Walter Benjamin and Film's Lack of Aura: "The Work of Art" Part 2
TLDRWalter Benjamin's seminal 1935 essay 'The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction' contends that film and photography lack the 'aura' of traditional art. Benjamin argues that film's technical reproducibility liberates it from ritualistic constraints, allowing democratized perception. He maintains film is an entirely new art unbound by eternal values, with its artistic character defined by montage, revelation of unseen aspects, mass dissemination, and collectivization. Critiquing early film theorists for annexing film to traditional notions of art, Benjamin suggests understanding film through its transformative technological-political implications rather than stubborn aesthetics.
Takeaways
- 😊 Benjamin argues that film lacks an 'aura' unlike traditional artworks due to its inherent reproducibility
- 👍 He states film is 'entirely determined' by its reproducibility - its artistic character depends on mass dissemination
- 🎥 Benjamin sees montage and editing as showing film's creative possibilities are not tied to an original performance
- 😮 He argues actors in film perform for future audiences and technicians, not present spectators like theater
- 👥 Film appeals to a mass, collective audience unlike traditional art for select elites
- 🔍 Benjamin sees film revealing unknown aspects of reality through techniques like close-ups and slow motion
- 🤔 Unlike early film theorists, Benjamin questions if photography transformed the character of art itself
- 🧐 He critiques seeing film as art by uncritically attributing religious 'cult' values to it
- 👎 Benjamin attacks film theorists for enthusiastically trying to prove film is art using aura and ritual
- 🤔 His view sees film as calling into question traditional notions of 'art' rooted in aura and ritual
Q & A
What role does cinema play in Benjamin's move away from ritual?
-Benjamin sees cinema as emancipating art from ritual and cult value. Films entirely lack aura due to their reproductive nature and collective production process.
How does Benjamin argue that films lack an original akin to a painting?
-He gives the example of creative geography in film - a leap from a window can be filmed in a studio and edited together with a fall filmed weeks later outdoors. There is no original performance.
Why does Benjamin critique early film theorists?
-He felt they wrongly tried to prove film is an art by attributing cult elements to it, rather than questioning if photography transformed the character of art itself.
What does Benjamin mean when he says film appeals to the masses?
-A film can be screened simultaneously in multiple locations worldwide unlike theater. Also films require mass distribution to cover production costs in a way artworks traditionally did not.
How does film reveal unknown aspects of reality for Benjamin?
-Through techniques like close-ups, slow motion and time lapse, film can uncover new visual structures imperceptible to the naked eye.
Why is Benjamin echoing theorists like Kuleshov and Epstein significant?
-It shows he sees merits in their ideas, but wants to reframe them regarding aura and the ideology of art rather than just celebrate film’s epistemic capacity.
What is the ideology of art that Benjamin associates with aura?
-He sees it as tied to eternal transcendent value, ritual religiousness, and being accessible only to elite privileged audiences, not the masses.
How does film's reproductive process support Benjamin’s claims about lack of aura?
-It reveals film as a collaborative technical construction across times/spaces with no original performance, unlike a play before a live audience.
Why can't we call film merely a reproduction of reality for Benjamin?
-Because techniques like close-ups qualitatively transform and reveal unknown aspects of the reality being filmed.
What might Benjamin say to someone insisting film is clearly art?
-He would urge suspending traditional notions of art defined in terms of aura and ritual that film challenges, and to see how it may transform the character of art.
Outlines
🎥 Introduction to Benjamin's views on film and fascism
This first paragraph serves as an introduction to the video, stating that it will discuss Benjamin's views on film, politics and fascism. It summarizes key ideas from the previous video, including Benjamin's notion that technological reproducibility emancipates art from ritual. It then introduces Benjamin's questions around the role cinema plays in moving away from ritual/aura, which the rest of the essay will explore.
🎞 How film as an art form lacks aura
This paragraph elaborates on Benjamin's claim that photographic arts, especially film, lack an aura. He argues films are 'entirely determined' by their reproducibility, meaning the technical and collaborative processes involved in filmmaking, like editing and montage, show films are not mere reproductions of an original. Also films lack aura because they are made for future audiences, not present spectators. This appeals to the masses, unlike traditional art for elite groups.
🔬 Film as a new way of seeing the world
Here Benjamin compares his views to other early film theorists. He agrees film reveals new aspects of reality through techniques like close-ups and slow motion. However, he critiques them for too enthusiastically trying to prove film is an art. Benjamin suggests film transforms our perception so much that it may not fit traditional notions of art bound up with aura, ritual, eternal value. This ties to his political aims.
Mindmap
Keywords
💡aura
💡mechanical reproduction
💡film
💡ritual
💡fascism
💡montage
💡mass audience
💡collective
💡revelation
💡politics
Highlights
Benjamin says film is the first art form whose artistic character is entirely determined by its reproducibility.
Benjamin argues that the notion of an original performance is evacuated in film through editing and montage techniques like creative geography.
Benjamin sees film as the artwork most capable of improvement due to its radical renunciation of eternal value.
Benjamin notes that film appeals to a mass, collective audience in a way that theater does not.
Benjamin argues that film reveals unknown aspects of things through techniques like close-ups and slow motion.
Benjamin sees his theory as moving beyond earlier film theorists focused on proving film is art.
Benjamin accuses early theorists of attributing a striking lack of discretion in their desire to annex film to art.
Benjamin wants to question whether photography transformed the entire character of art itself.
Benjamin sees aura and ritual as part of the ideology of art.
The next video will connect Benjamin's critique of aura in film to politics and fascism.
Benjamin echoes ideas from earlier theorists like Kuleshov, Epstein, Balázs, but locates their value differently.
Benjamin is interested in film's capacity to manipulate time and space, like Munsterberg.
Benjamin argues film lacks an original, defeating notions it merely reproduces an artwork.
Benjamin sees film as a collaborative, technical creation rather than reproducing an actor's performance.
Benjamin critiques notions of film as merely recording reality, like Arnheim argued.
Transcripts
Browse More Related Video
Walter Benjamin and Aura: "The Work of Art in the Age of its Technological Reproducibility" Part 1
Rudolf Arnheim's Formalist Film Theory
Sorry to Bother You as Political Art | Comolli and Narboni Part 3
Rudolf Arnheim's Formalist Film Theory Part 2: Playtime
Siegfried Kracauer's Theory of Film
Kuleshov, Eisenstein, and Soviet Montage Theory
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