Disclaimer: This talk is in the process of being published. In the meantime you can read the abstract and main points.
Cinema: A Cannibalist Act in Lars Von Trier’s Melancholia is an exploration of the maxims as set by Sergei Eisenstein with regards to cinema and whether they stand the test of time. Melancholia, perfectly reflects Eisenstein’s idea of cinema as collision, but the nature of this collision betrays a cannibalistic nature rather than a conflict of images. The three-line haiku is found to be an arbitrary sequence of phrases where each following phrase devours its predecessor. Apart from the obvious devouring of works of art, Wagner’s opera and an end of the world narrative, there is more to cinema than a simple adaptation or borrowing. Furthermore, Melancholia feeds on other films and ultimately on itself. Cut into three slices, The Prologue, Justine and Claire collide like the planetary collision that Von Trier's film depicts but with a difference to Eisenstein’s concept of thesis and antithesis at war with each other to produce a synthesis. Instead, Melancholia betrays a mutual wanton act for self destruction. It has been likened to Salvador Dali’s Autumnal Cannibalism where two lovers eat at each other’s flesh till there is nothing left. Cinema shows us how it is but a world of shadows, but the remains of what it has consumed. What does Melancholia consume?
Starting with Linda Hutcheon’s concept of ‘replication but no reduplication’ in a Theory of Adaptation, one is tempted to ask; but what is Melancholia adapting / borrowing/ stealing - reduplicating?
I personally struggle with terms like adaptation, borrowing, stealing - indeed there is no duplication possible, let alone reduplication. Furthermore, I find that replication is too soft a term.
André Bazin’s asks: ‘What is a human, in contrast to an animal, a plant, an object or a machine?’
His answer: Human possibility to choose between acting rationally or irrationally, ethically or unethically. Bazin continues to explain how art offers an open door to man's irrationality and immorality because it freely allows a reduction of the other to an animal or an object with no concerns for empathy or coexistence. Rather than Darwinian adaptation or evolution, this infers an outright devouring of the elements it chooses to screen.
The talk will feature the following scenes from Melancholia.
The Prologue
The Library Scene
A cannibalism of Melancholia's narrative or alternative story sequence
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