Thoughts on Film

Film is something which has interested and influenced me for a long time.  In its philosophy, specifically David Lynch, Maya Deren, and Andrei Tarkovsky. Tarkovsky said "a poet is someone who uses a single image to express a universal message". Tarkovsky hailed from the school of thought that said art couldn't be explained by a purely intellectual perspective.

David Lynch said "It's a dangerous thing to say what a picture is. If things get too specific, the dream stops. There are things that happen sometimes that open a door that lets you soar out and feel a bigger thing. Like when the mind gets involved in a mystery. It's a thrilling feeling. When you talk about things, unless you're a poet, a big thing becomes smaller."

He also said "I don't know why people expect art to make sense. They accept the fact that life doesn't make sense."

I recently wrote a paper on Maya Deren and her mythic philosophy in relation to Carl Jung and Joseph Campbell. She also had a unique perspective on meaning and refrained from encouraging specific interpretations in her work. I hope to post it (or some of it) at some point.

In Andrei Tarkovsky - Poetic Harmony the narrator states "Tarkovsky's films are mostly assembled through intuition. The notion of order in life is an abstract one, and this is reflected in his cinematic streams of consciousness. His films don't come with pre-packaged deductions, in there lies a truth, but one that must remain unknown to audience and artist alike".

Oscar Wilde said "the minute you understand a work of art, it is dead to you".