Book contents
- Classical Antiquity and the Cinematic Imagination
- Classical Antiquity and the Cinematic Imagination
- Copyright page
- Dedication
- Contents
- Illustrations
- Preface
- I Prolegomena
- II Progymnasmata: Ways of Seeing
- III Complex Cinematism
- Chapter 4 Motion Images in Ecphrases
- Chapter 5 Shadows and Caves: The Cinema as Platonic Idea and Reality
- Chapter 6 Static Flight: Zeno’s Arrow and Cinematographic Motion
- Chapter 7 Lucretius: Dream Images and Beyond the Infinite
- Chapter 8 The Cinematic Nature of the Opening Scene in Heliodorus’ An Ethiopian Story
- Chapter 9 The Face of Tragedy: Mask and Close-Up
- IV The Cinema Imagines Difficult Texts
- V Epilegomena
- Bibliography
- Index
Chapter 9 - The Face of Tragedy: Mask and Close-Up
from III - Complex Cinematism
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 15 February 2024
- Classical Antiquity and the Cinematic Imagination
- Classical Antiquity and the Cinematic Imagination
- Copyright page
- Dedication
- Contents
- Illustrations
- Preface
- I Prolegomena
- II Progymnasmata: Ways of Seeing
- III Complex Cinematism
- Chapter 4 Motion Images in Ecphrases
- Chapter 5 Shadows and Caves: The Cinema as Platonic Idea and Reality
- Chapter 6 Static Flight: Zeno’s Arrow and Cinematographic Motion
- Chapter 7 Lucretius: Dream Images and Beyond the Infinite
- Chapter 8 The Cinematic Nature of the Opening Scene in Heliodorus’ An Ethiopian Story
- Chapter 9 The Face of Tragedy: Mask and Close-Up
- IV The Cinema Imagines Difficult Texts
- V Epilegomena
- Bibliography
- Index
Summary
This chapter considers the mask of classical Greek theater as analogous to the close-up on screen. The argument here hinges on the comparable nature of the spectators’ emotional involvement and on the similarity of the psychological effects of masks on stage and faces on screen. The chapter enhances our appreciation of ancient stage practice with a discussion of close-up cinematography of apparently expressionless faces. The chapter further demonstrates the influence of Greek tragedy on the cinema and, on a larger scale, classical playwrights’ and modern filmmakers’ artistic goals concerning audience involvement. To present as coherent an argument as possible across almost 2,500 years, this chapter incorporates a large number of films as evidence and quotes various classical and cinema scholars, many well-known filmmakers, and some actors as expert witnesses. The chapter ends with the famous close-up of Greta Garbo’s face in Queen Christina.
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- Classical Antiquity and the Cinematic Imagination , pp. 295 - 344Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2024