Tuesday, October 28, 2008
Film 202 - Journal Report 1 - article 1
The first article I read, titled "Grizzly ghost: Herzog, Bazin and the cinematic animal" by Seung-Hoon Jeong and Dudley Andrew, primarily analyses Werner Herzog's 2005 documentary "Grizzly Man" and its meta-realistic perspective of death. "Grizzly Man" is a documentary of Timothy Treadwell, a loyal "protector" of an endangered species of bear in Alaska, and the 100 hours of footage he took of his life among the bears until his ironic death, as well as his girlfriend's, from being eaten by the animal he swore to protect. Unique philosophies are explored in the article regarding death - how we cannot actually depict death in cinema because no one alive has experienced it - and that Herzog, opposed to Treadwell, was the real "adventurer" of this film since it was he who returned to the site of danger. The article comments on how Treadwells presence (or "voice") in the film lends itself to what Andre Bazin calls the "Mummy Complex" - "Herzog's cinema of risk aims to embalm not life but death". Herzog, one of the most daring filmmakers of all time, was able to reincarnate Timothy Treadwell with "Grizzly Man" and bring the audience as close as possible to the most unknown stage of life - death. This article on contemporary cinema was quite an interesting read since it dealt not only with the technical aspects of Herzog's films but was also very analytical of his work from multiple perspectives.
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1 comment:
Quinn -
This is a good summary of an article that seems to take on a number of complex ideas. Your post negotiates them with clarity and testifies to an engagement - with the article,with Herzog.
But I'd like to hear more, not just abut the intriguing "Mummy Complex" but about _your_ take on all of this. You say that it was "interesting": how so? What about the discussion of the technical aspects of Herzog's work engaged you? And what did you think of the author's take, their corralling of Bazin and various philosophies to Herzog's work. Did it feel apropo? Did it fit? Did they make a convincing case?
Your summary suggests as much, but I'd like to hear more from you. These posts should be a balance of a presentation of the article and consideration from you - in terms of reaction, opinions, analysis, thought. Again, this post is fine. Just for next go round, expand on your own thinking and considerations on the topic. I'd like to hear more for you,
I am assuming you have not seen "Grizzly Man" After your immersion in the article you might want to check it out. The library has a copy - Call number DVD-1886. It is checked out now but is due next week.
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