, it seems more than a year since I went to the cinema last time to watch a movie
• But I've been enjoying stage plays lately, and there was a play called "Liberty New Town" in the middle of last year.

I think it's very nice, and most of the actors and even the directors in it are game live hosts

I think this idea is really cool

participant 3

Ahahahahahahahahahahahaha, I like both of them myself

#Movie

* I like to watch movies with high box office, to understand why people love it, what is behind the popular taste, and at the same time, movies are also a more economical choice than theaters

* I also like to watch B-grade movies, just my personal preference

#theater

* I like theater because when the actors and directors are all right, like experiencing a celebration, the mood will be very exciting, and the high appeal of the theater will make people climax.

* I prefer small theaters, because many crazy ideas will come out in small theaters, and encountering one that feels right is like digging a treasure

participant 4

I prefer movies. Although movies have scene restrictions, you can only see what is presented on the four-corner screen, but it is more focused on the facial expressions and eyes of the actors. However, the disadvantage is that if the actors have less experience and the acting skills are not skilled, it is easy to see and play.

On the other hand, there is the issue of cost. When I watch stage plays, I always sit at the back (so the tickets are cheaper.ˊˇˋ""") I can't see the faces of the people on the stage, but what I can taste is the atmosphere of the scene.

participant 5

I still like the sense of proximity provided by the small theater. I inadvertently break the safety distance and move between the stage and the audience. The audience inexplicably becomes one of the elements of the performance. I not only see it with my eyes, but also smell it. The record of "Camera Movement" provides souvenirs, and what it frames may not be what I miss, so the audience who supports the live performance still has its box office. In the art gallery, a dancer with a strange behavior uses the surrounding photographic works as the background. For a while, he squirms on the ground like a worm, and then suddenly runs lamely like a fast beast. Spit and throw things at the writing in a rage. At the scene, there was a graphic photographer who I didn't know who hired him, and he frantically took pictures up and down. The traditional single-lens mechanical camera, the clicking sound was very dramatic, as if he was talking to the beast. There was a discussion after the performance. The photographers on display were sitting in the middle, with the dancers on the left, and the photographer on the right who made the clicking noises, ah, the commentators invited by the gallery! The dancers whispered to the photographer in the middle. (Well, I thought it should have been well-known, otherwise how could the dancer spit at the work.) Then the photographer in the middle quietly passed the dancer's private words to the commenter on the right, and He must have recognized the way they were whispering. The commenter burst out and took out the film in the camera immediately after listening to it, and pulled out the undeveloped negative film completely, making a squeak sound, I was so afraid of the sound, it gave me goosebumps, and at the same time the film floated out in the air in front of my eyes. Black satin ribbon. "Someone said that I interfered with his performance. I am now paying it back in full. Please forgive me!" He gritted his teeth. This reviewer is a good friend who was recommended by the photographer to review the photographic works. He doesn’t know the dancers. He also spoke up for the photographic works when he was upset: “There is no extra points for spitting on the works, and it is not suitable for the theme. "The atmosphere was solemn, and the intermediary was slow-moving frequently, maybe it was because of which link was not good, or no one thought that the episode would evolve into a mishap, the approach of this kind of drama within and outside the show is very different from the fun of watching a movie. .

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