Testing Coherence in Narrative Film (Palgrave Close Readings in Film and Television)

This book examines the concept of coherence in film studies. It asks if there are ways to appreciate the achievement of coherence in narrative films that are characterised by an eccentric or difficult style, as well as by an apparently confusing intelligibility. In order to answer this critical question, the author argues that we need to reconsider the predominant understanding of the concept of coherence in film studies. Virvidaki identifies how a general function of coherence is manifested through the aesthetic of transparency and unobtrusiveness of classical Hollywood film. The author then proceeds to a close analysis of stylistically perplexing narrative films, in order to demonstrate how we can broaden, expand and readjust the classical criteria of coherence. __Testing Coherence in Narrative Film__ will appeal to film and philosophy scholars interested in aesthetics and narrative form. Acknowledgements 6 Contents 8 List of Figures 10 Chapter 1 Introduction: Is ‘Coherence’ Just a Style? 11 Method and Overview 14 References 18 Part I The Achievement of Synthesis and the Intelligibility of the Film’s Fictional World 20 Chapter 2 Interrogating Problems of Coherence in Narrative Film 21 V.F. Perkins: From Credibility to Synthesis 22 Letter from an Unknown Woman: Integrating Stylistic Difference 30 Letter from an Unknown Woman: Stretchingthe Tensions Even Further 34 Establishing and Interrogating the Realityof the Film’s Fictional World 36 V.F. Perkins and G. Wilson: Developing Patterns of Intelligibility 39 Conclusion 48 References 51 Chapter 3 The Elusive: Max Ophuls’ Madame De ... 53 Formal Control and ‘Openness’ of Meaning 53 The Love Affair: Patterning Uncertainty 56 Louise: The Tension Between the ‘Overt’ and the Evocative 65 Conclusion 73 References 75 Part II Apparent Incoherence and Dramatic Significance 76 Chapter 4 The Unbelievable: Carl-Theodor Dreyer’s Ordet 77 Making Sense of a Miracle 77 The Physical and the Spiritual (1): Tension 85 The Physical and the Spiritual (2): Fusion and Interplay 94 Conclusion 112 References 114 Chapter 5 The Fragmented: Jean-Luc Godard’s Passion 116 Stylistic Difficulty and Intelligibility 116 Isabelle: Fragmenting Knowledge, Expanding Signification 120 The Tableaux Vivants: Reordering Content,Recomposing Meaning 131 The Naked Female Body: Contextual Variationand the Limits of Visual Representation 144 Conclusion 148 References 150 Chapter 6 The Digressive: Quentin Tarantino’s Pulp Fiction 152 Manipulating the Relation Between Structure and Significance 155 Working Against Narrative Closure: Manipulating the Relation Between Significance and Temporal Order 157 Vincent and Jules in T-Shirts: Exploring the Function of Surprise and Incongruity in the Presentation of Character 160 Inside Marsellus’ Restaurant: Narrative Disunity and Stylistic Connectivity 162 Dramatic Diversion: Retarding and Accelerating Narrative Momentum 166 Dramatic Undecidability: Obscuring Central Dramatic Moments 171 Dissociating Stylistic from Narrative Intelligibility 173 Mia and Vincent’s Dance: Conflating the Central and the Incidental 177 Shifting the Hierarchy of Dramatic Stakes: The Bonnie Situation 179 Conclusion 182 References 185 Chapter 7 The Inexpressible: Terrence Malick’s The Thin Red Line 186 The Film’s Metaphysical Voice-Over: Disembeddedness and Significance 186 Voice-Over and Subjectivity: Unsettling Conventional Point of View Attribution 189 Conclusion 205 References 207 Chapter 8 Conclusion 208 References 215 Index 217 Front Matter ....Pages i-ix Introduction: Is ‘Coherence’ Just a Style? (Katerina Virvidaki)....Pages 1-9 Front Matter ....Pages 11-11 Interrogating Problems of Coherence in Narrative Film (Katerina Virvidaki)....Pages 13-44 The Elusive: Max Ophuls’ Madame De ... (Katerina Virvidaki)....Pages 45-67 Front Matter ....Pages 69-69 The Unbelievable: Carl-Theodor Dreyer’s Ordet (Katerina Virvidaki)....Pages 71-109 The Fragmented: Jean-Luc Godard’s Passion (Katerina Virvidaki)....Pages 111-146 The Digressive: Quentin Tarantino’s Pulp Fiction (Katerina Virvidaki)....Pages 147-180 The Inexpressible: Terrence Malick’s The Thin Red Line (Katerina Virvidaki)....Pages 181-202 Conclusion (Katerina Virvidaki)....Pages 203-211 Back Matter ....Pages 213-218 Annotation This text examines the concept of coherence in film studies. It asks if there are ways to appreciate the achievement of coherence in narrative films that are characterised by an eccentric or difficult style, as well as by an apparently confusing intelligibility. In order to answer this critical question, the author argues that we need to reconsider the predominant understanding of the concept of coherence in film studies