- 01 Feb 2011 15:59
#13616610
This is what Eisenstein called 'ecstasy' (which literally means, 'being drawn out of oneself') - the concept became a keystone of his theories of film-making in the 1930s, but was already evident in practice in his classic Battleship Potemkin. He also related the concept to 'enthusiasm', which literally means 'being filled with the god'. Eisenstein believed that such a feeling is essential for any successful political movement, and attempted to induce such a feeling in the individual members of the audience of his films using montage techniques. However, he also recognised the need to link such 'ecstasy' with rational thought (ecstasy and rationalism are usually kept separate from each other), through the use of 'intellectual montage'. The capitalist system aims to sedate people by feeding them comforting Hollywood pap, whereas a truly revolutionary cinema should fill people with enthusiasm and ecstasy, directly linked to intellectual analysis of the objective situation.
Your post seemed to suggest that you were 'beside yourself' with anger (I always thought that was a good way of putting it, because when it's happening it really does feel like you are almost not yourself).
If it happens to me (a rare occasion), then I ball my fists up by my sides and start seething about "These people are our sworn enemy, OUR SWORN ENEMY!"
This is what Eisenstein called 'ecstasy' (which literally means, 'being drawn out of oneself') - the concept became a keystone of his theories of film-making in the 1930s, but was already evident in practice in his classic Battleship Potemkin. He also related the concept to 'enthusiasm', which literally means 'being filled with the god'. Eisenstein believed that such a feeling is essential for any successful political movement, and attempted to induce such a feeling in the individual members of the audience of his films using montage techniques. However, he also recognised the need to link such 'ecstasy' with rational thought (ecstasy and rationalism are usually kept separate from each other), through the use of 'intellectual montage'. The capitalist system aims to sedate people by feeding them comforting Hollywood pap, whereas a truly revolutionary cinema should fill people with enthusiasm and ecstasy, directly linked to intellectual analysis of the objective situation.
"Politics is the art of looking for trouble, finding it everywhere, diagnosing it incorrectly and applying the wrong remedies." - Marx (Groucho)