Ficha do Proponente
Proponente
- Chiara Renna (Unisalento)
Minicurrículo
- I am Chiara Renna, a PhD candidate in Sciences for Cultural Heritage at University of Salento, Italy. My research project focuses on the aesthetics of atmospheres in cinema and serial television. I have presented my research at both national and international conferences, and my first works have been published in edited volumes and peer-reviewed journals. I will be conducting my research period abroad in Brazil, at Universidade Federal de Pernambuco.
Ficha do Trabalho
Título
- Designing a Contemplative Atmosphere: Affective Qualities in “Evil Does Not Exist”
Seminário
- Cinema e Espaço
Resumo
- This paper examines Ryusuke Hamaguchi’s “Evil Does Not Exist” (2023), focusing on how the film’s formal composition fosters a contemplative atmosphere that encourages a sense of fusion between human and nature. To this end, the case study is situated within the theoretical framework of New Aesthetics, in which atmospheres are conceived as affective tonalities diffused through space.
Resumo expandido
- This proposal explores Ryusuke Hamaguchi’s Evil Does Not Exist (2023), focusing on how the film’s aesthetic composition creates a contemplative atmosphere that fosters a sense of fusion between human and nature. Set in the rural village of Mizubiki, the story follows Takumi and his daughter Hana, as the balance of their community is disrupted by a Tokyo-based company planning to develop a glamping site in the village.
The paper argues that the contemplative attitude promoted by Hamaguchi’s film is made possible through a loosening of the narrative mechanism, which inevitably makes way for an atmospheric domain. This sphere – emerging from synesthetic, sensorimotor, and sonic elements – establishes a bond of co-belonging between subject and object. This is made evident through the image composition, characterized by the constant inclusion within the frame of spaces dominated by nature, with a significant distance maintained between the human figures and the camera. Moreover, the emergence of this expressive quality is encouraged by the long takes, which show characters engaged in everyday activities, unbound by any narrative mandate: there is no causal sequence linking their actions, and their behavior lacks any explicit purpose.
It will be shown that, by assigning centrality to an atmospheric mode of perception, Hamaguchi’s film conveys a profound sense of attunement with nature not only in the characters but also in the viewer.
To examine the film’s non-narrative dimension, the analysis draws on the theoretical framework of the New Aesthetics (Böhme 2010), which conceives atmosphere as a spatially diffused affective quality that engages the subject from the outside and invites attunement to it.
This neo-phenomenological reading will be complemented by insights from film theory (Ėjzenštejn 2010; Balázs 2010; Epstein 2002; Aumont 2007) concerned with the affective power of formal composition, particularly in relation to how atmospheres are intentionally shaped to engage the viewer emotionally.
Bibliografia
- J. Aumont, L’oeil interminable. Cinéma et peinture, Éditions de la Différence, Paris 2007.
B. Balázs, Early Film Theory. Visible Man and The Spirit of Film, Berghahn Books, Oxford-New York 2010.
G. Böhme, Atmosfere, estasi, messe in scena. Böhme, L’estetica come teoria generale della percezione, Christian Marinotti Edizioni, Milano 2010.
R. De Monticelli, F. Forlè, La felicità dello spettatore. Lezioni di estetica fenomenologica, Garzanti, Milano 2024.
S. M. Ėjzenštejn, Writings, 1922-1934, I. B. Tauris, London-New York 2010.
J. Epstein, L’essenza del cinema. Scritti sulla settima arte, Marsilio-Edizioni Bianco & Nero, Roma-Venezia 2002.
H. Schmitz, Nuova Fenomenologia. Un’introduzione, Christian Marinotti Edizioni, Milano 2011.
S. Sumartojo, S. Pink, Atmospheres and the Experiential World. Theory and Methods, Routledge, London-New York 2019.