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Secret Cinema - Gnostic Vision in Film (Hardcover, Annotated Ed)
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Secret Cinema - Gnostic Vision in Film (Hardcover, Annotated Ed)
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In the last twenty years or so, numerous mainstream movies have
drawn from the ideas and images of ancient thought to address the
collapse of appearance and reality. These films have consistently
featured the Gnostic currents that emerged from Plato: not only
Gnosticism itself but also Cabbala and alchemy. Despite important
differences, these traditions have provided filmmakers with
ready-made ruminations on the relationship between surface and
depth as well as with engaging plot lines and striking scenes. In
films like "The Matrix" (1999) and "The Truman Show" (1998),
Gnostic myths have offered speculations on the real as well as
conspiracy theories. The Cabbalistic motif of golem-making has
provided such movies as "A.I." (2001) and "Blade Runner" (1982)
with mediations on the human and with parables of machines yearning
for life. Pictures like "Dead Man" (1996) and "Altered States"
(1980) have drawn on alchemical symbols to explore the
possibilities of transmutation and to feature stories of the dead
rising to life. Recent commercial Gnostic films are meditations on
the conundrums of the post-modern age and the timeless soul. These
pictures constitute archetypal sites for sacred contemplation. They
create spaces akin to the caves of Eleusis or Lascaux, chambers
where habits are annihilated and the ego is shattered. Maybe this
spiritual attraction is the secret reason behind the recent
abundance of Gnostic films. If so, then the dream factory is
betraying its purpose. It is negating its deceptions and sales in
the name of a bewildering reality that cannot be found. "Secret
Cinema" explores these possibilities through engaging in three
related activities. One, the book establishes the theoretical
foundations and implications of the genre of Gnostic cinema. It
develops these theoretical elements in the contexts of Gnosticism
and the esoteric traditions emerging from it, Cabbala and alchemy.
Two, in undertaking this work, Wilson considers several collateral
issues. The book discusses the functions of genre, the
relationships between cinema and psychology, the connections
between the moving image and sacred power, the role of the
cinematographic apparatus, and the romance of film. Three, the book
is a broad meditation on the seductions of cinema. It is attuned to
material attractions of the movies, those gorgeous lights and lurid
shadows, but also the film's spiritual invitations, the gaps
between the pictures, the empty spaces at the heart of life.
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