University Library
  • Login
A gateway to Melbourne's research publications
Minerva Access is the University's Institutional Repository. It aims to collect, preserve, and showcase the intellectual output of staff and students of the University of Melbourne for a global audience.
View Item 
  • Minerva Access
  • Arts
  • School of Culture and Communication
  • School of Culture and Communication - Research Publications
  • View Item
  • Minerva Access
  • Arts
  • School of Culture and Communication
  • School of Culture and Communication - Research Publications
  • View Item
JavaScript is disabled for your browser. Some features of this site may not work without it.

    The untamed eye and the dark side of surrealism: Hitchcock, Lynch and Cronenberg

    Thumbnail
    Download
    Published Version (501.0Kb)

    Citations
    Altmetric
    Author
    CREED, B
    Editor
    Harper, G; Stone, R
    Date
    2007
    Source Title
    The Unsilvered Screen: surrealism on film
    Publisher
    Wallflower Press
    University of Melbourne Author/s
    Creed, Barbara
    Affiliation
    Culture and Communication
    Metadata
    Show full item record
    Document Type
    Chapter
    Citations
    CREED, B. (2007). The untamed eye and the dark side of surrealism: Hitchcock, Lynch and Cronenberg. Harper, G (Ed.). Stone, R (Ed.). The Unsilvered Screen: surrealism on film, (1), pp.115-133. Wallflower Press.
    Access Status
    Open Access
    URI
    http://hdl.handle.net/11343/29852
    Description

    Deposited with permission of Wallflower Press

    Abstract
    A sliced eyeball, scorpions fighting to the death, ants crawling from a hole in a hand, delirious lovers – these images, designed to delight and shock, capture the essence of the Parisian Surrealist movement of the 1920s and 1930s. The continuing influence of early or classic Surrealist filmmaking on popular, commercial filmmakers of the latter part of the twentieth century is evidenced by a different but equally disturbing set of Surrealist signature images: a severed ear lying on a country lane, a woman falling twice to her death from a bell tower, an exploding head and a man disappearing intothe parted lips of a television screen. There is no doubt that early Surrealists were in love with the image and its power to move the viewer. The Surrealists, however, did not extol the power of the image per se; rather they were drawn to the art of montage, that is, the way images could be edited together to create shocking and fantastic associations in order to affect the viewer emotionally. Contemporary filmmakers such as American director David Lynch and Canadian David Cronenberg are similarly fascinated by the power of Surrealism and shock montage to open up the imagination. The British director Alfred Hitchcock, who made a series of Surrealist masterpieces inHollywood in the 1950s and 1960s, was the first popular director to work in the Surrealist mode. The horror film, of course, has for decades drawn, tongue-in-cheek, on the dark jittery side of Surrealism.
    Keywords
    Film; Television and Digital Media

    Export Reference in RIS Format     

    Endnote

    • Click on "Export Reference in RIS Format" and choose "open with... Endnote".

    Refworks

    • Click on "Export Reference in RIS Format". Login to Refworks, go to References => Import References


    Collections
    • Minerva Elements Records [45770]
    • School of Culture and Communication - Research Publications [1624]
    Minerva AccessDepositing Your Work (for University of Melbourne Staff and Students)NewsFAQs

    BrowseCommunities & CollectionsBy Issue DateAuthorsTitlesSubjectsThis CollectionBy Issue DateAuthorsTitlesSubjects
    My AccountLoginRegister
    StatisticsMost Popular ItemsStatistics by CountryMost Popular Authors