Slicing Up Eyeballs. The Criminal Underworlds of Nicolas Winding Refn Cover Image

Slicing Up Eyeballs. The Criminal Underworlds of Nicolas Winding Refn
Slicing Up Eyeballs. The Criminal Underworlds of Nicolas Winding Refn

Author(s): M. Blake Wilson
Subject(s): Aesthetics, Studies in violence and power, Film / Cinema / Cinematography
Published by: Trivent Publishing
Keywords: Violence.; Film; Film Noir; Jacques Lacan; Philosophy; Nicolas Winding Refn; Violence;

Summary/Abstract: From Buñuel and Dali’s Un Chien Andalou to recent works by Danish filmmaker Nicolas Winding Refn, the cinematic destruction of the eye has become iconic due to its striking effect upon film spectators’ visceral experiences as well as its ability to influence their symbolic or fetishistic desires. By exploiting the natural discomfort and disgust produced by these types of images and then situating them within an aesthetic and psychoanalytic framework, Refn and other filmmakers provide a visual showcase for a unique type of cinematic violence, one which demands that viewers reappraise the value of their own eyes as well as the values which reflect social attitudes towards law enforcement,crime, and justice.

  • Issue Year: 4/2020
  • Issue No: 2
  • Page Range: 15-39
  • Page Count: 25
  • Language: English