Ambiguity and Film Criticism: Reasonable Doubt (Palgrave Close Readings in Film and Television)

This book defends an account of ambiguity which illuminates the aesthetic possibilities of film and the nature of film criticism. Ambiguity typically describes the condition of multiple meanings. But we can find multiple meanings in what appears unambiguous to us. So, what makes ambiguity ambiguous? This study argues that a sense of uncertainty is vital to the concept. Ambiguity is what presses us to inquire into our puzzlement over a movie, to persistently ask “why is it as it is?” Notably, this account of the concept is also an account of its criticism. It recognises that a satisfying assessment of what is ambiguous involves both our reason and doubt; that is, reason and doubt can work together in our practice of reading. This book, then, considers ambiguity as a form of reasonable doubt, one that invites us to reflect on our critical efforts, rethinking the operation of film criticism. Acknowledgements 6 Contents 8 List of Figures 9 Chapter 1: Introduction: Why Is It as It Is? 10 What Makes Ambiguity Ambiguous? 10 Two Senses of Ambiguity 12 Interpretative “Freedom” 13 Analytical Challenge 15 Question and Answer 17 Why Is It as It Is? 18 Reason and Doubt 20 Purview and Practice 22 Value and Evaluation 25 References 29 Part I: Pursuits of Reasons 31 Chapter 2: Difficulty of Reading 32 Explanation and Function 36 The Transcendental 36 The Cathartic 36 It Looks Like Point-of-View Editing, But... 37 Between Continuity and Discontinuity 39 Play and Parameters 40 The Arbitrary 41 Reading in Detail 43 The Figurative 44 Movement and Stasis 45 Seeing As 46 Repetitions 48 Question as Answer 49 References 53 Chapter 3: Perplexity of Style 55 The Speculative Spectator 57 A Cinema of Question 57 A Pursuit of Aesthetic Reason 60 Room for Conjecture 62 All That Restriction Allows 67 Limitations and Possibilities 69 An Aesthetics of Withholding 72 Showing and Revealing 74 A Narrative Divided 76 At a Crossroad 77 Ripples of Change 79 Coming Together 80 An Ethic of Style 82 Observations on Part and Whole 84 Unraveling 86 References 90 Chapter 4: Depth of Suggestion 92 The Ambiguity of Gesture 92 An Opaque Character 96 Did Dix Kill? 96 Can Dix Kill? 97 The Uncertainty of Understanding 99 Appreciating Film Character 100 Unsettling Gestures 102 A Lover’s Embrace? 102 A Killer’s Kiss? 105 Moments of Recognition 108 The Depth of Understanding 110 References 116 Part II: Drama of Doubt 118 Chapter 5: Uncertainty of Viewpoint 119 “Reconciliation” 123 Tonal Complexity 123 An Expansive Viewpoint 126 Image and Imitation 127 State of the Union 129 “Redemption” 130 A Heroic Rescue? 130 A Necessary Pretence? 132 “Reversal” 135 Downhill’s Resolution 135 End of the Tunnel? 136 Studying Film Endings 137 Ebba’s “Flight” 139 Inappropriate Identification? 142 Inappropriate Resolution? 143 Equilibrium? 144 Rhetorical Unreliability 146 References 151 Chapter 6: Threat of Insignificance 153 “It All Began the Day I Looked at You ...” 153 A Look That Seems Out of Place 156 Everything in Its Right Place 158 Traps for the Mind and Eye 160 Misleading Narration 160 Deceptive Appearance 162 A Look That Is Out of Place? 165 Who Is Calling? 165 Who Is In Control? 166 Intention and Care 168 The Doubtful Critic 170 References 176 Chapter 7: Concluding Remarks: Reasonable Doubt 178 References 184 Index 185