Philosophical questions about cinema / Can we learn anything from movies?

According to the cinema correspondent of Fars News Agency, the first edition of “Philosophy of Cinema” in 496 pages at a price of 239 thousand Tomans has been published by Parseh Publications.

This book consists of 3 parts: Part 1: Do we need film theory? Part 2: What is the nature of the film? Part 3: Do the films have an author? Part 4: How do movies engage our emotions? Part 5: Do movies have to have a narrator? Section 6: Can films be social critics? Part 7: What can we learn from movies?

Book “Philosophy of Cinema” compiled and edited Thomas Wartenberg and Angela Karen translated by Mohammad Reza اسمخانی And Haniyeh Sadat Sarki has been published.

In the foreword to this book, written by its authors for publication in Iran, we read: We are very pleased to publish the book Philosophy of Cinema in Persian. This is a testament to the growing interest in cinema as a medium for philosophers around the world. It is very exciting to imagine that the works of film philosophers are being widely disseminated in Iran and elsewhere through this and similar translations.

Philosophy is a timeless science that raises old questions about issues such as the meaning of life, but also has the potential to remain relevant and up-to-date by expressing an interest in issues and problems arising from contemporary cultural developments. . Certainly films and art forms, such as digital cinema, have had a profound effect on our lives. It is no wonder, then, that philosophers are increasingly turning their attention to the field of cinema to explore aesthetic questions. Some of these questions are ancient questions that go back to Plato and Aristotle, such as the nature of our emotional conflict with the story. Other questions, such as whether films can have a single author or creator, arise when we think of new possibilities for artistic expression or display that provide a participatory medium such as cinema.

When we published this anthology collection in 2005, no books were available to be useful for aesthetics and cinema philosophy classes. Since then, we have witnessed changes.

* Metaphysical questions about the nature of film

In another part of this preface it is stated: One of the many features Commentary The philosophy of cinema is how it uses all the different fields of philosophy to consider film as an art form: metaphysical questions about the nature of film, aesthetic questions about “authorship” and narrative, epistemological questions about whether we can use film. Learn something and socio-political issues about communication And relationships Cinema with the community. The scope of such issues shows that the philosophy of cinema is more than thatMost Uses possible resources to achieve its goals. This collection is structured and organized to introduce all these areas to its readers.

Due to the flourishing of the Iranian cinema industry, the publication of this series in Persian is of special importance for it. Many contemporary Iranian films are landmarks that are well-deserved for examining the classic questions of aesthetics, questions that arise when we examine how we engage in cinema and how we evaluate it. These brilliant films also raise thought-provoking questions about Iranian society and culture, and in this way generally raise important and meaningful questions about human life, the exploration of which fits well into the framework of the philosophy of cinema.

We hope that this series will be able to encourage more reflections and thoughts from Iranian cinema students; Reflections on the importance of film as an art form and more specifically – on the role that cinema can play in Iranian society.

It seems that the purpose of the book “Philosophy of Cinema” is to acquaint students in the field of philosophy and film with the issues and controversies that shape the philosophy of cinema. We have compiled a wide range of articles written by philosophers, film theorists, and even film critics, reflecting the variety of approaches to the philosophy of cinema. The seven questions we use to categorize these texts are a fundamental reflection Most These are the issues that philosophers have raised about film and cinema as a cultural and artistic medium.

The first part contains articles that raise the question of whether it is necessary to formulate a “theory” about film and, if necessary, what form it might take. The issue at hand here requires an understanding of what the philosopher does in his reflections on a particular subject, such as film.

The second part contains articles that try to determine the nature of the film accurately. The philosophers’ perception is mainly that the resolution of this ontological question is a necessary precondition on which the judgment on other philosophical issues raised in this text is subject. The question of whether films have an author raises the question of whether the massive technological equipment used in the production of modern films prevents the traditional concept of “authorship” from being applied to the film. This is the question posed in the third section.

Philosophers have been skeptical of the field of art ever since Plato rejected artists from their ideal state (because their work appeals not to reason but to emotion). The articles in the fourth section address the question of our emotional involvement with the film.

We are all familiar with the narrators added to the text. Narrators who give us information about a film, data that is not transmitted through images or dialogue. The articles in Section 5 raise the more general question of whether all films are necessary – even those that lack a clear narrator. Let’s see if they really have narrators. By examining this question, philosophers reveal the rhetorical structure of the film, a structure that often escapes the viewer’s attention.

Can films make serious criticisms of the societies they portray, or is there anything about the film as a medium that condemns it to support existing social structures? This issue in the sixth section فلاسفه‌ای They argue that they want to explore the relationship between film and society.

Finally, the seventh section raises the question of whether (Unique) The original philosophical question about film is: Can we learn anything from films? The articles in this section examine how film can be a vehicle for philosophical enlightenment.

* Text for philosophy-oriented training courses

We also read on the back cover of this book: “Philosophy of Cinema” is a selection of basic texts and writings in the fields of philosophy, cinema studies and film criticism. Based on a series of philosophical questions about cinema, this work tries to present a clear and concise picture of the key issues of this realm by presenting different and conflicting views: the value of film theory, the nature of film, controversies over author theory, the nature of narrative Film, our emotional engagement with cinema, cinema and social critique, and finally the question of what lessons can be learned from cinema.

This work, thanks to the thoughtful writings of its seven sections and the helpful introductions of the editors at the beginning of each section, has become not only a reference text for philosophy-oriented training courses in film studies and film criticism, but also a readable and instructive work for all. منده Philosophy or cinema.

end of Message/