Freud and Film

Freud and Film

Films are probably the closest medium we have to experiencing the inexplicable quality of the dream in our waking lives. Rich in symbol, metaphor, movement and mystery, films, like dreams, enable us to participate in another reality, and, through that participation, to be transformed. Films are like dreams and dreams interpret symbolism in ways science has not even fully discovered yet. The images and symbols within a film are unending and unaccountable. Even the creators of films themselves cannot be aware of the unconscious impact of them all. Imagine the impact of a movie that was full of imagery that only, in its unconscious capacity, complimented the narrative.

The film, October, contains an overwhelming amount of rich imagery. Perhaps this is because it is forced to because of its lack of verbal communication. When we watch the soldier standing outside the door of what I assume to be the royal chambers in October and the shots within the scene show his hands fidgeting, we assume he is nervous and even become nervous ourselves. Why? This is the type of question which plagues me in retrospect of watching the film, October, since Psychology is my main interest of study at University.

When we see the soldiers hands fidgeting we associate this with anxiousness or nervousness because we have done this or have seen someone else do the same when they were anxious or nervous. Some symbols may be applicable to only certain people or all people depending on individual or collective knowledge and experience. The point is this is much more effective then having the character say, "I am nervous". The fact we feel slightly nervous ourselves is due to the fact that, through "wish fulfillment", we identif...

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.... A particularly good example of this is Hitchcock's, Vertigo. Hitchcock shows a conscious awareness of this process and uses it to create a powerfully communicative film. Some films, however, do not use this process and deliberately negate it by calling attention to the apparatus of film and distancing the audience from the story. These films choose to convey their message in other ways and creating distance helps them do this. An example of an effective art film which uses this technique is Ingmar Bergman's, Persona. As film evolves and multimedia and entertainment move into areas of virtual reality, video games and internet the principles of imagery and it's symbolism combined with the manipulation of the conscious and unconscious state, whether intentional or not, will remain the most effective, important and mysterious communication tool society posesses.