Why We Cry…at the Movies
I wanted to let all of you know about an interesting last minute event The Goethe Institute will be hosting on Thursday, April 13th at 7.00pm in L.A. at the Goethe-Institut.
Did you know that the cinema is one of the foremost places of shedding tears in Western cultures, and movies are regularly listed among the strongest triggers of tears?
As the German philosopher Walter Benjamin once claimed, in the cinema people who are no longer moved or touched by anything in everyday life learn to cry again.
Weeping Warm Tears — On Having a Good Cry in the Cinema
In this multimedia presentation and lecture, Julian Hanich will talk about how we, as film spectators, experience our tears in the movie theater: What is it actually like to cry when other viewers are sitting next to us? Hanich focuses on five crucial features that characterize cinematic weeping, and what features distinguish various types of crying. As it will turn out, tears can involve embarrassment and shame, but can they can also come with the pleasure of sharing an emotion.
Julian Hanich is currently at Chapman University in Orange County as a short-term Scholar in Residence. He was awarded the residency through Chapman’s own application for funding through the same Getting To Know Europe program offered through the EU, similar to the funding that was awarded to Friends of Goethe (whose board I am on) to sponsor the European Dance projects. I know it is last minute, but thought it would be of interest to all.
Dr. Hanich is Associate Professor of Film Studies at the University of Groningen. He is the author of two books: Cinematic Emotion in Horror Films and Thrillers: The Aesthetic Paradox of Pleasurable Fear (2010) and The Audience Effect: On the Collective Cinema Experience (forthcoming in fall 2017). I personally am sure Cinema will never die because of the collective cinema experience which is akin to going to temple or church in many ways.
In his research Hanich focuses on the emotions and affects of movie audiences. Currently, Hanich is the recipient of a three-week residency in the Wilkinson College of Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences at Chapman University, the purpose of which is to promote academic exchange between Europe and the U.S. Hanich’s specific focus is on-screen emotions. Occasionally, Hanich also writes as a film critic for the German outlet Spiegel ONLINE.
Q&A and reception follow the presentation.
Goethe Institute is at 5750 Wilshire Blvd, Ste 100
90036 Los Angeles
