The Fulfillment Of A Historical Wish, Beyond The Cinematic Formula
An authentic creation can become a tool of integrated knowledge, restoring emotional vitality to thought, if it is in tune with the historical need for the synthesis of emotion and reason.
The image-feeling-thesis trajectory was, therefore, possible. The Russian director, Sergei Eisenstein saw in this, beyond a cinematic formula, the fulfillment of a historical wish. In the ancient days of magic, he said, science was both an element of emotion and an element of collective knowledge. With dualism, he added, things separated in speculative philosophy: pure abstraction on the one hand, and pure emotional element on the other. What needed to be done at that moment, he concluded, was a new synthesis, analogous to the first one, of the emotional element with the intellectual one. And only the film can operate this synthesis, returning to the intellectual element its vital, emotional sources.
How does the image-feeling-thesis trajectory in your work resonate with the nature of the primordial synthesis between emotion and knowledge, reflecting on the continuity between magic and science?
In Eisenstein's view, the image-feeling-thesis trajectory in the film represents a possible way to achieve a necessary synthesis, just as cognitive psychology recognizes the importance of integrating emotion and reason. He sees in this trajectory not only a cinematic formula, but also the fulfillment of a historical need. In ancient times, in the age of magic, science was a collective element, combining emotion and knowledge. With the development of speculative philosophy, they separated: on the one hand, rational abstraction, on the other, pure emotion.
What is required now, Eisenstein concludes, is a new synthesis, similar to the primordial one, which brings together the emotional and intellectual elements. Cinematic art thus becomes a unique means of knowledge, restoring emotional vitality to the intellectual dimension. In this way, the film becomes a tool of integrated knowledge, in which thinking and feeling are once again united, forming a new collective perception.
In cinematic reactions, the separate elements of image and feeling come together under the action of the catalyst film to form a new and vital thesis. The process involves both emotional transformations and complex intellectual exchanges, going beyond the speculative dualism of classical philosophy. Like a chemical catalyst, the art of film facilitates this ancient synthesis without losing its essence, allowing the fusion of the abstract and the purely emotional, which would otherwise remain separate. This method of cinematic reunification represents an evolution from the primordial collective knowledge, where magic and science naturally coexisted. Film thus operates as a catalytic agent in the process of transforming the separate elements of human experience, restoring emotional vitality to the intellectual abstract and cognitive depth to pure living.
Leadership facilitates the convergence between the intellectual and emotional dimensions of the creative experience, promoting a holistic understanding in connection with the dynamics of social change.
The fulfillment of a historical desire, beyond the cinematic formula, is achieved by organically combining emotion with reason, so that abstract thinking regains a living dimension accessible to the general public. Eisenstein emphasized the importance of the synthesis between these two fundamental dimensions of human existence, believing that cinematographic art has a unique ability to recreate this lost unity. The consequence of this fact is that the film becomes not only an artistic medium, but also a tool for deep knowledge of the world and oneself.
* Note: Ion Barna - Eisenstein, Tineretului Publishing House, 1966.
