true to form, reflection #4

The Initiative Post 

I have been thinking a great deal about Jean Epstein’s concept of Photogenie. This idea is of course used to outline any subject (things, beings, souls) whose moral character is enhanced by filmic reproduction. Moreover, photogenie describes a transformation of the ordinary into something dramatic, provoking, and ultimately ‘cinematic.’

My favourite film is Peter Weir’s classic Australian gothic tale, Picnic at Hanging Rock (1975) and it is here that Epstein’s theory can be employed. The film, which offers a poetic telling of the ‘nature versus nurture’ dichotomy, is pregnant with shots of the harsh Australian bushland, namely, that of Hanging Rock itself. Torn between the confines of their despotic, middle-class education and the enticing freedom of Hanging Rock’s many crevices, the students of Ms. Appleyard’s College slowly begin to surrender to the latter in a telling piece about releasing one’s inhibitions.

Through Weir’s gaze, the audience sees the Rock – this large and obstructive thing – as a symbol of power. Its secret passageways are morphed into the hands of a seductive man, who compels the little students to strip themselves of their Victorian stockings and boots, running wild and free as though reverted back to a primitive state. This is a result of Weir’s agency, his will to bring this Rock to life and provide it with human characteristics. It has been transformed in such a way that is both creative and revelatory. The rock is no longer just a rock, it is the Rock. It has temperaments, habits and most significantly a soul.

I suppose that I am intrigued by this film theory because I wish to implement it into my own film-making. Perhaps this empty telephone booth at night is not just a telephone booth but something more? I’m excited by the notion of inanimate objects having a purpose beyond their physical usefulness.

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