Seeing Fictions in Film: The Epistemology of MoviesIn works of literary fiction, it is a part of the fiction that the words of the text are being recounted by some work-internal 'voice': the literary narrator. One can ask similarly whether the story in movies is told in sights and sounds by a work-internal subjectivity that orchestrates them: a cinematic narrator. George M. Wilson argues that movies do involve a fictional recounting (an audio-visual narration) in terms of the movie's sound and image track. Viewers are usually prompted to imagine seeing the items and events in the movie's fictional world and to imagine hearing the associated fictional sounds. However, it is much less clear that the cinematic narration must be imagined as the product of some kind of 'narrator' - of a work-internal agent of the narration. Wilson goes on to examine the further question whether viewers imagine seeing the fictional world face-to-face or whether they imagine seeing it through some kind of work-internal mediation. It is a key contention of this book that only the second of these alternatives allows one to give a coherent account of what we do and do not imagine about what we are seeing on the screen. Having provided a partial account of the foundations of film narration, the final chapters explore the ways in which certain complex strategies of cinematic narration are executed in three exemplary films: David Fincher's Fight Club, von Sternberg's The Scarlet Empress, and the Coen brothers' The Man Who Wasn't There. |
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accept action activity actual appear argue asserts audience audio-visual narration basic camera Catherine certain chapter character cinematic circumstances claim concept concerning considerations constitute constructed course depicted discussion distinction dream earlier establish example existence experience explain expressed fact fiction films Fictional Showing fictional world figure give given human idea images Imagined Seeing Thesis important impression inflected instance interest involve issues kind later least literary looking matter means minimal motion picture movie movie’s murder narration narrative nature Nevertheless normally objects particular performed photographic play position possible present propositions question readers reason recounting relevant represented role scene screen seems segment sense sequence shot significant simply situation sort sounds space specific Sternberg story strategy structure subjective suggest supposed telling things thought transparency vantage point various Version viewers imagine visual perspective watching