What can Hume Teach Us about Film Evaluation?

Autori

  • Robert R. Clewis

Parole chiave:

Emotion, affective response, dating, film critic, personal aging, test of time

Abstract

This article identifies three distinct temporal notions in Hume’s essays on aesthetics: passing the test of time, repeated viewing of a work, and the personal aging of the viewer. It applies these notions to film evaluation and enjoyment, between which Hume implicitly distinguishes. The article extends the author’s earlier theory of positive, negative, and counter-purposive forms of film dating, which are associated with nostalgia, boredom, and comic amusement, respectively. It discusses Hume’s “Of the Standard of Taste” (1757), “Of Simplicity and Refinement in Writing” (1742), and “Of Eloquence” (1742). Although the article does not offer close readings of films, it uses as illustrations Allen’s Zelig, Antonioni’s La Notte, Cameron’s The Terminator, Lucas’s Star Wars, Scorsese’s Taxi Driver, Spielberg’s E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial, and Renoir’s La Règle du Jeu.

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Pubblicato

04-07-2021

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