Akcja i kontemplacja. O logice fabularnej Pustyni Tatarów Valeria Zurliniego (1976)
Action and contemplation. The logic of plot in Valerio Zurlini’s The Desert of the Tartars (1976)

Summary/Abstract: The plot of The Desert of the Tartars (1976), Valerio Zurlini’s last film, isnot only different from the novel prototype by Dino Buzzati, but also refers back to theItalian director’s entire oeuvre. It is co-created by references to Christian Paschal motifs– evangelical (the empty tomb) and legendary (the Holy Grail) – spanning both externaland internal action. The drama inherent in the latter is realized through a pattern of rep-etition, aimed at revealing the presence of numinosum in an increasingly real and con-crete experience of the passing of life. The unique shape of the plot, in which action andcontemplation permeate each other, also raises questions of a more general nature: howplot exists in the audiovisual medium of film, and what benefits can still be derived fromthe exegesis of Aristotle’s poetological thought.

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