Ackland Film Forum Talk: “Intermedial Feeling: How Kon Satoshi Animates the Self”

Talk by Thomas Lamarre, Middle Eastern and Asian Studies, Duke University

The animated films of Kon Satoshi are often praised for the depth of their psychological portrayals.  But how exactly is psychological depth produced in animation?   To answer this question, I propose to consider the production of depth in animation in general, in order to situate the distinctiveness of Kon’s style — in particular, his use of framing techniques inspired by manga and his tendency to apply techniques of compositing to characters.  A closer look at how these procedures allow Kon to “animate the self” also opens a way to consider some of the criticisms of his films, in particular, the criticism they produce psychological depth only by pathologizing characters associated with excessive consumption, such as otaku and cinephiles, gamers and advertisers.

Part of the Triangle Film Salon series, presented by the UNC-Chapel Hill Department of English and Comparative Literature and the Ackland Film Forum: The Patterned Screen: Rhythm and Repetition in Contemporary Asian Cinema

LOCATION

ART& Space

Evening Parking information

Free and open to the public.

____________________________________________________________________________________________

ABOUT THE SERIES

The Ackland Film Forum’s Spring 2020 series The Patterned Screen: Rhythm and Repetition in Contemporary Asian Cinema is organized by the UNC Global Cinema Studies program in the Department of English and Comparative Literature, and the Ackland Art Museum. The series is presented in connection with the Ackland’s exhibition Yayoi Kusama: Open the Shape Called Love (on view through April 12, 2020). The exhibition is organized by Peter Nisbet, Deputy Director for Curatorial Affairs. Yayoi Kusama: Open the Shape Called Love presents the distinguished collection of James Keith Brown ’84 and Eric Diefenbach.