Seeing Fictions in Film

The Epistemology of Movies

George M. Wilson

Ground-breaking study of how film works
Eagerly awaited book from one of the leading figures in film studies
Features close readings of classic and contemporary films
Written equally for readers in film studies and in philosophy

Seeing Fictions in Film

The Epistemology of Movies

George M. Wilson

Description

In works of literary fiction, it is a part of the fiction that the words of the text are being recounted by some work-internal 'voice': the literary narrator. One can ask similarly whether the story in movies is told in sights and sounds by a work-internal subjectivity that orchestrates them: a cinematic narrator. George M. Wilson argues that movies do involve a fictional recounting (an audio-visual narration) in terms of the movie's sound and image track. Viewers are usually prompted to imagine seeing the items and events in the movie's fictional world and to imagine hearing the associated fictional sounds. However, it is much less clear that the cinematic narration must be imagined as the product of some kind of 'narrator' - of a work-internal agent of the narration. Wilson goes on to examine the further question whether viewers imagine seeing the fictional world face-to-face or whether they imagine seeing it through some kind of work-internal mediation. It is a key contention of this book that only the second of these alternatives allows one to give a coherent account of what we do and do not imagine about what we are seeing on the screen. Having provided a partial account of the foundations of film narration, the final chapters explore the ways in which certain complex strategies of cinematic narration are executed in three exemplary films: David Fincher's Fight Club, von Sternberg's The Scarlet Empress, and the Coen brothers' The Man Who Wasn't There.

Seeing Fictions in Film

The Epistemology of Movies

George M. Wilson

PART I: INTRODUCTORY CHAPTER
GENERAL INTRODUCTION
1:NARRATIVE AND NARRATION: SOME RUDIMENTS
PART II: NARRATIVES AND NARRATION
2:LE GRAND IMAGIER STEPS OUT: ON THE PRIMITIVE BASIS OF FILM NARRATION
3:THE IMAGINED SEEING THESIS
4:LE GRAND IMAGIER IN REVIEW
PART III: NARRATORS: IN LITERATURE AND FILM
5:ELUSIVE NARRATORS IN LITERATURE
6:ELUSIVE NARRATORS IN FILM
PART IV: STRATEGIES OF FILM NARRRATION: POINT OF VIEW
7:TRANSPARENCY AND TWIST IN NARRATIVE FILM
8:THE TRANSFIGURATION OF CLASSICAL HOLLYWOOD NORMS: ON VON STERNBERG'S LAST FILMS WITH DIETRICH
9:LOVE AND BULLSHIT IN SANTA ROSA: PASTICHE IN THE COEN BROTHERS' THE MAN WHO WASN'T THERE
BIBLIOGRAPHY

Seeing Fictions in Film

The Epistemology of Movies

George M. Wilson

Author Information

George M. Wilson, University of Southern California

George M. Wilson was born and raised in Oregon. He received his AB from the University of Kansas and his PhD from Cornell. He has taught at Johns Hopkins University, the University of California at Davis, and he is currently a professor of philosophy and cinematic arts at the University of Southern California. He has visited at Harvard and Princeton and was a Fellow at the National Humanities Center. Besides film aesthetics, he has worked and published in the fields of philosophy of language, the theory of action, and on the philosophy of Wittgenstein.

Seeing Fictions in Film

The Epistemology of Movies

George M. Wilson

Reviews and Awards

"Seeing Fiction in Film is among the most rewarding works on film and film narrative that are currently on offer. Though intricately argued, it is surprisingly easy to follow. Though extremely sophisticated, it keeps one thoroughly engaged. If, like me, one has not followed the ins and outs of the debate on the perception and cognition of cinematic fiction, after reading this work, one will be well prepared to pursue it further. If one has followed it, this work is essential reading for moving on to the next phase of the debate." - Robert Stecker, Mind

"The book thus has much to recommend it to anyone interested in issues at the intersection of epistemology and aesthetics." - M. B. Willard, Analysis

"the strength of the book is how it uses the concept of imagined seeing to develop an account of cinematic narration, which in turn informs the aesthetic interpretation of film The book thus has much to recommend it to anyone interested in issues at the intersection of epistemology and aesthetics." - Analysis

"must be read by anyone who wants to be up to speed on the theory of narrative, narration, and narrators in film and literature. . . . His interpretations of particular works astutely combine contextual (e.g., author-related and film-historical) knowledge, careful attention to audio-visual detail, and a sharp grasp of the relevant themes. In sum, engaging with this challenging book will be crucial to an understanding of ongoing contemporary debates in the philosophy of film. It is highly recommended to both philosophers and film scholars." - Paisley Livingston, Notre Dame Philosophical Reviews