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  5. Volume 13, Issue 2, 2022

Film Matters - Volume 13, Issue 2, 2022

Volume 13, Issue 2

Volume 13, Issue 2, 2022

Language: English
  • Editorial

      • Generation Anxiety: Preface

        https://doi.org/10.1386/fm_00221_2

        Using Søren Kierkegaard’s formative writing from as a catalyst for thinking about the multiplicity and complexity of anxiety, the preface of this Special Issue of outlines how the editorial board at Chapman University thought about the topic “Generation Anxiety” throughout the editorial process. Considering anxiety as an embodied, sensuous, and ambiguous experience, this issue discusses films from varied genres, time periods, and countries, diverse perspectives and frameworks, and distinct explorations and experiences of anxiety. Finally, the preface acknowledges that there is no one definition of “Generation Anxiety,” but that through undergraduate scholars’ work, a contemporary perspectives on this ambiguous emotion emerges.

  • “Generation Anxiety” (Chapman Features)

      • Superego, Desire, and Living for Others in

        https://doi.org/10.1386/fm_00222_7

        portrays the internal conflict of letting the demands of the Other dictate one’s own decisions. This article focuses on the film’s representation of two psychoanalytic concepts: superego, the part of the psyche that enforces adherence to the social order, and desire, a fundamental state of lack where an indescribable lost object is supplemented by empirical objects. This article analyzes certain sequences to reveal how Asako, the film’s protagonist, lets herself be dominated by the demands of the Other. Ultimately, the quest to either obey her superego or realize her desire proves unfulfilling.

    • The Mimic, the Abstract, and the Familiar in John Carpenter’s (1982)

      https://doi.org/10.1386/fm_00224_7

      is an American science fiction film that explores the survival of a group of scientists when they encounter a shape-shifting alien life-form in Antarctica. This article draws attention to the monster in three specific forms and how they depict various manifestations of anxiety; the dog-thing, the head-spider, and a human copy. This article examines these versions of the monster and parallels them with three understandings of anxiety; the mimic, the abstract, and the familiar. Therefore surfacing the idea that anxiety molds itself into a parasite that adapts and manipulates the host until there is no distinction between the copy and the original. Through the support of scene analysis and the study of stylistic choices, these presentations of the monster work to prove that the horror genre continues to broaden the idea of ‘fear’ in the realm of the human experience.

  • UNCW Features

      • Brechtian Orality in

        https://doi.org/10.1386/fm_00226_7

        This article uses Brechtian film theory to argue that achieves a degree of cinematic orality borne from Inuit oral culture. Directors Cohn and Kunuk use Brechtian techniques to create a distance between the viewer and the film that allows us to understand as a story being told to us, a cultural expression borne from a specific context. The continued reflexive telling of stories within the film means that viewers are invited into the story circle; the film is no longer a singularly immersive experience, but rather a dynamic expression of culture, with the filmmaker acting as storyteller.

    • A Crushing Weight: Examining Disney’s Family Dynamics in

      https://doi.org/10.1386/fm_00231_7

      The 2021 release of Disney’s was a magical surprise for viewers worldwide during the COVID-19 pandemic. The memorable songs and engaging animation helped the film solidify its place as one of the most popular animated films in Disney’s prestigious library. This article discusses ’s divergence from the all too familiar themes in Disney narratives, allowing the film to explore anxieties that can arise under the weight of familial expectations. Through comparison to the equally popular Disney film , this piece analyzes the power behind the lyrics of ’s music that offers its audiences a mindful and refreshing experience.

  • UNCW Featurettes

      • https://doi.org/10.1386/fm_00232_7

        This video essay explores Tarkovsky’s 1979 sci-fi classic, , through the lens of the philosophical concept of hauntology. Hauntology refers to the potential for dead or dying ideals to return and haunt the cultural ethos of subsequent generations. This essay intersperses scenes from the film with Soviet-era propaganda footage to highlight the visual discord between ’s post-apocalyptic, alternate reality, and the illusory, utopian future the USSR failed to manifest. By melding the two forms of media together, the essay draws a causal line from past to future, and from aspiration to intergenerational trauma.

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