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Re: Philosophical Films
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david, chill. i in no way meant to attack you particularly with that last
email, just to raise the question about the general aesthetic value of
films. i know quite a lot of people who seem to think the study of film as
an aesthetic philosophical pursuit is in some way inferior to the more
traditional questions of philosophy.if i wrongly attributed this view to
you, i apologise.
however, i am still struggling to think of 'philosophical' films per se.i
can think of lots of films that deal well with ethics (most films in fact
usually have some kind of moral dilemma for the character to deal with,
ethics being, as it is, the art of living) and some that include
philosophical questions, but a philosophical film? my knowledge of films is
much less broad than yours i think, but i'll rack my brains.not that i'm
sure they'll work properly til i actually start lectures again. freshers
week is not good for thinking.
actually try brazil. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0088846/
this is terry gilliam (monty python animator and director)'s vision of
1984.being a gilliam film, it is frequently very trippy visually, and often
blurs the lines between reality and dream states, which means that not only
does it deal with the traditional 1984 issues of authority, political
tyranny and the ethics involved in standing up to the system, but it also
challenges the viewer's perception of truth, especially when it implies
that living in a dream may be better than accepting reality.
12 monkeys, http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0114746/ again by gilliam, is also
quite good at this, with bruce willis being sent back and forth in time,
and being told in 1995 (that he travels back to) that the future he's been
sent back from is all in his head, and he gets put in a mental
institution.again, gilliam makes it hard for us to know whether willis is
genuinely confused or a geniune time traveller.
not sure they're philosophical, but there you go.
nick
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