Existentialism Lory Lemke Hiroshima - Fall 2008 Philosophy 4002 ...

Lory Lemke

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Existentialism Lory Lemke Hiroshima - Fall 2008 Philosophy 4002 ...

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• Arts

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• Publié par: igumyreq
• Nombre de lectures: 60
• Langue: Français

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Fa ll
20 0 8
Philosophy
40 0 2:
Ex istentia lism
 
 
 
 
 
 Lory
Lemke

Hiroshima 
Mon
Amour,
directed
by
Ala in
Resna is,
1959,
bla ck/white,
French
w/En glish
subtitles,
90 

minutes.

Film
critics
credit
this
film
both
a s
a 
pioneer
in
the
use
of
a 
nonlinea r
time
construction
a nd
a s

a n
importa nt
predecessor
of
the
French
“New
W a ve”
film
movement
of
the
1960 ’s.


The
setting
is
in

Hiroshima 
where
a 
French
compa ny
is
filming
a 
documenta ry.

The
plot
involves
a 
love
story
between
a 

French
a ctress
(Em ma nuella 
Riva )
a nd
a 
Hiroshima 
na tive
(Eiji
O ka da ).

Significa ntly,
no
na mes
a re
used

for
these
two
cha ra cters
in
the
film,
until
the
fina l
scene.

O ur
interest
in
this
film
is
the
portra ya l
of
these

cha ra cters
a s
exa mples
of
Kierkega a rdia n
knights
of
infinite
resigna tion
a nd
fa ith.

1.

His
story.

After
a 
close
up
of
the
lovers’
embra ce
(first
fictiona lized
under
a 
kind
of
a shen
fa ll
out,
then

rea listica lly
portra yed),
there
is
a 
15
minute
long
documenta ry
monta ge
of
1959
Hiroshima 
with
scenes
of

the
town
a nd
museum
with
photos
of
the
suffering.

There
is
a ctua l
film
foota ge
of
the
a fterma th
(from

1945),
a s
well
a s
scenes
from
a 
la ter
dra ma tiza tion.

During
this
documenta ry,
a 
dia logue
begins
between

the
two
ma in
cha ra cters.

He
consta ntly
denies
tha t
she
sa w
a nything
in
Hiroshima ,
while
she
recounts

wha t
she
sa w.

She
cla ims
tha t
she
knows
Hiroshima 
a nd
weeps
over
it;
he
denies
tha t
she
knows

Hiroshima 
or
ha s
a ny
rea son
to
cry
over
it.

U p
to
this
point,
their
diference
ca n
be
understood
a s
the

simple
diference
between
how
a 
foreign
tourist
knows
a 
city
versus
know
a 
na tive
knows
his/her
own

city.

A
bit
la ter,
she
cla ims
tha t
she
tried
not
to
forget,
but
she
did
forget;
so,
she
longs
for
a 
memory

beyond
consola tion,
a 
memory
of
sha dow
a nd
stones.

She
a sks
rhetorica lly,
“W hy
deny
the
necessity
of

remembering?” 

She
replies
beca use
it
will
begin
a ga in,
a nd
she
recounts
the
ca sua lty
figures
from

Hiroshima .

The
conventiona l
wa y
of
understa nding
this
is
tha t
the
use
of
a n
a tomic
bomb
a t
Hiroshima 
is

a 
lesson
not
to
be
forgotten,
so
tha t
we
ca n
work
to
prevent
this
kind
of
tra gedy
from
ever
ha ppening

a ga in,
but
sa dly
the
world
does
seem
to
ha ve
forgotten
–
a s
nuclea r
a rms
a nd
a ctua l
testing
ha ve

prolifera ted.

So
fa r,
nothing
seems
cha llenging
in
a 
Kierkega a rdia n
kind
of
wa y,
a nd
everything
ca n
be
conventiona lly

understood.

But
then,
ra ther
oddly,
she
cla ims
to
be
endowed
with
a 
memory
a nd
to
know
wha t
it
is
to

forget,
a nd
then
even
more
strikingly,
he
denies
tha t
she
ha s
a 
memory
a nd
a lso
tha t
she
knows
what
it
is

to
forget.

This
is
sign
tha t
something
else
is
going
in
this
dia logue!

Reca ll
tha t
memory
a nd
forgetting
a re

keys
to
understa nding
Kierkega a rd’s
knight
of
infinite
resigna tion
a nd
fa ith.

O ne
other
striking
contra st
in
this
dia logue
is
tha t
a midst
recounting
the
horrors
of
the
bomb
a fterma th,
it

is
noted
tha t
ma ny
insects
a nd
flowers
returned
to
live
a nd
bloom
bea utifully,
a s
if
nothing
ha d
ha ppened.


Try
to
rela te
this
contra st
to
the
Kierkega a rdia n
diference
between
the
fullness
of
being
of
a nima ls
or

beings
with
only
first
order
menta l
sta tes
a nd
the
“unfulfilled”
na ture
of
beings
with
second
order
menta l

sta tes
(this
is
the
level
where
memory
occurs).

The
purpose
of
this
contra st
could
be
sta ted
a s
a 
“lesson”

of
how
to
survive
a 
Kierkega a rdia n
disa ster
of
the
loss
of
mea ning
in
one’s
life.

Insects
a nd
flowers

survive
it
in
one
sense
by
going
on
a s
before
a nd
ma ybe
even
better
a fterwa rds.

But
obviously,
there
is

no
lesson
here
for
us.

This
film
interestingly
portra ys
two
people
who
ha ve
undergone
life
tra nsforming

experiences
which
ha ve
sha ped
their
identities
a nd
ha ve
formed
the
mea nings
of
their
lives.

The
question

for
us
is
how
these
two
cha ra cters
ma tch
Kierkega a rd’s
descriptions
of
the
knight
of
fa ith
a nd
the
knight

of
infinite
resigna tion.

2.

Her
story.

In
the
hotel,
we
get
to
know
both
cha ra cters.

W e
lea rn
tha t
he
lost
his
fa mily
in
Hiroshima ,

while
he
wa s
in
the
wa r
(we
ca n
now
see
tha t
the
documenta ry
scenes
tha t
bega n
the
film
could
well

ha ve
been
the
story
of
his
lost
fa mily).

At
a 
certa in
point,
the
plea sa nt
mood
of
the
hotel
room
is
interrupted
by
a 
jarring
flashback:

his
ha nd
reminds
her
of
a nother
(we
la ter
find
out
tha t
it
is
her

Germa n
soldier
lover
who
wa s
murdered
in
Nevers)
a nd
she
seems
ba dly
sha ken
by
this.

Ev en
more

a ma zingly,
a fter
he
a wa kens,
she
ta lks
plea sa ntly
a bout
his
ha nd
a nd
how
it
moves
when
he
sleeps
–
a s
if

the
fla shba ck
a nd
her
being
sha ken
never
ha ppened.

Her
story
continues
to
come
out
a s
the
couple

meets
a t
her
movie
set,
his
home,
a nd
the
Tea 
Room.

This
la st
scene
conta ins
the
dra ma tic
centerpiece
of

the
film.

She
recounts
the
murder
of
her
Germa n
lover
in
the
middle
of
town
just
hours
before
they
were

to
lea ve
to
go
to
Ba va ria ,
the
public
revela tion
of
her
love
story
which
results
in
the
townspeople
cutting

of
of
her
ha ir
a s
punishment,
her
subsequent
“ma dness”
a nd
being
put
in
her
fa mily’s
cella r,
a nd
her

“recovery”
a nd
how
her
fa mily
secretly
sends
her
of
to
Pa ris

3.

The
Next
Step.


He
wishes
to
continue
their
love
a fa ir,
but
she
does
not.

In
severa l
scenes,
he
a sks

here
to
see
him
a ga in,
a nd
she
refuses
(mostly).


This
ba ck
a nd
forth
continues
through
the
mildly
comica l

tra in
depot
scene
a nd
the
ina ne
Ca sa bla nca 
Ba r
scene.

In
the
fina l
scene,
ba ck
in
the
hotel,
they
pa rt.

She

cries
tha t
she
is
beginning
to
forget
him
a lrea dy
a nd
they
tenderly
ca ll
ea ch
other
by
the
na mes

“Hiroshima ”
a nd
“Nevers.”

Q uestions:

1.

In
the
ea rly
hotel
scene,
she
is
very
honest
a bout
their
rela tionship
a nd
her
immedia te
pa st,
but
he

wonders
if
she
is
lying
or
telling
the
truth.

She
sa ys
both
a nd
she
is
right!

But
it
is
not
until
la ter
tha t
we

a pprecia te
how
this
is
so.

Plea se
expla in.

2.

Do
their
diferent
occupa tions
reflect
their
diferent
a ttitudes
to
the
pa st?

Is
it
fa ir
to
sa y
tha t
a s
a n

a ctress,
she
reena cts
the
pa st
in
the
present;
a s
a n
a rchitect
a nd
politicia n,
he
tries
to
crea te
a 
new

present
in
light
of
the
pa st.

Does
the
fa ct
tha t
he
continues
to
live
ha ppily
in
Hiroshima 
a nd
she
wishes
to

never
return
to
Nevers
tell
us
a bout
how
they
ha ve
diferently
remembered
or
forgotten
their
respective

life
tra nsforming
experiences?

Do
you
think
this
is
rela ted
to
a nother
diference
between
them:
a lthough

both
a re
ha ppily
ma rried
a nd
a lso
a re
presently
pa rticipa ting
in
their
brief
roma nce
without
guilt,
only
he

wishes
to
continue
their
love
story?

3.

At
one
point,
she
returns
to
the
hotel
a nd
she
tells
herself
tha t
she
once
a ga in
is
fa ced
with
a n

impossible
love
a ga in
14
yea rs
a fter
the
Germa n
a nd
she
feels
tha t
she
ha s
now
chea ted
on
the
Germa n

with
the
Ja pa nese.

W hy
doesn’t
she
feel
tha t
she
ha s
chea ted
on
her
present
husba nd
with
the

Ja pa nese?

W hy
doesn’t
he
feel
simila rly?

4.

How
do
these
cha ra cters
fit
the
following
descriptions:

(a )
“she
preserves
her
love
just
a s
young
a s
it

wa s
in
its
first
moment,
never
lets
it
go
from
her,
precisely
beca use
she
ma kes
the
movements
infinitely
…

this
movement
which
in
its
pa in
reconciles
one
with
existence
…
there
is
pea ce
a nd
rest
a nd
comfort
in

sorrow”
(pp.
48‐49),
a nd
(b)
“he
is
the
only
ha ppy
one,
the
heir
a ppa rent
to
the
finite
…
to
get
the

princess,
to
live
with
her
joyfully
a nd
ha ppily
da y
in
a nd
out
…
thus
to
live
joyfully
a nd
ha ppily
in
every

insta nt
by
virtue
of
the
a bsurd
…
this
is
ma rvelous.

He
who
does
it
is
grea t,
the
only
grea t
ma n.”
(53)


PLEASE NOTE THE FOLLOWING:
The
Art
Discipline
requests
tha t
no
food
or
bevera ge
be
brought
into
HFA
6,
only
bottled
wa ter.

Copyright
la ws
a llow
only
students
enrolled
in
this
course
to
view
these
films
(a s
their
viewing
is
a 

required
pa rt
of
this
course).

As
a 
result,
these
screenings
a re
not
intended
to
be
viewed
by
a nyone
who

is
not
a 
student
enrolled
in
this
course.