Aronofsky's subversion of mainstream cinema through the neo noir "Pi" (1998)

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dc.contributor.author Konik, Adrian
dc.date.accessioned 2010-10-20T10:45:21Z
dc.date.available 2010-10-20T10:45:21Z
dc.date.created 2010-10
dc.date.issued 2003
dc.description Article digitised using: Suprascan 1000 RGB scanner, scanned at 400 dpi; 24-bit colour; 100% Image derivating - Software used: Adobe Photoshop CS3 - Image levels, crop, deskew Abbyy Fine Reader No.9 - Image manipulation + OCR Adobe Acrobat 9 (PDF) en_US
dc.description.abstract This article investigates how Aronofsky's Pi (1998) subverts the visual language of mainstream cinema and the mass media at both an overt level, through the use of alienating techniques that encourage the audience to reconsider the representations as constructed artefacts, and at a more subtle level, through making the narrative structures of mainstream cinema conspicuous insofar as the narrative of Pi disappoints the audience's expectations. That is, Aronofsky's Pi (1998), as a neo noir, carries the full critical weight of film noir behind it and problematizes the socio-cultural myths, romantic facades, and "stable world view" of mainstream cinema. Aronofsky's film text denies that any final moment of unequivocal Apollonian truth is possible, and thereby declares the arbitrariness of the two "key" American cultural myths propagated by mainstream film texts, namely that "the truth will always prevail (wrongs will be made right) and that the powerful in this society can be brought down by the little people who are represented [as] ... truth seek[ers]" (Denzin 1995:23). Furthermore, Aronofsky's representation of the psychoanalytic dimensions of intimacy demythologizes the usual discourse of romance found in the narratives of many mainstream films because it reveals the extent to which romance is underpinned by the desire to re-experience the lost moment of plenitude with the mother. Finally, Aronofsky's Pi (1998) reflects, at both a cinematographic and conceptual level, elements of German expressionism. That is, through the use of heavily accentuated shadows in the film, which results in more being hidden than revealed, and through the implications of the narrative, which ends on a very ambiguous note, the audience is presented with a perspective of the world as a terrifying "abyss" of possibility, which leads to the further subversion of the "stable world view", perpetuated and propagated by the visual language of mainstream cinema. en_US
dc.description.uri http://explore.up.ac.za/record=b1719138 en_US
dc.format.extent 20 pages en_US
dc.format.medium Pdf en_US
dc.identifier.citation Konik, A 2003, 'Aronofsky's subversion of mainstream cinema through the neo noir "Pi" (1998).' South African Journal of Art History, vol. 18, pp. 38-57. en_US
dc.identifier.issn 0258-3542
dc.identifier.uri http://hdl.handle.net/2263/15049
dc.language.iso en en_US
dc.publisher Art Historical Work Group of South Africa en_US
dc.rights Art Historical Work Group of South Africa en_US
dc.subject Cinema en_US
dc.subject Aronofsky's Pi en_US
dc.subject Visual language en_US
dc.subject Cinema as constructed artefact en_US
dc.subject Film noir en_US
dc.subject Neo noir en_US
dc.subject American cinema en_US
dc.subject Aronofsky, Darren, 1969- en_US
dc.subject Mainstream cinema en_US
dc.subject.lcsh Thrillers (Motion pictures) en
dc.subject.lcsh Film noir en
dc.subject.lcsh Expressionism in motion pictures en
dc.subject.lcsh Alienation (Social psychology) in motion pictures en
dc.subject.lcsh Aronofsky, Darren, 1969- -- Criticism and interpretation en
dc.title Aronofsky's subversion of mainstream cinema through the neo noir "Pi" (1998) en_US
dc.type Article en_US


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