Objective Feelings

by Corry Shores
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Objective Feelings

Deleuze scholar Matt Lee left a remarkable comment to this On the Waterfront cinema entry. (I recommend his web log, notebookeleven. He also is an editor and contributer to the recently published book, Thinking Between Deleuze and Kant: A Strange Encounter. His other publications are listed here.) Lee writes:

In the context of this specific clip it strikes me that the interpretation Deleuze offers seems off. The glove is picked up and held, then placed on the hand almost as an act of possession, rather than timidity. The way the man sits, his expansive hand gestures, the casual nature of his picking at the glove all seem to suggest this. The woman at one point (at 2.24 in the clip) reaches out as if to take back the glove, only finally taking it after the man has given her a back-handed compliment (you used to be a mess but 'you grew up really nice').

This doesn't, as it happens, touch on the conceptual point Deleuze is making, about the emotional handling of an object, merely on the content of the emotions in this particular content. [Matt Lee, comment, boldface mine]

This is in response to what Deleuze writes:

It is nevertheless true that the emotional handling of an object, an act of emotion in relation to the object, can have more effect than a close-up in the action-image. In a situation in On the Waterfront, where the woman behaves ambivalently, and where the man feels timid and guilty, he picks up the glove that she has dropped, keeps it and plays with it, finally slipping it on to his hand. [Deleuze, Cinema 1, 1986:163c]

Reste que le maniement émotionnel d'un objet, un acte d'émotion par rapport à l'objet, peuvent avoir plus d'effet qu'un gros plan dans l'image-action. Dans une situation de « Sur les quais », où la femme a un comportement ambivalent, et où l'homme se sent timide et coupable, celui-ci ramasse le gant qu'elle a laissé tomber, le garde et en jour, y glisse enfin sa main. [Deleuze Cinéma 1, 1985:219b]

Here is a clip of this scene:

At the end of the cited sentence is footnote 21 (of chapter 9; footnote 20 on page 219 of the French text).

21 Michel Ciment, by the questions that he puts to Kazan, brings out this type of image that tends to replace the close-up: Kazan par Kazan, pp. 74ff. [Deleuze, p.245c]

20. Michel Ciment, par les questions qu' il pose à Kazan, dégage bien ce type d'image que tend à remplacer le gros plan : Kazan par Kazan, Stock, p. 74 sq. [Deleuze, p.219d]

I have access only to the English version, but here is a part where Kazan discusses the glove scene:

There's another example of this use of objects in a scene that was partly accidental and partly the talent of the actor who was in it: that scene in On the Waterfront where Brando is walking Eva Marie Saint home, rather against her will; and she on the one hand is attracted to him, and on the other hand wishes that he'd leave her alone because there's a social stigma attached to him, so she'd rather lose him, and at the same time she's attracted to him and would rather keep him. (p.45d) And he, too, is attracted to her, but he's also shy, and tense about connecting with her because he was responsible for the death of her brother. But mainly Brando wants to keep her, despite her desire to get rid of him. As they were walking along, she accidentally dropped her glove; and Brando picked the glove up; and by holding it, she couldn't get away - the glove was his way of holding her. Furthermore, whereas he couldn't, because of this tension about her brother being killed, demonstrate any sexual or loving feeling towards her, he could towards the glove. And he put his hand inside the glove, you remember, so that the glove was both his way of holding on to her against her will, and at the same time he was able to express, through the glove, something he couldn't express to her directly. So the object, in that sense, did it all. (Kazan and Ciment, p.46a-b, emphasis mine).

This seems to confirm Lee's observation.

By the way, the following citation immediately precedes the above text:

How did you use objects to convey feelings?

In Wild River, for instance, Clift is coming back to Lee Remick's house. It's raining, and Lee Remick has a towel in her hand. The inside of the house is warm. Whatever shyness she had, it'd be natural for her to welcome him into the house. But she's shy about touching him except for the towel. The towel is an excuse to touch him. If it were a nice day and he'd just come in, the scene would have been impossible. One of the basic things in the technique of the Method is to use objects a lot. All objects are symbols for one thing or another. It's something you can see move from one hand to another, you can see it break, or you can see it captured, you can see it sold, you can see it bought, you can see it transferred, you can see it embraced, you can see it thrown away. That's like making an act out of a feeling, through the object. Of course, it helps actors who are self-conscious, because if they concentrate on the object they won't be concentrating on themselves.

The device of the swing in Baby Doll, that was also using an object and a movement . . .

Right . . . She would allow things on the swing that she wouldn't elsewhere. Also, on the swing she can't walk away easily, all he's got to do is put his hand across her. Also, she's a baby girl, the swinging makes her more at ease. Also, there's something seductive about the movement itself. Also, he was playing with her. I had a wonderful mood in that picture of playfulness plus some seriusness. You didn't know when he was serious or when he was playful. That's what Williams does so well - you don't know how far he means it and how far he's kidding about it, how far it's important to him, and how far it's just a tease, a joke. (Kazan and Ciment, p.45a-45d)

Deleuze, Gilles. Cinema 1: The Movement-Image. Transl. Hugh Tomlinson & Barbara Habberjam, London: Continuum, 1986

Deleuze, Gilles. Cinéma 1: L'image-mouvement. Paris: Les éditions de minuit, 1983.

Ciment, Michel. [interviewing Elia Kazan]. Kazan on Kazan. London: Secker & Warburg, 1973.

New Directions

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by Corry Shores
[Search Blog Here. Index-tags are found on the bottom of the left column.]

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[Entry Directory of Blog Announcements]

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Some new directions, discovered while journeying away from blogging.

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Matt Lee and Temporality

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Matt Lee at notebookeleven is discussing a fascinating idea called diamond time. If you can, check it out. Perhaps this sentence will convince you he is onto something:

There is no instant of the eternal return since it shatters the moment and explodes the instant, taking us directly into the daimon of time, diamond time.

I wonder, does Lee’s concept of diamond time relate to Deleuze’s crystal image? Might it help us better articulate the sort of phenomenal time unique to Deleuze’s own theory of phenomena? [Also, Lee’s site is fantastic, looks great, is intelligently and skillfully written- it really is worth a good look.]

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The Raw Creativity of Clifford Duffy

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Clifford Duffy is a poetry machine. And this is partly because he creates his media as well as his poems. His techniques are so innovative, and his poems so original and presented in such unique ways, that you wonder if he does not reinvent poetry with each new creation. Often his poems are jawdroppingly amazing. [See the sidebar “Amazing Clifford Duffy Poems” for some examples.] He as well provides such valuable resources for Deleuze research as this interview. [Many of his blogs can be found under the sidebar "Clifford Duffy’s Poetry of the Future: A Breakthrough in Genre.”] I will continue looking to him for inspiration, knowledge, new ideas and directions, art made in the raw and in this very instant, and a reminder of what Deleuze and Guattari really had in mind for how we should live and express. I am fortunate for the friendship he extends even from so far off, and it's an honor that I may return mine back to him. .

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Spinoza’s Foci & Infinity of kvond

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Spinoza is one of Deleuze’s fundamental influences. And one of his most interesting contributions to our understanding of Spinoza has much to do with Spinoza’s concept of infinity. Kvond’s work with Spinoza’s optics and lens craftsmanship is invaluable for a more probing look at Spinoza’s ideas. As well, his blog Frames /sing continues to forge new directions for our mind’s explorations. [See this current entry on Spinoza, cybernetics, chaos theory, and complexity theory for an example of how remarkable kvond’s work is.] Much of his work is the first of its kind, so I highly recommend checking into his blog when you can. I find his ideas to be refreshing and stimulating, and he articulates them in beautiful writing. So when we can, we will review more closely his work with Spinoza, to better obtain the fruits of following his original approach. My own work has grown substantially on account of his insights and generocity, so I look forward to learning from him and hopefully working with him in the near future.

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Daniel Fineman and the Laughable

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Daniel Fineman has some extraordinary new ideas about Nietzche, Deleuze, and “the laughable.” I am eager to share his work as widely as possible. As he releases it for public consumption, we will follow very closely. I heard him deliver a paper, and since then I have felt something vital that we can add to our readings of Deleuze. If we can make Deleuze laugh, we ourselves will become more creative readers of his texts.

Darren Ambrose and Deleuzean Creativity

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I have encountered some incredible work on Deleuze’s aesthetics and theory of creativity by Darren Ambrose at Warwick. His research and writing is high calibre. As well, it is exciting. One fantastic project he has undertaken is applying Deleuze’s theory of artistic creativity to philosophical thought. Even from a quick glance (or listen), it is immediately evident that he will take us to new exciting conceptual realms. As well, he has covered much more ground than we have here on certain topics we have examined, especially regarding Deleuze’s work with Francis Bacon and French phenomenology.

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Anarchy

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I propose we explore anarchist theory. It occurred to me that Deleuze is an anarchist thinker (which might be obvious to many, or perhaps instead patently wrong.) What I have in mind is using anarchy as a metaphor to articulate something of the same family as wildness, lawlessness, chaos, disorder (and so forth) in Deleuze’s thinking. It might have more of the connotations we want for certain descriptions. If also we can articulate a Deleuzean anarchist politics, that would be fantastic too.

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Kara Keeling and Afrofuturism

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Kara Keeling is doing fascinating work with Afrofuturism, in particular with the music and theories of Sun Ra. There is such incredible freedom and creativity in this movement. It will be a source of inspiration as well as serve as an example of the liberty and power involved in Deleuzean creativity. Check out her blog Spittin’ Change. Currently she posted some of the Foucault – Chomsky debate.

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Deleuze the Phenomenal Theorist

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As well, we will continue our project of elevating Deleuze to equal ground with Husserl, not as an “anti-phenomenologist,” but as a competing theorist of phenomena. There are problems in Husserl’s system that Deleuze’s theory handles skillfully. Darren Ambrose’s work has convinced me to focus again on Deleuze's aesthetics, for this project.

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Blog recommences after the second week of September.

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