Encountering the Impossible

Alexander Sergeant

Description

Hollywood fantasy cinema is responsible for some of the most lucrative franchises produced over the past two decades, yet it remains difficult to find popular or critical consensus on what the experience of watching fantasy cinema actually entails. What makes something a fantasy film, and what unique pleasures does the genre offer? In Encountering the Impossible, Alexander Sergeant solves the riddle of the fantasy film by theorizing the underlying experience of imagination alluded to in scholarly discussions of the genre. Drawing principally on the psychoanalysis of Melanie Klein and D.W. Winnicott, Sergeant considers the way in which fantasy cinema rejects Hollywood's typically naturalistic mode of address to generate an alternative experience that Sergeant refers to as the fantastic, a way of approaching cinema that embraces the illusory nature of the medium as part of the pleasure of the experience. Analyzing such canonical Hollywood fantasy films as The Wizard of Oz, It's a Wonderful Life, Mary Poppins, Conan the Barbarian, and The Lord of the Rings movies, Sergeant theorizes how fantasy cinema provides a unique film experience throughout its ubiquitous presence in the history of Hollywood film production.
List of Illustrations
Acknowledgments
A Note on Terminology

Introduction

1. What is The Fantastic?

2. Continuity and Cathexis: Character, Space, and Time in the Classical Hollywood Fantasy Film, 1930–1945

3. The Wonder Film: Postclassical Fantasy Cinema and Phantasies of Introjection, 1946–1975

4. High Fantasy Blockbusters: Alternative Worlds and Phantasies of Projection, 1976–1991

5. Interpreting the Fantastic: Contemporary Fantasy Cinema and Symbol Formation, 1992–2018

Conclusion: The Fantastic Beyond Hollywood Fantasy Cinema?

Notes
Bibliography
Index

Sujets

• Film
• History of film
• Media studies
• Visual culture
• Popular culture
• Película fotográfica

Informations

• Publié par: State University of New York Press
• Date de parution: 01 août 2021
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9781438484600
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 2 Mo

Extrait

Encountering the Impossible

Encountering the Impossible
The Fantastic in Hollywood Fantasy Cinema

Alexander Sergeant
Cover: The NeverEnding Story (1984). Dir. Wolfgang Petersen. © Warner Bros.
Credit: Warner Bros./Photofest.
Published by State University of New York Press, Albany
© 2021 State University of New York
All rights reserved
Printed in the United States of America
No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission. No part of this book may be stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means including electronic, electrostatic, magnetic tape, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise without the prior permission in writing of the publisher.
For information, contact State University of New York Press, Albany, NY
www.sunypress.edu
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Name: Sergeant, Alexander, author
Title: Encountering the impossible : the fantastic in Hollywood fantasy cinema / Alexander Sergeant, author.
Description: Albany : State University of New York Press, [2021] | Series: SUNY series, horizons of cinema | Includes bibliographical references and index.
Identifiers: ISBN 9781438484594 (hardcover : alk. paper) | ISBN 9781438484600 (ebook)
Library of Congress Control Number: 2021939444
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Contents
List of Illustrations
Acknowledgments
A Note on Terminology
Introduction
1 What is The Fantastic?
2 Continuity and Cathexis: Character, Space, and Time in the Classical Hollywood Fantasy Film, 1930–1945
3 The Wonder Film: Postclassical Fantasy Cinema and Phantasies of Introjection, 1946–1975
4 High Fantasy Blockbusters: Alternative Worlds and Phantasies of Projection, 1976–1991
5 Interpreting the Fantastic: Contemporary Fantasy Cinema and Symbol Formation, 1992–2018
Conclusion: The Fantastic Beyond Hollywood Fantasy Cinema?
Notes
Bibliography
Index
Illustrations Figure 1.1 The magical faun seems to appear and disappear ( Pan’s Labyrinth , 2006) Figure 1.2 Ofelia dies a tragic death Figure 1.3 Ofelia arises to become Queen of the Underworld Figure 2.1 The Alice in Wonderland (1933) cast transformed into Lewis Carroll’s beloved characters Figure 2.2 Alice meets the Dodo Figure 2.3 Alice is scolded by her governess Figure 2.4 Alice meets Humpty Dumpty Figure 2.5 Dorothy is greeted by the Munchkins with a lavish parade ( The Wizard of Oz , 1939) Figure 2.6 Dorothy opens the door to the house to peek into the world of Oz Figure 2.7 Oz appears in all its emotive glory Figure 2.8 Dorothy marvels at being in a magical space Figure 2.9 The magical space threatens to subsume Dorothy Figure 2.10 Oz dominates the screen, the camera leaving Dorothy behind Figure 2.11 Munchkinland is revealed in all its glory Figure 2.12 The camera returns to Dorothy to remind us of Oz’s emotional impact Figure 2.13 Dorothy realizes that she is not in Kansas anymore Figure 2.14 Dorothy stands in front of an empty field Figure 2.15 The Scarecrow seems to magically appear in the field behind Dorothy Figure 2.16 The twinkling stars embody angels ( It’s a Wonderful Life , 1946) Figure 2.17 George promises Mary he will lasso the moon for her Figures 3.1–3.4 Elwood talks to empty screen space throughout Harvey (1950) Figures 3.5–3.8 Elwood is given a moment to explain Harvey to Miss Kelly and Dr. Sanderson Figure 3.9 Veta explains the difference between “mechanical” photographs and paintings filled with dreams Figures 3.10–3.13 Mary’s magic is almost always mediated through the astonished faces of the Banks children ( Mary Poppins , 1964) Figure 3.14 The bird woman appears in a quasi-hallucinogenic manner Figure 3.15 Live-action collides with cel animation Figure 3.16 The presence of a pro-filmic, photographed ship’s mast is highlighted ( The Golden Voyage of Sinbad , 1974) Figure 3.17 The previously photographed ship’s mast becomes animated Figure 3.18 The climactic battle Figure 4.1 Conan traverses various spectacular frontiers ( Conan the Barbarian , 1982) Figure 4.2 The title card of Conan the Barbarian Figure 4.3 Bastian reacts viscerally to the events taking place within the book of The NeverEnding Story (1984) Figures 4.4–4.5 Through a close-up on Bastian’s eyes, the film travels into the fictional world of Fantasia Figure 4.6 Atreyu looks into the magic mirror gate to see Bastian reading the eponymous novel Figure 4.7 Peter peers through the ripped bedsheet in Hook (1991) Figure 4.8 Framed from Peter’s perspective, a small hole provides access to Neverland Figure 4.9 That world is revealed fully Figure 4.10 Peter stumbles lost around the world he left behind Figure 4.11 Peter Banning/Pan does not believe he can fly Figures 4.12–4.13 Peter learns to have the imagination to start a food fight Figure 5.1 Gandalf offers Frodo some advice ( The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring , 2001) Figure 5.2 Gandalf battles the Balrog Figure 5.3 Doodles and drawings appear over the opening credits ( Where the Wild Things Are , 2008) Figure 5.4 Max is introduced to Ira’s Hole Figure 5.5 Max is introduced to Bob and Terry Figure 5.6 A wild rumpus ends Figure 5.7 A magical threat detector displayed in Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them (2016) closely resembles the real-life terrorist alert signal used in many countries Figure 5.8 Grindelwald addresses his followers ( Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald , 2018) Figure 5.9 Grindelwald’s spell fills the room with WWII-esque imagery Figure 5.10 The spell echoes real-life atrocities, including the Holocaust Figure 5.11 Nuclear war is evoked Figures 5.12–5.15 Jacob enters Newt’s enchanted briefcase and encounters a menagerie of magical beasts ( Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them , 2016)
Acknowledgments
This book is indebted to a series of educators, without whom it could not and would not have been written.
To Gill Sergeant for reading a copy of L. Frank Baum’s The Wonderful Wizard of Oz to me. To Rob Sergeant for renting me the movie. I’m sorry I’ve yet to get a proper job.
To Nigel Matthias for giving me a copy of Philip Larkin’s The Whitsun Weddings and showing me the awesome potential the interpretative arts offers to the world. Thank you for not dismissing my absurd reading of the poem “Water.”
To Martin Pumphrey for transforming an apathetic undergraduate student reluctantly and forcefully into a film scholar. Thank you for turning my Monday morning film classes into something more than an excuse to get out of another lecture, or to avoid the four-story climb up to the History Department.
To Sarah Cooper for your unflinching support as my PhD supervisor. Despite my choice of subject matter, your expertise, professionalism, and compassion were by far the most magical experiences I had the pleasure of witnessing throughout some formative years during my time at King’s College London. I will be forever grateful for that.
To the AHRC for their generous financial support of this research in its early stages, my reviewers for providing useful feedback and to the editorial staff at State University of New York Press, especially Murray Pomerance. Thank you for taking the project under your wing and helping to steer it (and me) toward publication.
To my colleagues and peers at Bournemouth University, King’s College London, London Metropolitan University, the University of Portsmouth, and beyond. To Andrew Asibong, Tom Brown, Jane Chandler, James Fair, Austin Fisher, Hannah Hamad, Lilly Husbands, Edward Lamberti, Aaron McMullan, Lawrence Napper, Jeff Scheible, Deborah Shaw, Irini Tendall, Ben Tyrer, Catherine Wheatley, Christa Van Raalte, and Candida Yates. Christopher Holliday deserves a particular mention for letting me rant about things a little more often than he should.
To everybody who has assisted this book to its completion, whether in the form of a supportive critical voice or a shoulder to cry on in times of need. To Dan, Emma, Harry, Harvey, Holly, Joe, Liv, Kat, Matt, and Rhi. To Natalie, with all of my love. To give proper justice to all of you would be to fill the pages of an even larger volume, so please accept this volume as it stands.
To my family, my friends, my teachers.
A Note on Terminology
I make a distinction throughout this book between two words, fantasy and phantasy . When I am discussing fantasy, I am referring to a genre label used to describe a particular kind of storytelling, that is, the fantasy genre or concepts of the fantasy film. When discussing phantasy, I am referring instead to a mental process that is much harder to describe but alludes toward ideas of dreaming, creativity, and the imagination. This distinction between fantasy and phantasy is admittedly something of an artificial construct. Within psychoanalytic discourse, the two terms of fantasy and phantasy are often used interchangeably depending on the author and/or translator of the specific work in question. Embracing the ph spelling of phantasy in this instance—as well as derivatives such as phantasize and phantasizing —is designed to clearly distinguish on the page between psychoanalytic definitions of phantasy and alternative definitions of fantasy fiction. The distinction also acknowledges a broader tradition of avoiding the word fantasy spelled with an f in order given the connotations of whimsy or triviality that often surround such a term within the wider public discourse. Quotations from authors using either “fantasy” or “phantasy” will be left unchanged so as to preserve the integrity of their original prose, meaning that, on occasion, the alternative spelling of fantasy/phantasy may appear in the book in contrast to the definitions previously outlined. It is hoped that