Gary, I had a personal close encounter with critical theory in graduate school which was very scarring, so for me it is not a recommendation that a weak film is redeemed because it is elevated beyond narrative to critical theory. I actually took a seminar with Zizek back in the day, which I found very interesting at the time (I think I also wore a lot of black, thought Sartre was credible and smoked Gitanes) but realized how far I was into my recovery post graduate school when I read an article about Zizek groupies in New York several years later in the New Yorker and tried to get my head around what anybody could possibly mean by claiming to be a 'Lacanian Marxist.'
So that said, I will probably pass on HOWL especially -- and don't take offense here -- as I prefer the poems of Thom Gunn over AG. I am probably best described as a closet formalist when it comes to my taste in poetry. So here is to good poetry, good books and good films and the excellent critic that elucidates why things are important (in depth). Elizabeth On Oct 5, 2010, at 1:25 PM, ghand...@library.berkeley.edu wrote: > Hi Elizabeth > > Well, although I haven't seen the film yet (I will--I'm a HUGE AG > fan), I > doubt that it (or ANY feature film) can be said to be effective > literary > criticism. The narrative and cinematic structure of features and > their > ultimate goal (box office receipts, always) generally put these > films at > odds with real critical analysis. I think the best that can be said > is > that a film like Howl may shed some light on the writing process and > the > critical reception of a literary work (but even here, the need to > dramatize and hold audience attention may be at odds with that > intent). > > In a sense, films like the Spike Jonze's Adaptation, which attempt > to use > the act of literary creation as a kind of dramatic trope, are much > more > effective works of general literary criticism than biopics such as > Howl > (even though the literary work at the core of the film is fictitious) > > Documentaries, which use a completely different types of rhetorical > strategy and which have different claim on our attention, may be > better > suited to criticism (although I've seen fairly few which pull this off > effectively). > > I appreciate Stanley Fish's analysis, but... > > Movies will simply never be able to do what sustained, well-reasoned > writing does, and certainly not what effective literary criticism > does. > (Hey, this may be a continuation of my anti-Twitter viturperation) > > (By the way, film adaptation is a completely different kettle of > typewriters on any number of scores...) > > gary > > > >> Dear All, >> >> Stanley Fish opined this morning that HOWL is worth going to see (and >> viewers should definitely buy the book) because it functions as >> literary criticism, even though the common consensus among the >> critics >> is that it is a mediocre film. >> >> http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/10/04/literary-criticism-comes-to-the-movies/?hp >> >> How many of you will go see the film or acquire it for your >> collections based on the subject matter alone or does Professor >> Fish's >> endorsement make it more (or less) appealing? What other films >> 'elevate' literary works to the level of critical theory successfully >> rather than 'just' film adaptations? Is one preferable to the other >> to >> your communities? >> >> Best, >> >> Elizabeth >> >> Elizabeth Sheldon >> Vice President >> Kino Lorber, Inc. >> 333 W. 39th St., Suite 503 >> New York, NY 10018 >> (212) 629-6880 >> >> www.kinolorberedu.com >> www.twitter.com/kinolorberedu >> www.facebook.com/kinolorberedu (under construction) >> >> >> >> VIDEOLIB is intended to encourage the broad and lively discussion of >> issues relating to the selection, evaluation, >> acquisition,bibliographic >> control, preservation, and use of current and evolving video >> formats in >> libraries and related institutions. It is hoped that the list will >> serve >> as an effective working tool for video librarians, as well as a >> channel of >> communication between libraries,educational institutions, and video >> producers and distributors. >> > > > Gary Handman > Director > Media Resources Center > Moffitt Library > UC Berkeley > > 510-643-8566 > ghand...@library.berkeley.edu > http://www.lib.berkeley.edu/MRC > > "I have always preferred the reflection of life to life itself." > --Francois Truffaut > > > VIDEOLIB is intended to encourage the broad and lively discussion of > issues relating to the selection, evaluation, > acquisition,bibliographic control, preservation, and use of current > and evolving video formats in libraries and related institutions. It > is hoped that the list will serve as an effective working tool for > video librarians, as well as a channel of communication between > libraries,educational institutions, and video producers and > distributors. > VIDEOLIB is intended to encourage the broad and lively discussion of issues relating to the selection, evaluation, acquisition,bibliographic control, preservation, and use of current and evolving video formats in libraries and related institutions. It is hoped that the list will serve as an effective working tool for video librarians, as well as a channel of communication between libraries,educational institutions, and video producers and distributors.
