Performative Cinema and Its Techniques

Abstract

The aim of this paper presentation is to analyze in-depth the transition and transformation of performance art into the world of cinema, creating the notion of performative cinema – a notion that is very present in today`s cinematic language, however not enough recognized as a movement in itself. The core mantra of performative cinema is the involvement of the spectator – both the emancipation of the viewer in an age of consumerist blockbusters and his awakening into a certain state of mind (in some cases, performative cinema can even lead towards transcendental meditation). The paper will briefly follow the origins of performative cinema and its techniques, with roots in the works of Alejandro Jodorowsky, Pier Paolo Pasolini and Pere Portabella, while reaching into the present through works of film auteurs like Apichatpong Weerasethakul and Yorgos Lanthimos. The presentation will focus to unveil and analyze the approaches of performative cinema, conveying how it works as a piece of performance art in itself – and how its relay into cinema can be direct, with a dadaesque influence through a transgressive political message (`Holy Motors` by Leos Carax representing an example), or more subtle – through nuances and refined directorial interventions (Weerasethakul`s `Memoria`). The systematic analysis of these movies as core examples of performative cinema means an enterprise into both the narrative elements and the visual identity of the films, with the purpose of classifying a genre that has remained unknown for too long, deserving the treatment of a cinematic wave in itself.