For my Philosophy and Film module at university, I edited together my first academic video essay exploring the concept of philosophy through film in Children of Men.
Film theorist and director, Sergei Eisenstein, once explained “The shot never becomes a letter but always remains an ambiguous hieroglyph” (Conley, 1991). Here, Eisenstein contributes to the philosophical debate surrounding film as a language, and therefore questioning film producing philosophy. Film-Philosophy is academic activity which explores the relationship between film and philosophy, one which argues that cinema can ‘do’ philosophy (Sorfa, 2016). There are various theories considering cinema as thinking technology, one specifically expressed by Professor Thomas Wartenberg who states that “cinema can do more than just ‘illustrate’ philosophy”(Wartenberg, 2006). I will demonstrate his beliefs and his arguments with relation to the film Children of Men (Cuarón & Shor, 2006).
Children of Men is a dystopian film directed by Alfonso Cuarón set in a London fractious with violence, war and the plight of immigration. This future, caused by the moral self facing extinction, is not too dissimilar from today’s news. Cuarón cleverly displaces time to one that is universal, no matter the extremes.This produces an ecstatic truth within the film that is achieved through stylistic and visual techniques which, as Herzog (2010) would argue, takes an effort from the viewers to be reached. It is this effort that relates to the philosophy existing in the viewership and Wartenberg would argue occurs through the use of cinema. In Children of Men this is specifically achieved by continuously enabling viewers to identify their own viewership. For example: from the beginning of the film the main character,Theo, enters the frame capturing a distraught audience and subsequently is followed by the camera but Theo leaves the shot. So often in film, the foreground is the most apparent and important aspect of a Hollywood film and yet Cuarón forces viewers to see the background. This approach continues throughout the film, with use of long cuts and voyeuristic cinematography.The viewers are therefore united with the unfolding action and subsequently identify their own viewing and thoughts within a created world. This movement of the camera and the mise-en-scene of the film which captures a narrative asymmetry eloquently sheds light on what philosophers like Wartenberg, Badiou and Deleuze argue cinema can achieve as its own language. Most notably, Deleuze’s belief of a camera consciousness which articulates the ontology that consciousness is something rather than of something (Flaxman, 2000).
Feasibly, this further shows Wartenberg’s (2006) theory of simulating thought experiments within film. Children of Men demonstrates a thought on humanity and the existence of humanity and viewers are thrown into this experiment unexpectedly just as Theo is forced into the protagonist role. Wartenberg (2006) further warrants why it would be a mistake to accept illustrations as less important as the texts, that these illustrations can be something beyond itself. Cinema has always used iconic illustrations in which viewers are all familiar with, and yet, thought is individualised and therefore cinema could be seen to have its own language which produces its own philosophical thought. Children of Men’s tension between foreground and background allows the viewer to produce a third thought, piecing narrative and meaning together, and perhaps approaching an understanding of one self. The camera looks for its own subjects, and metaphorically displays the boundaries within humans. This gives the film a space for philosophical thought. Or described as an unbecoming of cinema, separating objects from subjects (Brown & Fleming, 2015).
Interestingly, Philosopher Slavoj Zizek comments on the use of art throughout the film. He comments on such works of Michaelangelo, be a distinct sculptor prop or a cinematic illustration of his Pieta. He expresses the meaningless of the art in the film, as art must signal a certain world and when there is no world, there is no art (Zizek as quoted in, Zizek on Children of Men, 2007).This poses the philosophy of aesthetics and art, and the meaning they produce. And yet this proceeds a fault Wartenberg recognises in film-philosophy. Illustrations in cinema could be claimed as visual forms of pre-developed philosophical ideas, much like the pieces of art recycled throughout the film. Though Wartenberg (2006) argues this claim does not undermine the potential of philosophy in cinema, philosophers use this claim to attempt to disprove philosophy through cinema. Murray Smith (1997) argues that third culture creates a bridge between knowledge of artistic practise and scientific explanation. Therefore when integrating cinematic questions with this theory, he notes that due to the theory of change blindness and film continuity led to an articulation from film makers which enables a psychology of perception. These layers of knowledge contribute to something greater, and therefore arguably film cannot produce free philosophical thought, or present itself as its own language. Film instead projects illustrations that facilitate a structure of deeper meaning and thought. In parallel, Paisley Livingston (2005) argues the relationship of art and intention is one that could help disprove a text producing philosophical thought. Livingston suggests the separation of the brain and the mind causes deliberately formed meaning and ideas from the artist.
However, Children of Men perhaps avoids imprinting inner mood or thought, it instead allows viewers to understand thoughts and feelings surrounding the foreground of Theo and the background of politics and action. Viewers are a witness and instead of playing an organ as Hitchcock would joke, Cuarón’s non-manipulative style offers no solution, no necessities. The ending of the film highlights this. The conclusion of the film is unstable and as Zizek (2007) describes, rootless. When the ship aptly named Tomorrow appears from the mist, the viewers feel the need to root their hope into this ending, which reads almost as a beginning. I would argue that this is perhaps the metaphor of cutting roots of cinematic manipulation and silencing the organ. Children of Men, as with so many examples of cinema, seeks beyond language and moves without transportation.
Bibliography and Clip Reference
Anthony Arroyo. (2007,10 Sep) Zizek on Children of Men. Retrieved from Youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pbgrwNP_gYE&t=177s
Brown, W & Fleming, D. (2015). Voiding Cinema: Subjectivity Beside Itself, or Unbecoming Cinema in Enter the Void. Film-Philosophy, 19, 124-145.
doi: 10.3366/film.2015.0008
Conley, T. (1991). Film Hieroglyphs: ruptures in classic cinema. University of Minnesota Press.
Flaxman, G. (2000). Brain Is the Screen: Deleuze and the Philosophy of Cinema. University of Minnesota Press.
Herzog, W. BU College of Arts & Science. (2010). On the Absolute, the Sublime, and Ecstatic Truth. Retrieved From the BU College of Arts & Sciences website: https://www.bu.edu/arion/on-the-absolute-the-sublime-and-ecstatic-truth/
Livingston, P. (2005). Art and Intention: A Philosophical Study. Oxford University Press Inc, New York.
Shor, H & Cuarón, A. (2006). Children of Men. United Kingdom: Universal Studios.
Smith, M. (1997). Imagining from the Inside: POV, Imagining Seeing, and Empathy. Film Theory and Philosophy. Oxford University Press.
Sorfa, D. (2016). What is Film-Philosophy. Film-Philosophy, 20, 1-5.
Wartenberg, T. (2006). Beyond Mere Illustration: How Films Can Be Philosophy. The Journal of Aesthetics and Art Criticism, 64, 19-32.
Video Essay Clip References [with time codes]
[3.16- 3.18] [3.30- 3.33] [4.57-Anthony Arroyo (2007,10 Sep) Zizek on Children of Men. Retrieved from Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pbgrwNP_gYE&t=177s
[4.05- 4.22] Blu-ray Clips (2019, 6 Feb) The Matrix - The War Between Man and Machine. Retrieved from Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wSh8tk6NAAg
[4.41- 4.47] crazyrave2kill (2013, 14 Aug) Limitless. Retrieved from Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UjfQV-Oemsc
[2.39- 2.41] Denis Shiryaev (2020, 3 Feb) [4k, 60 fps] Arrival of a Train at La Ciotat (The Lumière Brothers, 1896). Retrieved from Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3RYNThid23g
[2.36- 2.39] Electronic Nostalgia (2019, 27 Oct) A History of Hollywood| Episode 1: 1889-1907. Retrieved from Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o9-iCdUrnJ0
[3.42- 3.48] [5.02- 5.05] qeti777 (2013, Jan 26) Understanding Poetry - Dead poets society. Retrieved from Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LjHORRHXtyI
[2.33- 2.36] HBW Alive (2013, 30 Sep) HBW Alive - Handbook of the Birds of the World Alive. Retrieved from Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TjLDfxUMNNA
[0.47- 0.49] [1.00- 1.17] [2.52-3.02] [3.18-3.24] [3.26- 3.30] [3.48- 3.50] Justin Simmons (2016, 28 May) [HD] Children of Men - Ark of the Arts - "I just don't think about it”. Retrieved from Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sJO0n6kvPRU
[4.22- 4.27] Medical Research Council (2010, 11 Aug) MRI scan of a person’s brain. Retrieved from Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0LupvsT87Ec
[0.42- 0.47] [0.55- 0.57] [1.17- 1.42] [2.26- 2.28] Movieclips (2011, 27 May) Children of Men (1/10) Movie CLIP - Cafe Bomb Blast (2006) HD. Retrieved from Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VJivXSErhB8
[0.37-0.38] [0.49- 0.52] [5.29-5.32] Movieclips (2011, 27 May) Children of Men (2/10) Movie CLIP - Kee Is Pregnant (2006) HD. Retrieved from Youtube:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NdVRDlmWhg4
[3.08- 3.16] [5.20- 5.25] Movieclips (2011, 28 May) Children of Men (3/10) Movie CLIP - The Plan for Kee (2006) HD. Retrieved from Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EddCNkvpmjw&t=1s
[5.25- 5.26] Movieclips (2011, 27 May) Children of Men (5/10) Movie CLIP - Escaping The Fishes (2006) HD. Retrieved from Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-LjxKR0q7Yo&t=47s
[3.02- 3.06] Movieclips (2011, 27 May) Children of Men (7/10) Movie CLIP - Luke Murders Jasper (2006) HD. Retrieved from Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ioTMlrCoU2E
[0.38- 0.40] [2.06- 2.12] [2.23-2.26] [4.55- 4.56] [5.26- 5.29] Movieclips (2011, 27 May) Children of Men (9/10) Movie CLIP - Miracle Cease Fire (2006) HD Retrieved from Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YBzWTIexszQ
[5.10- 5.20] Movieclips (2011, 27 May) Children of Men (10/10) Movie CLIP - We're Safe (2006) HD. Retrieved from Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SMJqQ3VrcCA
[3.50- 3.54] Movieclips (2015, 14 Nov) The Theory of Everything (1/10) Movie CLIP - The Black Hole Thesis (2014) HD. Retrieved from Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8kaJJGWYXxs
[0.52- 0.53] [0.57-1.00] [2.20- 2.23] Mr Artificial (2007, 28 Feb) Children of Men - Advertising from the Future. Retrieved from Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0VnIrXmdYhY
[0.017- 0.33] Neon Cinema. (2017, 9 January) Beauty of Cinema. Retrieved from Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UGEPy8nvH-0
[0.00- 0.017] Sotheby’s (2017, 24 March) Eadweard Muybridge: Studies in Motion. Retrieved from:
[3.54- 3.59] Quebz (2019, 2 Jan) A Brief History Of Movie Theatres. Retrieved from Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FXF94_Nc2oI&t=11s
[0.53- 0.55] Quicktake by Bloomberg (2019, 24 Nov) Boris Johnson Vows to "Get Brexit Done," Slams Corbyn and Labour in Conservative Manifesto Reveal. Retrieved from Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ny38HqdiUl0
[4.32- 4.41] RoyIntPhilosophy (2017, 28 Oct) Paisley Livingston: Lange vs James on emotion and the arts. Retrieved from Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s9rFL1gHEwo
[0.40-0.42] [2.15-2.20] [2.28- 2.31] [5.05- 5.10] Shor, H & Cuarón, A. (2006). Children of Men. United Kingdom: Universal Studios. Sourced from DVD.
[2.12-2.15] Sugavision (2011, 28 Oct) Sugavision - Cannabis Props - Children Of Men. Retrieved from Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WOqrJong0Pk
[3.59- 4.05] University of Kent (2016, 14 Jan) The Beacon Institute Lecture 2015. Retrieved from Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7nupjGv4ZfQ&t=2090s
[2.01- 2.06] UNSW Arts & Social Sciences (2015, 18 Feb) Professor Alain Badiou: Cinema and Philosophy. Retrieved from Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Arwso3fy50M
[2.41- 2.52] thekinolibrary (2013, 1 Sep) 1930s Cinema Audience, box office, audience reaction, applause. Retrieved from Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wVTnWQL6lR0
[4.27- 4.32] Traxler Music (2010, 13 Nov) 35mm Cinema Projector - How It Works. Retrieved from Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ywmNppYJbeo
[3.33- 3.42] Wonder World (2017, 29 Aug) 4DX Cinemas Next Generation - Motion Seats, Wind, Fog, Lighting, Bubbles, Water & Scents. Retrieved from Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FN03zZRHSHA
[2.31-2.33] Yellow and Gray Birds Vintage Book Illustrations [Online Image] Workbox. https://hivingout.blogspot.com/2010/07/thursday-joseph-cornell-box-and-etsy.html
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