Avatar

Thu Jan 21 09:23:13 EST 2010

I got the impression Aaron was talking
more on a theoretical level on the level of separation between the
medium and the message, rather than with respect to the economic
realities of production and exhibition. Avatar presents an
environmental, return-to-nature allegory, but using a visual style
realised with the cutting edge of digital technology, and of course
its appeal rests on a celebration of this technology, notably in the
scenes of destruction at the end and the hyperkinetic aerial battles.

On a level of narrative, I want to
quote from Thomas Lamarre’s The Anime Machine, where he puts
forward the argument that in Miyazaki’s films, particularly Laputa
and Princess Mononoke, technology is presented within the narrative
as a condition rather than a problem to be solved (“a series of
minor adventures without grand design or teleology”: pg 80), and on
a level of style, “Miyazaki’s animetism is, to some extent, an
experience of the sublime, an aesthetic experience of the world in
which the world exceeds our ability to grasp it rationally or to
order it hierarchically” (pg 62). I can’t hope to capture the
whole nub of Lamarre’s treatise in a few succinct words, but this,
for me is just one way of thinking about the films. As Aaron adds,
“The image that Miyazaki presents, and which less astute
commentators frequently proliferate, does not always match the
complexities and contradictions going on in his films and his film
practice.” (And I don’t suppose it can have escaped people’s
notice – but both Avatar and Miyazaki’s films are distributed in
Japan by Toho, so Miyazaki can hardly be described as operating
outside the commercial mainstream).

For me, Avatar was more than an
entertaining diversion, and throws up all sorts of issues to think
about, even though I don’t think its 100% successful in what it
says. It is undoubtedly one of the reasons the film is proving so
successful, if only due to word of mouth – it is a definitely
talking point title, and I think it’s great that its getting people
into cinemas. I don’t think its going to have a lasting legacy in
that all Hollywood action blockbusters are now going to add a
third-dimension. One only has to look at the lacklustre reception to
Roland Emmerich’s 2012 last year to realise that you can only go on
making things bigger and more spectacular before the law of
diminishing returns kicks in. Avatar gives us something new for the
moment, but once 3d ceases to become a novelty, I think it will be
difficult to justify the expenses of productions such as these unless
there’s more to it.

So this leaves several ways to go from
here. On the level of live-action 3D productions, I’m intrigued
more by projects such as Wim Wender’s Pina, a dance film about
legendary choreographer Pina Bausch (not sure what the status of this
is now, since the death of Bausch:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/2009/jul/21/wim-wenders-pina-bausch-film).
This could be one application of celebrating human movement within
three dimensions, in a non-destructive fashion. I think if 3D is to
be more than a gimmick, then new narratives or modes of expression
will have to emerge to exploit the possibilities it provides.

As for the use of computer graphics, I
find it a little disappointing that such animations always try to
emulate live action cinema, when they have the potential to create
any sort of world they can by experiment with
presentational/representational modes. Of course, it is easy to
indulge in pie-in-the-sky thinking about what could be possible, and
obviously economic factors play a role. Due to the sheer costs
involved, I don’t think cinema will ever see a complete break from
its representational roots in the way that painting, for example, did
at the beginning of the last century. The only good example I can
think of that attempts such a thing is Mamoru Oshii’s Tachigui: The
Amazing Lives of the Fast Food Grifters – a fascinating film to
analyse and meditate over, but I’m sure Oshii would be the first to
admit it didn’t exactly set the box office on fire, and it is not
what most people would desire from a good night’s worth of
entertainment. I wonder if there are other independent 3DCG animators
working on more experimental short films that try and play with or
subvert the perspective of the camera lens?

Anyway, on many levels, Avatar might be
a trite, compromised and all-in-all fairly orthodox piece of
filmmaking, but I think a precedent has been set that will pave the
way for other more inventive works, and for that reason, it is
definitely the film of the moment. 

I am actually really interested in
question of the cost aspects of its exhibition though. I am intrigued
to hear about the projection issues in Japan, because as far as I can
see, most theatres in the UK seem to be equipped with digital
equipment sufficient to project 3D with no problems at all. I saw
Avatar in the Peckham Multiplex, hardly the most sophisticated venue
in any sense of the word (sorry Rhidian – we were planning to go to
the BFI Imax, but it was sold out!), but there were no projection
problems at all there. I can assume that Japan must be a bit slower
on the uptake with new digital projection equipment then - perhaps
you know more about this Rhidian -  and thus far the only Japanese
production to be made in 3d is Takashi Shimizu’s Shock Labyrinth,
which I’m assuming no one on the list has seen yet. Anyone aware of
anything else on the horizon from Japan?

Jasper Sharp

Midnight Eye: The Latest and Best in Japanese Cinema
www.midnighteye.com

More details about me on http://jaspersharp.com/

> Date: Thu, 21 Jan 2010 13:09:32 +0900
> From: aaron.gerow at yale.edu
> To: KineJapan at lists.acs.ohio-state.edu
> Subject: Re: Avatar
> 
> On Jan 21, 2010, at 6:05 AM, Rhidian Davis wrote:
> 
> > In response to Aaron, I'm not sure Cameron's ideological cake was  
> > ever meant to be eaten really, but I'm equally unconvinced that  
> > Miyazaki's films are much less a part of our 'industrial  
> > technological capitalism' than Cameron's. However charming his  
> > aesthetic, he's not painting clay pots for neighbours and friends,  
> > but participating in a globalised, multi-platform media entertaiment  
> > industry. And of course the technologies of reproduced and  
> > distributed cell animation began the Disneyfication of the known  
> > world in the first place.
> 
> Point taken, especially about Miyazaki. That's what I was hinting at  
> when I added the phrase "regardless of all his own ideological  
> ambiguities" at the end of my post. The image that Miyazaki presents,  
> and which less astute commentators frequently proliferate, does not  
> always match the complexities and contradictions going on in his films  
> and his film practice.
> 
> Aaron Gerow
> Associate Professor
> Film Studies Program/East Asian Languages and Literatures
> Yale University
> 53 Wall Street, Room 316
> PO Box 208363
> New Haven, CT 06520-8363
> USA
> Phone: 1-203-432-7082
> Fax: 1-203-432-6764
> e-mail: aaron.gerow at yale.edu
> site: www.aarongerow.com
> 
> 
> 

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