Ge mig ett wham! Sujetten som reproduktionsformel och ceremoniell förvaltare av auran i det minimalistiska filmnarrativet “All is Lost”

Abstract

In this essay, I have studied the narrative structure of the minimalistic adventure film All is Lost. The aim of this study has been to show a reproductive discrepancy between the narrative structure and the narrative substance on the basis of the filmic context and how this discrepancy affects the auratic nature of the filmic narrative within a postclassical context. This discrepancy has emanated from a narrative scheme called the whammo chart which through its reproductive tendencies towards the minimalistic narrative have revealed an anomaly between the narrative structure and the narrative context. David Bordwells view of the terms fabula and syuzhet has therefore acted like a tool to dissect the narrative in order to expose and to contextualize the narrative structure and anomaly that occurs in All is Lost. The whammo chart normally appears within the context of high-concept films in the soul purpose to generate kinetic effects which tends to subordinate the characters in order to substantiate the spectacle. When the whammo chart is being used within a minimalistic narrative, such as All is Lost, the scheme tends to aim its reproductive tendencies towards the central protagonist instead of the external environment. In this process the auratic nature within the narrative changes from generating a ceremonial meaning to instead generate an aura around the filmstar who portrays the protagonist. Instead of generating kinetic effects that incapsulates the quiescent audience the whammo chart analyses the protagonist by using the conventions that the high concept-film corresponds to. In order to contextualize my analysis, I have used Walter Benjamin's theory Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction in correlation with The Storyteller which explains the theory of the decline of the art in storytelling and its transformation against the backdrop of a mercantile impact. To further expand Benjamins thoughts and to be able to transfer them into a modern kontext I have bridged Benjamins theories with Justin Wyatts theory of high concept to substantialize the reproductive nature that occurs within the narrative structure of All is Lost.