Rosemary, interesting connection with development in physics. perhaps
this is an ancient tragic insight as well. I think Kieslowski achieves
this in "Decalogue", as well as in earlier films dealing with
chance/fate. The law is impossible, unfullfilable ultimately, and yet
we are obliged to make choices. Resnais' insight is more explicitly
about the possibility of documenting the catastrophe. A question of
history and representation.
reni
On Tuesday, July 29, 2003, at 02:21 PM, Rosemary Ceravolo wrote:
> While I agree with you in essence :), ethics and morality
> are subjects of their own extensive philosophical value and
> exploration from time immemorial. Whether or not these
> concerns translate into cinema beyond the "merely thematic"
> has yet to be discerned.
>
> "Hiroshima mon amour" is actually quite amorphous, since it
> superficially addresses matters of nuclear annihilation in typically
> French, tepid erotica and therefore waters down the larger ethical
> message to little more than the films I mentioned, which at least
> make no pretenses other than being rather ordinary ethical dilemmas
> among common, ordinary people in everyday situations.
>
> Until film makers are capable of becoming adept in understanding the
> differentiation between Classical Physics and Quantum Physics,
> cinema has yet to address or portray the ethical/moral "Uncertainty"
> implicit in the quantum mode.
>
> Rosemary
> ....................
> On Tue, 29 Jul 2003, reni celeste wrote:
>
>> If we think the ethical as merely thematic it is the content of all
>> drama. if we understand drama as a contest of wills and values. To
>> probe deeper into the question of essence and conditions of
>> possibility
>> for the ethical is maybe more challenging for cinema. Kieslowski's
>> "Decalogue" or Resnais' "Hiroshima mon amour".
>>
>> reni
>>
>> On Tuesday, July 29, 2003, at 01:15 PM, Rosemary Ceravolo wrote:
>>
>>> There's always "Double Indemnity," "The Postman Always Rings Twice,"
>>> "Mildred Pierce," to name just several....
>>>
>>> Rosemary
>>> ...........................
>>> On Tue, 29 Jul 2003, Shaw, Dan wrote:
>>>
>>>> To change the subject, I am putting together a book on ethics and
>>>> film, =
>>>> and would appreciate suggestions from the members of the salon as to
>>>> the =
>>>> best cinematic portrayals of ethical dilemmas, contemporary moral
>>>> issues =
>>>> and/or moral virtues in film.
>>>>
>>>> I am also in the process of editing a special edition of Film and =
>>>> Philosophy on
>>>> Ethical and Existential themes in film, which is looking good. But
>>>> the =
>>>> book is a totally separate endeavor.
>>>>
>>>> Dan Shaw
>>>> Managing Editor, Film and Philosophy =20
>>>>
>>>
>>>
>>
>
>
Reni Celeste, Ph.D.
University of Rochester
http://www.cinemonkeys.com/reni/
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