Friday, November 6, 2009

Conceptual vs. Experiential


Inglourious Basterds vs. Safe Conduct
Ed Wood vs. The Player
O Brother, Where Art Thou? vs. Nashville
Batman Returns vs. Batman Begins
Metropolis vs. The Crime of M. Lange
Eyes Wide Shut vs. Blume in Love

3 comments:

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  2. Is this analogous to impressionist (experiential) and expressionist (conceptual)?

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  3. I wouldn't say analogous, but I do think there is a connection. If impressionism and expressionism are thought of as two different groups of techniques, then I do think that you're more likely to find impressionistic techniques in experiential works and expressionistic techniques in conceptual work (The Crime of M. Lange vs. Metropolis).

    I don't think it always lines up like that. There are works I'd call conceptual that aren't expressionistic (Jerichow) and there are expressionistic works that lean more towards the experiential (much of Hitchcock, Hope & Glory). But I think the way that expressionism works - warping "reality" in order to bring a deeper truth to the surface - makes it well suited to authors working on the conceptual side of the street.

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