The following is a list of the films that I will be analyzing. I am not sure when they will go up, but I will try to do at least one a week.
Perfume
Dogville
Magnolia
Eyes Wide Shut
Paris Texas
Synecdoche New York
Friday, 17 April 2009
Thursday, 16 April 2009
A Bumbling Manifesto
The subtitle of this blog is "Finding Meaning In Films". The reason it is not "Finding The Meaning Of Films" is because this would imply that I or anyone have access to the difinitive meaning of a particular film. I believe that if such difinitive meaning for films does indeed exist, that no one, filmmakers included, has complete access to it. I think the filmmaker's intent is very important, and certainly a large degree of finding meaning in film will include trying to examine the authorial intent, but I believe that when a work is complete it becomes an entity of its own and the limits and breadth of the meaning to be found in it are no longer the determination of the artist or filmmaker.
Movie Theaters have been said to be todays temples. In religious temples historically the priests have had the role of attempting to interpret and expose meaning in the sacred writings relevant to the religion of that temple, to convey these meanings as well as they can to the laymen who attend. I have found the role of the priest one largely absent in our new temples, and I believe it is a role that there is great need for.
I am therefore endeavoring to make a meek attempt at filling this role using the limited resources available to me. It is my hope that this blog can be a resource for a variety of things:
Firstly I hope that it can offer a breadcrumb trail to the uninitiated. That is for those who have never before analyzed or disected films in the way that a critical essayist will analyze and disect novels. Appreciating the nuances of film, as with the appreciation of any art, is something that requires educating and practice.
Secondly I hope to encourage a critical discussion. I would love for discourse to take place regarding the meaning and symbols and themes and truth to be found in significant films. To this end I invite anyone who would like to submit their essays or analysiis of films to be posted here, or to use the comment area to discuss these films. Additionally I would love to have requests for analysiis of particular films. Of course it does not follow that every request will be accepted, nor every submitted essay neccesarily, but anything that is germane to this blog will certainly be considered.
All submissions may be sent to luke@mothlightcreative.com
NOTE OF WARNING: The essays on this blog will NOT be critical reviews. I am not seeking to judge the technical or literary quality of the selected works. If they are worth analyzing on this blog then I consider them well worth watching, but this blog is exclusively intended to find meaning, something that is available in greatly varying amounts in probably every film ever made. I am selecting the ones I have found to have the most significant meaning to attempt to analyze and summarize that meaning.
Additionally let me issue the warning: DO NOT READ AN ESSAY FROM THIS BLOG ON A FILM YOU HAVE NOT SEEN. It is not intended in any way to serve as a taste to see whether a film is worth watching or not. It is a discussion of the characters, themes, symbols, and truths to be found in the films, something that will be greatly undermined if read without having seen the film.
Thankyou for visiting this blog and I hope you find it useful.
Luke Alan Ewing
Movie Theaters have been said to be todays temples. In religious temples historically the priests have had the role of attempting to interpret and expose meaning in the sacred writings relevant to the religion of that temple, to convey these meanings as well as they can to the laymen who attend. I have found the role of the priest one largely absent in our new temples, and I believe it is a role that there is great need for.
I am therefore endeavoring to make a meek attempt at filling this role using the limited resources available to me. It is my hope that this blog can be a resource for a variety of things:
Firstly I hope that it can offer a breadcrumb trail to the uninitiated. That is for those who have never before analyzed or disected films in the way that a critical essayist will analyze and disect novels. Appreciating the nuances of film, as with the appreciation of any art, is something that requires educating and practice.
Secondly I hope to encourage a critical discussion. I would love for discourse to take place regarding the meaning and symbols and themes and truth to be found in significant films. To this end I invite anyone who would like to submit their essays or analysiis of films to be posted here, or to use the comment area to discuss these films. Additionally I would love to have requests for analysiis of particular films. Of course it does not follow that every request will be accepted, nor every submitted essay neccesarily, but anything that is germane to this blog will certainly be considered.
All submissions may be sent to luke@mothlightcreative.com
NOTE OF WARNING: The essays on this blog will NOT be critical reviews. I am not seeking to judge the technical or literary quality of the selected works. If they are worth analyzing on this blog then I consider them well worth watching, but this blog is exclusively intended to find meaning, something that is available in greatly varying amounts in probably every film ever made. I am selecting the ones I have found to have the most significant meaning to attempt to analyze and summarize that meaning.
Additionally let me issue the warning: DO NOT READ AN ESSAY FROM THIS BLOG ON A FILM YOU HAVE NOT SEEN. It is not intended in any way to serve as a taste to see whether a film is worth watching or not. It is a discussion of the characters, themes, symbols, and truths to be found in the films, something that will be greatly undermined if read without having seen the film.
Thankyou for visiting this blog and I hope you find it useful.
Luke Alan Ewing
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)