Film Theory and Bazins Concept of The Mummy Complex - Essay Example

Film theory Name of the Student: Name of the Instructor: Name of the course: Code of the course: Submission date: Film theory What is meant by Bazin’s concept of “the mummy complex” and how does it apply to the cinematographic image? Introduction The concept of ‘mummy complex’ has realized increased attention in diverse realms of art since its instigation by Bazin. This has seen its application in various forms of art as art itself evolve in different historical epochs. The endeavor to incorporate this concept in art has seen increased efforts to enhance to the largest extent the defiance by the art makers, for instance, painters, photographers and more recently filmmakers to the passage of time which forms the foundation of the Bazinian concept of ‘mummy complex’ which is based on realism. It is imperative to be cognizant of the fact that this concept primarily grounded on realism, or the generic notion that cinema has a peculiar referential capacity has not failed to attract some criticisms, most notably in the 1970s. According to Rosen (2001), these critiques argued that the Bazinian realism is based on an empiricist subject, which places extensive value on direct perception of a certain object as a foundation of securing knowledge. Nonetheless, albeit these criticisms, the concept of ‘mummy complex’ has continued to receive increased recognition in various forms of art, mostly in modern cinematography which is the primary focus in this analysis. Against this backdrop, this paper is a profound effort to analyze the applicability of the Bazin’s concept of ‘mummy complex’ in the contemporary cinematographic image. This will be done through exploring two films in the subsequent sections of this paper. Meaning and application of ‘mummy complex’ According to Munksgaard (2011), the Bazinian concept of ‘mummy complex’ basically refers to the defense against the passage of time which is linked to the exertion towards immortality. It is thus related to the struggle of snatching something from the stream of time and neatly storing it. This concept can be perceived to have originated from the ancient Egyptian culture whereby the population in this civilization made profound attempts to ensure the continued existence of the corporeal body, and therefore quench the rudimentary psychological need of man of against the ultimate victory over death which is evidently inclined on the time factor (Bazin, 1967). Bozak (2008) borrowing from Bazin determined that the Egyptian mummy was the ‘first statue’ and a way of preserving and reproducing which took the early step towards what would (or will) have an eventual realization in the cinema. The concept of ‘mummy complex’ has been extremely used in art to mummify diverse moments, leaving an image of the sake of the future since the illusionistic paintings that existed in ancient Rome. This imitative art has undergone different evolutionally epochs which are epitomized in the renaissance period when the painters greatly utilized science to advance their nature-copying ability (Paredes, 2010). However, it is worth noting that paintings as a representation of realism (which forms the foundation of the ‘mummy complex’) came under immense criticism due to the fact that the intervention of the human hands in the creation of this art exposes the exhibition of realism to the subjectivity of the painter which makes the images to be prone to doubts (Bazin, 1967). Nonetheless, it is the innovation of the camera obscura which exemplifies the modern camera which enabled people to see the exact, although inverted images of the outside world, being projected onto a wall. This was an exemplary step towards the incorporation of the mummy complex in cinematography which was to develop in the subsequent years (Paredes, 2010). Bazin (1967) noted that this advancement placed the artist in a more favorable niche towards creating a profound illusion of a three-dimensional space, within which there is a tendency of things appearing to exist as they are seen in reality by our own eyes. Thus, the development of photography and cinema when perceived in a sociological point of view as being integral in providing an explanation which has a natural form for the enormous technical as well as spiritual incongruences which confronted paintings in the recent centuries. This has led to cinematography being viewed as the most advanced evolution of plastic realism to date Bazin (1967). Therefore, technological advances have seen the enhancement of realism in cinema mostly with the instigation of color, sound and lifelike motion which has been brought great relief to both the filmmakers and the audience and greatly influenced the incorporation of the ‘mummy complex’ in contemporary cinematography in diverse regions around the globe. As previously mentioned, two films will be analyzed in this paper. These films areGreen Mile (1999) which is an American drama film which is adopted from a novel under the same name by Stephen King (1996) and directed by Frank Darabont. The second film is Shawshank redemption(1994), which is also written and directed by Frank Darabont and starring Morgan Freeman and Tim Robbins. Shawshank redemption (1994) This film is adapted from the novella Rita Hayworth and Shawshank redemption by Stephen King and rolls out the story of Andy Dufresne, an innocent banker who spent nearly 20 years in Shawshank state prison for the alleged murder of his wife and her lover. The first scene in the movie which depicts the sentencing of Andy in the courts amid shaky evidence brings out the concept of realism in this particular scene. This is whereby the photography in this scene captures the court set-up and the court proceedings in this particular epoch in a three dimensional manner. The attires of the jury, the weapon that was allegedly used in the murder as well as the recollection of the murder scene brings the audience if this movie to the closest proximity to the realism of this particular setting in this given period. It thus preserves this setting against the passage of time based on the fact that despite how much will be passed since this particular episode, the motion photography of this setting is key in preserving it as it is, and neatly storing it as it is. The above fact is supported by Munksgaard (2011) who quoted Bazin and determined that photography is a formidable medium which is feasible in bringing arts to the closest proximity to reality and therefore, the ontology of photography, regardless of whether it is still or in motion is for the purposes of recording and preserving reality as it is. This forms the foundation of the Bazinian ‘mummy complex’ and thus highly evidenced in this particular scene. In addition, the scene whereby the Andy (now a prisoner under the protection of the prison system based on his exploits in offering free banking services to the wardens and engineering the money laundering scam) receives a recording of The Marriage of Figaro as part of the donations to establish a library. He plays this Italian record over a public address system and earns himself some time in solitary confinement. However, it is at this particular scene where he plays this record on the public system which brings out the Bazinian concept of the ‘mummy complex’. The music is so soothing to the prisoners, mostly those under life sentence, and the audience cannot help but feel the deep sense of hope among the prisoners as the soothing female voice in a language which they cannot even understand rolls out of the public address system. This scene is captured in the yard where the motion photograph reveals all the prisoners standing still, mesmerized by this music and feeling like at last they are outside the confines of the prison walls. This scene helps to mummify not only the song but also this particular unique moment where the prisoners feel a sense of the outside world, even if it is for a while. The scene outlining the eventual escape of Andy from prison also exhibits a deep sense of realism in this movie. The poster of Raquel Welch covering the hole which he had consistently drilled on the wall for nearly two decades and the equipment that he used in this processes (rock hammer) brings forth a deep sense of realism. The footage of this particular hole and the poster on it helps in mummifying this unique prison escape event which is captured as it is without any human subjectivity. On the other hand, the recollection of his escape through the prison’s sewage system in a night characterized by heavy downpour also aid in preserving this determined escape. The audience of the movie cannot help but feel the realism in this particular scene whereby Andy manages to escape, aided by a natural occurrence (rain and thunderstorms) which covered any possible noise emanating from his activities. The eventual feeling of freedom once outside the prison walls, with hands raised in the air and a shout of victory by Andy as it happened is captured and preserved against the passage of time. The above scene depicts a great extent of ‘mummy complex’ whereby the motion photograph of Andy as he finally realizes his freedom dreams is immortalized and depicts a unique and core characterization of photographic image as depicted by Bazin. This is whereby according to Bazin as cited in Prince (1996), the photographic image can be perceived as being the object itself, the object which is liberated from the constraints and conditions of space and time which govern it. Therefore, in disregard of how discolored or distorted or deficiencies in value the image might be, it in a very basic level shares, by the benefit is its process of becoming, the being of the model of which it’s the reproduction. It is thus perceived as the model. Thus, the audience of this scene feels a nature of connection to the referent, despite the passage of time since this peculiar, fictious event took place. Thus, the photography of the moving image of Andy immediately outside the prison walls, despite being discolored helps in preserving it despite the passage of time, making it ‘timeless and immortal’. The last scene in this film which shows the final unification of old friends, Andy and Ellis ‘Red’ Redding on a beach in Zihuatanejo also brings out a sense of realism in the film. When the audience sees the photograph of this reunion as they embrace is forced to accept the real existence of the reproduced objects. When we see the two friends embracing after such a long time, we are forced to accept the fact that they actually stood in front of a camera back in 1967. Thus, all the above scenes and footages help in exhibiting how the concept of mummy complex as depicted by Bazin applies in cinematographic image. The Green Mile (1999) This is also another film directed by Frank Darabont and also adapted from a novel by Stephen King. Basically, this movie is a story of Paul who was a death row collection officer during the great depression in the US and some of the supernatural events that he experienced. The first scene where John Coffey, a giant black, death row inmate convicted of rape and murder of two white girls arrives at Green Mile brings out the concept of mummy complex in this footage. This is whereby the footage of the prison van he was driven in and the nature of the infrastructure, for instance, the telephone that were used back in 1935 at the prison helps in bringing out the Bazinian concept of ‘mummy complex’. This is whereby Bazin argues that the object in the photograph is the object itself, and the sole difference in this case is that the object in the photograph is taken out of the confines of time and embalmed, thus rescuing it from any corruption. Thus, a person or an object which is captured in a photograph is freed from their destiny (death) through a profound mechanical process (Bazin, 1967). Against this backdrop, it is feasible to argue that ‘cinema is indeed objectivity in time’. It is thus not the preservation of a person or an object in an instant but for some time which extends far beyond an instant. Thus, the photograph of these past vehicles and telephones is a good example of the applicability of the ‘mummy complex’ in cinematography and can fit in in what Bazin perceived as ‘change mummified as it were’. Another scene which brings out the concept of the ‘mummy concept’ in this movie is the one John Coffey uses his supernatural power to heal Paul of a urinary tract infection. The superpowers of Coffey are immortalized through the photographic image and this is a core tenet of the Bazinian concept of the ‘mummy complex’. This is similar to the inference by Groot (2009) who determined that the cinematographic images as we know and see them are always in the present tense. What they refer to and what they re-represent might be elsewhere but this referent which is absent seems to be brought back to life and immortalized amongst ourselves in the present moments of concern, over and over again. The scene depicting the final execution of Coffey on the electric chair is also brings out the Bazinian concept of the ‘mummy complex’. This is whereby the photograph of this giant man sitting on the electric chair replicates reality which according to the proposition by Andre Bazin, this is core or the root to representational art which is basically an ‘obsession with realism’, or in his renowned shorthand, a ‘mummy complex’ (Alvey, 2007). Thus, the photograph of this man endowed with supernatural powers, sitting on the electric chair awaiting his execution helps to immortalize him against the passage of time and safely store him away. Conclusion From the above discourse, it is apparent that the Bazinian concept of the ‘mummy complex’ has found great utility in art since it was coined by Andre Bazin. In a generic sense, this concept refers to the defense against the passage of time which is linked to the exertion towards immortality, which has evolved through various epochs of art since early paintings to the more contemporary cinemas. This concept has found extensive application in cinematography image, a fact which has been epitomized in the footages and scenes of two films, Green Mile (1999) and Shawshank redemption (1999) as explored in the preceding sections. References Alvey, M. (2007). The Cinema as Taxidermy: Carl Akeley and the Preservative Obsession. The Journal of Cinema and Media, 48(1), 23-45. Baron, J. (2007). Contemporary Documentary Film and ‘Archive Fever’: History, the Fragment, the Joke. The Velvet Light Trap, 60, 13-24. Bazin, A (1967). What is Cinema? Vol. 1. Trans. Hugh Grey. Berkley: University of California Press. Bozak, N. (2008). The disposable camera: Image, energy, environment. (PhD Thesis, University of Toronto). Retrieved from https://tspace.library.utoronto.ca/bitstream/1807/11106/1/Bozak_Nadia_20083_PhDthesis.pdf.pdf. Groot, J.D. (2009). Consuming History: Historians and heritage in contemporary popular culture. New York. Routledge. Munksgaard, A. (2011). Digital Theory and Eco Cinema in Wall-E. Retrieved October 30, 2012, from http://www.munksgaard.co.uk/Munksgaard_EcoCinemaInWallE.pdf. Paredes, R. (2010). Avatar and the mummy complex. Retrieved October 30, 2012, from http://globalnation.inquirer.net/cebudailynews/opinion/view/20100131-250484/Avatar-and-the-mummy-complex. Rosen, P. (2001). Change Mummified: Cinema, Historicity, Theory. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press. Prince, S (1996). True Lies: Perceptual Realism, Digital Images, and Film Theory. Film Quarterly, 49 (3), 27-37 Read More