Dai Jinhua to talk about film criticism: the theory of Yanwu field

Film Criticism: Theory Yanwu field

Dai Jinhua (Peking University professor, film scholar)

With the network, with digital technology, the film late in the 21st century, some Chinese urban way of life, not just once in a source of entertainment. As the main carrier of the DVD, the film became a beautiful OBE disembodied spirits. It overflows the dark charming theater space - although the film has always been and will continue to cinema art, from its original among the theater, museum of the "cave" of the strange atmosphere, into the personal world. Thus, it can be some kind of fashion, consumer, entertainment, can be some of the elegant culture, thought and expression, it can be a kind of social action and intervention.

If we say that theater was originally a 20th century individualist collective space, then the video, VCD, DVD to tear, "restore" as a personal possession. When the "movie" spill the film and cinema - movies flesh, but also the space of prison at the same time, it began to lose it once in history has had the privilege of the seal. Watching movies, the first time with a variety of ways, opening numerous possible. Interpretation of the film, watch the way with multi-layered film, which also filled with multiple dimensions variable. Structuralism and post-structuralism in the era, as the mass culture, popular texts and secular myths gathered Field, the film is more suitable for the theory of Happy Valley and Yanwu field, theoretical critique of the intention Buzai body or aesthetic, but in a particular, social ideographic practice.

Foucault once again brings up a valid criticism of the film symptom formula: It is important that the myth about the age, rather than the myth about the age; or, more bluntly, the principal part of the community said the public nature of reality or social issue has always been cable successful solution of the primary parameters of the mass text. Reading the secular myth of cultural propositions, claims the success of the general public understand the text, is the theory Yanwu.

>> Warts, or necessary

Some people think that in the Internet age, film theorists is a superfluous thing. Film critic for movie viewing behavior in terms of non-essential. From Bazin's film and the reality of the so-called "identity" point of view, this argument does make sense, among people living in reality, it seems innate ability to view images. It is said that owls have the ability to image reading. Australia has an owl, watching TV for many years, but also understand the television content. However, since World War II, almost all commodities are facing oversupply problems, the film as an art commodity is no exception. In this sense, professional critics and film theorists of the consumer market has become an important part of playing the role of Consumer Guide. Therefore, the film critic with the existence of reasonable and necessary.

In fact, the film, the production, consumption, markets and movie reviews should be separated from each other. Strict sense of the film theory, film criticism and film market should be independent of other aspects of the relationship between interaction, interactive state. Film criticism as a cultural form, just as the market segments of the chain, as part of the chain of interest. If the camera is a black box society "ideology ventriloquism," the best training ground and symbols, film critics have become ideological disenchantment style.

Film critics also faces its own difficulties, serious film theory and film criticism are always impression style, a sense of hair style, experience, style of writing of the rejection and denial. This impression writing style, and so the film a sense of self that is issued, will not be considered sexual harassment, the so-called film critics also had really just hypocritical to become "ideological ventriloquism" accomplices. Behavior of the film text is an encoding, full of gaps and cracks. Light of the gap lies hidden and never revealed the power construct meaning. Social and cultural sense of the participants and build, should reveal the lies, to explain the mechanisms of power control on the people involved in social change. This is the film critic of social play and the responsibility lies.

>> Science, or myth

Once, film criticism and film theory, scientific research has been quantified onto the road, the film is based on a scientific theory attempts to criticize. Once shook the academic situation of semiotics, a highly scientific model to analyze the film, trying to quantify, scientific, mode of film criticism, and ultimately lost. Semiotics is the leading film critics of the decade a decade of scientific falsification. Christian Metz famous Symbolist finally had plausible that "film is not only a language because it is so wonderful about the story, but because it is such a wonderful story about it to become a language" to let the matter rest . I do not think there is a foolproof, rigorous scientific models can be used for cultural studies. Too many scientists tell us that science is nothing more than a narrative, the myth of science but ideology. Scientific rigor, scientific objective and scientific all-encompassing, is just a narrative.

A strict interpretation of the all-inclusive never existed, cultural theory, the premise is always the extreme. Do not worry because the missing detail and misleading. Viewers not so easily be misled. The power of expression comes from the omission of details, but this does not mean Yikongzhixian hearsay, wanton nonsense. Grasp of film language is the foundation of film criticism. The history of film studies has a very strict system of text criticism, but still inevitably miss. Behavior of the film text is a code, itself, a lot of omissions, gaps and flaws. Corresponding, film criticism is also true.

>> Language, or images

Film critics face a cross-examination, if the language can be exhausting images, then also make a movie doing?

Admittedly, the film is the object of criticism image text, which uses light and shadow in the form of writing - the screen. There is no possible interpretation of the language medium of sound and picture media, this question is reasonable. If we give up the language, to give up any possibility of interpretation, to interpret the film, it can only make another movie, this is a very extreme hypothesis and discussion. However, if this interpretation is possible, then, the film interpretation will depend on regular practice, there is no grammar, but on cultural convention, you know, I know. For example, the film release in 1978, "Maple", at the time virtually banned. End of the film have such a lens, male Red Guards, beaten to death by his girlfriend holding the bodies toward the sun, walked the red horizon. This is the film review department considered a "debt collection to the Red Sun." In my opinion, review comments are justified, in the long decades, the red sun metaphor is well known. Sunset on the credits, such as blood, Qiu-Feng leaves the interpretation of the lens, was certainly not out of cultural context. Interpretation is bound to start with the cultural referent.

In a globalized world, which involves other people's language and their own stories of relationships. The late 1990s, this began to puzzle me. Sad place, not only are people's theories, the text of their own. More sad than wonder how the story is the story of their own, such as "orphan" of the story that China, director Chen Kaige has been adapted into a common story. Unlike most of us, he's - their story is dissolved, tampered with, perhaps the inevitable result of globalization. Until one day, we build cultural awareness and sense of theme, a subject of self-presentation, to separate other people's theories and his own text. It now appears that this segment is not so important, but awareness of this division is crucial, wary of the Western theory of absolute and sacred, it is possible to understand the background.

>> Women, or women's rights

In China, I am certainly not the first advocate of feminism, but I was the first claim to be feminists, perhaps also the first to propose the concept of people. 60's, 70's dynasties, China's political, legal sense, the maintenance of women's rights and advocacy at the forefront of the world, even the most avant-garde of the country. I, the young women than I have benefited from after 1949, women in the political, legal status on the rise. With more countries visited, this feeling is more obvious. In our view, the problem is not a problem in other countries, including developed countries, but had a problem.

So why do feminist theory? It first came from the Western image, then worship Western theories, it seems very funny. Second, China was never closed all the speech on gender. This is a bizarre situation, women political, legal status of all-time high, but an unprecedented low gender awareness; absolute equality between men and women in political life, private life is unfair. Again, thousands were thrown out of the secondary, there is no room for adjustment to women, letting women know what to do this.

After reform and opening up, many women clamoring to back, say that they do not need equality, do women like Li and Wang's argument, Wang did not want to feminists, and Li is opposite. Women do not have the opportunity to face social speech, speech between the sexes, between the speech of women. Described feminist, hoping Strategic decisions, the meaning of gender re-introduced into China's social structure, social awareness, social and cultural systems. I am explicitly feminist feminist translation. For example, China's "Red Detachment of Women" movie poster became a poster of Western feminism. Chinese women had the right to obtain, but also hard for Western women. In another example, Opera's program so they have changed, previously played the female roles, always nod, now heads held high appearance. So, I do not think women's rights or urgent problem to be solved, cultural awareness and gender is female.

Nevertheless, the film version of the potential coding system is still patriarchal. Such as "war of the youth," the story of a "modern Mulan", the story of a woman to make contributions. When she put on after the women, or stand behind the troops to send. On the battlefield, it must be with the men. This view, in feminist film theory may not be rebellious, emphasizing gender conscious.

(This article is Dai Jinhua in the "film criticism, theory Yanwu field - about Cuijun Yan Dai Jinhua to the" activities of speaking, our reporter Zhang order.)