Films and Dreams: Tarkovsky, Bergman, Sokurov, Kubrick, and Wong Kar-Wai: Tarkovsky, Bergman, Sokurov, Kubrick, and Wong KarWai

by Thorsten Botz-Bornstein

Films and Dreams considers the essential link between films and the world of dreams. To discuss dream theory in the context of film studies means moving from the original, clinical context within which dream theory was originally developed to an environment established by primarily aesthetic concerns. Botz-Bornstein deals with dreams as 'self-sufficient' phenomena that are interesting not because of their contents but because of the 'dreamtense' through which they deploy their being. A diverse selection of films are examined in this light: Tarkovsky's anti-realism exploring the domain of the improbable between symbolization, representation and alienation; Sokurov's subversive attacks on the modern image ideology; Arthur Schnitzler's shifting of the familiar to the uncanny and Kubrick's avoidance of this structural model in Eyes Wide Shut; and Wong Kar-Wai's dreamlike panorama of parodied capitalism.

Genres: Film, Nonfiction

176 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2007

Reviews

[Silvano · Rating 1 out of 5]

The book interested me by putting Tarkovsky and Wong Kar-Wai together, but the author's failure at grasping basic facts is alarming, even ridiculous.

The short chapter (11 pages) on WKW is titled "Wong Kar-Wai and the Culture of the Kawaii", itself a baseless comparison between the two. When you look into the content, wow! you can't keep your eyes off the silly errors:

P.73 "Wang Xiaoshuai's Beijing Bicycle...shows the disappearance of Shanghai's hutongs."

What's the joke: By mere logic, how can a Beijing story possibly be set in Shanghai? And hutong is a Mongolian-borrowed word reserved for the little alleys of Beijing.)

P.74 "Shanghai silent films like Wu Yonggang's The Goddess (New Woman)..."

What's the joke: The Goddess (1934) is a Wu Yonggang film, whereas New Woman (1935) is a Cai Chusheng film.

P.75 "...Leslie Cheung combs his hair at the end of Days of Being Wild..." (By that point in the narrative, Cheung's character is dead.)

P.78 "In Days of Being Wild a new character (Tony Leung) appears at the end of the film..."

What's the joke: it's marvelous to see how the author just contradicts himself within the space of four pages. But at least he gets it right the second time around.

Don't ever waste your time on an author who can't get his facts straight. Alas, I just did.

[Arda Alkkåskøgen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Even though it is related to an abstract universe, it still does not seem wise to me that such great names who once thought about art, are discussing the concrete materials of art in such an obscure philosophical field.

Tarkovsky's polite rejections of Eisenstein, his attempts to escape the spontaneity and banality of the real world with the unique perception of time of the dream phenomenon and so on... The usefulness of attempting to establish such intangible philosophical structures when one is not the producer of the relevant art itself is highly debatable.

Yet different perspectives continue to be the most entertaining tools for the development of the mind. Although it is not a book that can cause a brand new awakening about cinema, it will at least make small contributions to your ways of thinking.

[Wakinglife]

"Gerçek dünyayı bir rüya olarak görmemize yol açacak bir aniden uyanma olasılığı"

[H. Isikgun · Rating 4 out of 5]

Rüyaların kültürlerde ve felsefelerden etkilendiği deneyimlerin filmlerde nasıl işlendiği, gerek sinematografik gerekse de alegorik anlatımlarla nasıl dallanıp budaklandığı ve tüm o detaylarla ilgili hazırlanmış zengin bir yayın.

[Jerry Stackhouse · Rating 3 out of 5]

Rüya kelimesini okuya okuya uykum geldi yemin ediyorum okurken. Ne çok rüya kelimesi kullanılmış. Yine de sinema için iyi bir kaynak olduğunu düşünüyorum.