Cinema as Testimony and Discourse for History: Film Cityscapes in Autobiographical Documentaries
Film images testify to the real appearance of the past, or at least its aesthetic, through old films or archival footage. However, the meaning of an image is never transparent but part of a cultural discourse to be interpreted. Therefore, cinema offers two possible historical readings: firstly as re...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Presses universitaires de Rennes
2013-02-01
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| Series: | Revue LISA |
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| Online Access: | https://journals.openedition.org/lisa/5579 |
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| author | Iván Villarmea Álvarez |
| author_facet | Iván Villarmea Álvarez |
| author_sort | Iván Villarmea Álvarez |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Film images testify to the real appearance of the past, or at least its aesthetic, through old films or archival footage. However, the meaning of an image is never transparent but part of a cultural discourse to be interpreted. Therefore, cinema offers two possible historical readings: firstly as repository of authentic visual traces of the past, and secondly as representation that reveals the zeitgeist of a period. Classic documentaries tried to deal with historical issues in an objective way, but the evolution of the genre placed subjectivity at the centre of discourse. This paradigm shift explains why memory and identity are two of the main topics of post-modern documentaries, such as some “urban autobiographies” that recall the emotional experience of missing cityscapes: Roger and Me (Michael Moore, USA, 1989), My Winnipeg (Guy Maddin, Canada, 2007) and Of Time and the City (Terence Davies, UK, 2008). These films share a similar subjective approach to portraying the decline of industrial towns through personal memories, despite their belonging to three different subgenres: the performative political documentary, the essay film and the self-fiction. The analysis of their formal devices can be very useful to reflect on our contemporary systems of historical representation. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-cd0be36aedf64b6487c0895a05e3cd45 |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 1762-6153 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2013-02-01 |
| publisher | Presses universitaires de Rennes |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Revue LISA |
| spelling | doaj-art-cd0be36aedf64b6487c0895a05e3cd452025-01-06T09:03:17ZengPresses universitaires de RennesRevue LISA1762-61532013-02-0112110.4000/lisa.5579Cinema as Testimony and Discourse for History: Film Cityscapes in Autobiographical DocumentariesIván Villarmea ÁlvarezFilm images testify to the real appearance of the past, or at least its aesthetic, through old films or archival footage. However, the meaning of an image is never transparent but part of a cultural discourse to be interpreted. Therefore, cinema offers two possible historical readings: firstly as repository of authentic visual traces of the past, and secondly as representation that reveals the zeitgeist of a period. Classic documentaries tried to deal with historical issues in an objective way, but the evolution of the genre placed subjectivity at the centre of discourse. This paradigm shift explains why memory and identity are two of the main topics of post-modern documentaries, such as some “urban autobiographies” that recall the emotional experience of missing cityscapes: Roger and Me (Michael Moore, USA, 1989), My Winnipeg (Guy Maddin, Canada, 2007) and Of Time and the City (Terence Davies, UK, 2008). These films share a similar subjective approach to portraying the decline of industrial towns through personal memories, despite their belonging to three different subgenres: the performative political documentary, the essay film and the self-fiction. The analysis of their formal devices can be very useful to reflect on our contemporary systems of historical representation.https://journals.openedition.org/lisa/5579autobiographyUnited StatesCanadaGreat Britaindocumentarycinematic city |
| spellingShingle | Iván Villarmea Álvarez Cinema as Testimony and Discourse for History: Film Cityscapes in Autobiographical Documentaries Revue LISA autobiography United States Canada Great Britain documentary cinematic city |
| title | Cinema as Testimony and Discourse for History: Film Cityscapes in Autobiographical Documentaries |
| title_full | Cinema as Testimony and Discourse for History: Film Cityscapes in Autobiographical Documentaries |
| title_fullStr | Cinema as Testimony and Discourse for History: Film Cityscapes in Autobiographical Documentaries |
| title_full_unstemmed | Cinema as Testimony and Discourse for History: Film Cityscapes in Autobiographical Documentaries |
| title_short | Cinema as Testimony and Discourse for History: Film Cityscapes in Autobiographical Documentaries |
| title_sort | cinema as testimony and discourse for history film cityscapes in autobiographical documentaries |
| topic | autobiography United States Canada Great Britain documentary cinematic city |
| url | https://journals.openedition.org/lisa/5579 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT ivanvillarmeaalvarez cinemaastestimonyanddiscourseforhistoryfilmcityscapesinautobiographicaldocumentaries |