Realism and Representation in Philosophy and Cinema: A Critical Examination of Alfred Hitchcock’s The Wrong Man with Special Reference to André Bazin’s Theory

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

1 Assistant Professor of English Language and Literature, Department of English, Arak University, Arak

2 MA Student of English Language and Literature, Department of English,, Arak University, Arak

Abstract

The issue of “reality” and its representation in artistic works has been one of the major concerns of artists and theorists since classical times, which came to its climax in the mid-nineteenth century when following scientific advances and social changes, including the invention of photography, European painters and writers treated the issue more directly and precisely. This resulted in the formation of a movement named “Realism,” which aimed at recording external reality accurately and objectively, especially social reality and the condition of the lower classes. Alfred Hitchcock’s The Wrong Man (1957) is a narrative movie based on a true story and containing several Realist elements. The director claimed that it was a “documentary” faithfully representing truth, without any directorial interference. After a brief comparative account of the concepts of “reality” and “realism” in philosophy and cinema, the present study, adopting André Bazin’s theory of realism in the cinema, investigates the realistic dimensions of this movie to see whether, despite the filmmaker’s claim and the presence of certain realistic features, it can be ultimately regarded as a realistic work or not. The analysis of the movie shows that not only does The Wrong Man have subjective aspects, but it has not also been greatly faithful to the true incident and, thus, it does not correspond to Bazin’s conception. This discussion eventually leads to the question of whether, given the autonomous, external existence of objective reality, it is possible to represent it faithfully and impartially in artistic media.

Keywords

References

بازن، آندره (1386). سینما چیست؟ ترجمۀ محمد شهبا. تهران: هرمس.
بیضائی، بهرام (1387). هیچکاک در قاب. تهران: روشنگران و مطالعات زنان.
تروفو، فرانسوا و هلن جی اسکات (1389). سینما به روایت هیچکاک. ترجمۀ پرویز دوایی. تهران: سروش.
سیدحسینی، رضا (1393). مکتب‌های ادبی. جلد نخست. تهران: نگاه.
فاولر، راجر (1396). زبان‌شناسی و رمان. ترجمۀ محمد غفاری. ویراست دوم. تهران: نشر نی.
قاسم‌‌خان، علی‌‌رضا (1373). «رئالیسم و سینما.» هنر. شمارۀ 27. 252 ـ 247.
گاردنر، هلن و فرد س. کلاینر (1394). هنر در گذر زمان. ترجمۀ محمدتقی فرامرزی. ویراست چهاردهم. تهران: کاوش‌پرداز.
معیری‌‌نژاد، هادی (1382). «حقیقت و تصویر: مقدمه‌‌ای بر سینما و رئالیسم اجتماعی.» آزما. شمارۀ 26. 17ـ 16.
Abrams, M. H, & Harpham, G. G. (2015). A Glossary of Literary Terms (11th ed). Stamford: Cengage Learning.
Adair, G. (2002). Alfred Hitchcock: Filming Our Fears. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Aitken, I. (2006). Realist Film Theory and Cinema: The Nineteenth-Century Lukácsian and Intuitionist Realist Traditions. Manchester: Manchester University Press.
Barrish, P. (2011). The Cambridge Introduction to American Literary Realism. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.
Branigan, E. (1984). Point of View in the Cinema: A Theory of Narration and Subjectivity in Classical Film. Berlin: Mouton.
Cardullo, B. (2011). “Defining the Real: The Film Theory and Criticism of André Bazin.” In Bert Cardullo (Ed.). André Bazin and Italian Neorealism. New York: Continuum. 1-17.
Carroll, N. (2008). The Philosophy of Motion Pictures. Oxford: Blackwell.
Courbet, G. (Feb. 15, 2020,). Realist Manifesto: An Open Letter [Online]. https://arthistoryproject.com/artists/gustave-courbet/realist-manifesto-an-open-letter/ (Retrieved on January 20, 2020)
Descartes, R. (2008). Meditations on First Philosophy, With Selections from the Objections and Replies. Trans. M. Moriarty. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Dick, B. F. (2005). Anatomy of Film (5th ed). New York: Bedford / St. Martin’s.
Ghaffary, M., & Nojoumian, A. A. (2013). “A Poetics of Free Indirect Discourse in Narrative Film. Rupkatha Journal on Interdisciplinary Studies in Humanities.” 5 (2). 269-281.
Haeffner, N. (2005). Alfred Hitchcock. Essex: Pearson Education Limited.
Hayward, S. (2006). Cinema Studies: The Key Concept (3rd ed). London and New York: Routledge.
Hirst, R. J. (2006). Realism. In Donald M. Borchert (Ed.), Encyclopedia of Philosophy (8). 2nd ed. Farmington Hills: Thomson Gale.  260-69.
Hitchcock, A. (Producer & Director). (1957). The Wrong Man [Motion Picture]. US: Warner Bros.
Hitchcock, A., Bitsch, C, & Truffaut, F. (2015). “Encounter with Alfred Hitchcock” In Sidney Gottlieb (Ed.). Hitchcock on Hitchcock: Selected Writings and Interviews (2). Oakland, CA: University of California Press. 80-85.
Hitchcock, A., & Forbes, B. (2015). “John Player Lecture.” In Sidney Gottlieb (Ed.). Hitchcock on Hitchcock: Selected Writings and Interviews (2). Oakland, CA: University of California Press. 1-17.
Hitchcock, A., & Macklin, A. (2015). “It’s the Manner of Telling: An Interview with Alfred Hitchcock.” In Sidney Gottlieb (Ed.). Hitchcock on Hitchcock: Selected Writings and Interviews (2). Oakland, CA: University of California Press. 49-57.
Kania, A. (2009). “Realism.” In Paisley Livingston and Carl Plantinga (Eds.). The Routledge Companion to Philosophy and Film. London and New York: Routledge. 237-48.
Krohn, B. (2000). Hitchcock at Work. London: Phaidon.
Lapsley, R., & Westlake, M. (2006). Film Theory: An Introduction (2nd ed). Manchester: Manchester University Press.
Lumenick, L. (Feb. 7, 2016). “A Case of Mistaken Identity Ruined This Man’s Life — And Inspired Hitchcock” [Online]. https://nypost.com/2016/02/07/a-case-of-mistaken-identity-ruined-this-mans-life-and-inspired-hitchcock.html (Retrieved on January 9, 2020)
Morris, P. (2005). Realism. London and New York: Routledge.
Mulvey, L. (1975). Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema. Screen, 16 (3). 6–18. 
Naturalism. (2009). In I. M. Milne (Ed.), Literary Movements for Students (2). 2nd ed. Farmington Hills: Gale. 534-55.
Norris, F. (1964). The Literary Criticism of Frank Norris. Ed. D. Pizer. Austin: University of Texas Press.
Realism. (2009). In I. M. Milne (Ed.), Literary Movements for Students (2). 2nd ed. Farmington Hills: Gale. 654-81.
Salecl, R. (1992). “The Right Man and the Wrong Woman.” In S. Žižek (Ed.). Everything You Always Wanted to Know about Lacan (But Were Afraid to Ask Hitchcock) London: Verso. 185-94.
Sohn-Rethel, M. (2015). Real to Reel: A New Approach to Understanding Realism in Film and TV Fiction. Leighton Buzzard (GB): Auteur.
Spoto, D. (1992). The Art of Alfred Hitchcock: Fifty Years of His Motion Pictures [E-Book]. 2nd ed. New York: Anchor.
Stam, R. (2000). Film Theory: An Introduction. Oxford: Blackwell.
Stromberg, R. N. (1968). “Introduction.” In Roland N. Stromberg (Ed.). Realism, Naturalism, and Symbolism: Modes of Thought and Expression in Europe, 1848-1914. London: Palgrave Macmillan. Ix-Xxxvi.
Williams, C. (1980). Realism and the Cinema: A Reader. London: Routledge & Kegan Paul.
Žižek, S. (1992). “In His Bold Gaze My Ruin Is Writ Large.” In S. Žižek (Ed.). Everything You Always Wanted to Know about Lacan (But Were Afraid to Ask Hitchcock) London: Verso. 211-272.
Interdisciplinary Studies of Literature, Arts and Humanities
Volume 1, Issue 2 - Serial Number 2
February 2022
Pages 121-144

Files

History

  • Receive Date: 30 September 2021
  • Revise Date: 28 February 2022
  • Accept Date: 06 December 2021

Share

How to cite

Statistics