What movies on the topic of photographic power can you recall? Any movie where photographs played a key role (however brief) ? I believe this is a rich philosophical topic for cinema. Photo vs reality, photo vs memory, our fascination with photography, etc.
Some big ones I remember:
Proof (1991) - blind photographer search honesty through photos
One Hour Photo (2002) - obsessive daydreaming in picture-perfect
Le Jette (1961) - short movie, extreme storytelling through photos
Memento (2000) - photos as long-term memory, its manipulation
Everything is Illuminated (2005) - ancestor embodied in old family photos
Some indirect relevance:
Dark City - reality fabrication
Eternal Sunshine Of spotless Mind - memory alteration and persistent attraction
In Rob Reiner's second feature John Cusack plays a college freshman who is enticed to make a trip to Southern California to visit his best friend from high school, but more importantly the promise of passionate casual sex with a "sure thing", a beautiful girl (Nicollette Sheridan) who he sends a photo of wearing a small swimsuit. This photograph is the starting point for several fantasies before he gets there, and something he clings to on the journey even as he falls in love with a contentious classmate (Daphne Zuniga) who is also making the cross-country trip.
Blade Runner 1982, Ridley Scott
The Replicants have photographs that are essentially props to make them feel as if their implanted memories from either other people or total fictions are real. Leon even risks discovery back at his hotel room after the murder of the Blade Runner that opens the film so he can retrieve his "precious photos", as Batty sarcastically calls them. Rachel brings a picture of her and her mother to Deckard to prove that she is human and not a Replicant, though he informs her that it is actually Tyrell's niece. One of my favorite small details in the movie is when that photo momentarily comes to life in way, with the shadows of the leaves in the sunlight moving and the sound of children playing. Decakrd's piano is also covered in old photos, his own props for his implants. A photograph found in Leon's hotel room also is a clue that helps lead Deckard to Zhora, after he uses a scanner that can enlarge details that are too small for the naked eye to see: hidden information and unintentional memories.
Back to the Future 1985, Robert Zemeckis
As Marty McFly desperately tries to unite his would-be parents, a photograph he carries of himself with his two older siblings serves as a sort of clock letting him know how much time he has left to repair the continuum of his known future: since he has inadvertently stopped the meeting that led to their eventual marriage, the very existence of their children begins to fade. More than a memory that will never be, but a whole version of reality.
The Terminator 1984, James Cameron
Another time travel flick with a photo, this time it is a picture that Reese has seen of Sarah Connor, mother of John Connor the leader of the rebellion against the machines, that has sustained him during dark times and leads him to volunteer for the mission of following the Terminator back to 1984 to try and protect Sarah and her yet unborn son so he can fulfill his destiny. Of course Reese has fallen in love with her and winds up being the boy's father. The last scene of the movie is that photo being taken as Sarah contemplates the death of Reese, the impending birth of their son and the dark apocalyptic future that awaits.
No Way Out 1987, Roger Donaldson
In this political thriller a damaged Polaroid negative of Kevin Costner's character Lieutenant Commander Tom Farrell, who is investigating the murder of his own lover (Sean Young), is another clock to race against. As the photograph is slowly digitally reassembled, Farrell must prove it was Gene Hackman's Secretary of Defense, who was also involved with her, that did the killing. There's also a conflation that the man in the photo is not only a possible murderer but also a Soviet spy in the Pentagon.
Blood Simple 1984, Joel & Ethan Coen
In the Coen Brothers' first movie the unscrupulous private detective played by M. Emmet Walsh decides to fake the evidence of the murder of his wife and her lover that Dan Hedaya's bar owner has hired him to commit. He takes photos of the couple sleeping and alters them in the darkroom to make it appear as if they are riddled with bullets, so he can collect his money without committing murder. It doesn't quite go according to plan, but Hedaya's Julian Marty does accept the photos are real.
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"Film is a disease. When it infects your bloodstream it takes over as the number one hormone. It bosses the enzymes, directs the pineal gland, plays Iago to your psyche. As with heroin, the antidote to Film is more Film." - Frank Capra
Dealing with identity suppression and psychogenic fugue, this film is a bit left of the topic, but it does have sections that feature strange video tapes and memory.
"I like to remember things my own way, not necessarily how they happened." - Fred Madison
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It takes considerable knowledge just to realize the extent of your own ignorance.― Thomas Sowell
One of my favorite small details in the movie is when that photo momentarily comes to life in way, with the shadows of the leaves in the sunlight moving and the sound of children playing. Decakrd's piano is also covered in old photos, his own props for his implants. A photograph found in Leon's hotel room also is a clue that helps lead Deckard to Zhora, after he uses a scanner that can enlarge details that are too small for the naked eye to see: hidden information and unintentional memories.
I definitely remember that scene with that voice-operated photo scanner and the clicking noises it made. Deckard was sipping on something - that was the first time I wanted a glass of something strong looked that delicious.
Is it just me or there were different versions of that movie, one with voice over by Ford and one without?
I believe this is a rich philosophical topic for cinema. Photo vs reality, photo vs memory, our fascination with photography, etc.
By the by, I've reflected quite a bit on your main point here. Without going completely tangential, I think it's interesting that the body regenerates at the approximate rate of all cells every seven years yet we do seem to be able to maintain memory. I would argue that those memories are what makes us...'us'. Without them, we would be clay. What also interests me is to what extent those memories are skewed by our will to put the best light on them, exaggerate them, negate them etc. We could get into a really slippery discussion of reality if we're not careful
What movies on the topic of photographic power can you recall? Any movie where photographs played a key role (however brief) ? I believe this is a rich philosophical topic for cinema. Photo vs reality, photo vs memory, our fascination with photography, etc.
I seem to remember the heroine in A Very Long Engagement using an ensemble photo as part of her detective work to reconstruct the past / find her fiancé. It wasn't really a key issue in itself, but i think they used it to contrast the photographed-protagonists' feelings at the time with the story that the 'viewers' were building up around them. (And of course the plot involved multiple memories that painted the same incidents in different ways - that Rashomon-ish theme that i'm pretty certain crops up in a million and one films. Including Rashomon)
Originally Posted by Toose
What also interests me is to what extent those memories are skewed by our will to put the best light on them, exaggerate them, negate them etc. We could get into a really slippery discussion of reality if we're not careful
Oh you should so come to the free will thread
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Virtual Reality chatter on a movie site? Got endless amounts of it here. Reviews over here
A great deal has already been mentioned. Here are a couple more self reflexive films which use photography to comment on cinema.
Peeping Tom (Powell, 1960)
Through Mark, Powell creates the surrogate; the avenue through which he will deliver his message. Like Hitchcock (in the 50's espescially), Powell was fascinated by the notion of voyeurism. His statement was this: we as film viewers are all scopophilacs; we take some perverse thrill from watching others.
Rear Window (Hitchcock, 1954)
Although we rarely see Jefferies photographing in Rear Window, it nevertheless serves a very important purpose. Like other Hitchcock films before it, Rear Window is very much about the act of looking.
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As I said, some particular favourites of mine have already been mentioned - Blowup (Antonioni, 1967) and Blade Runner (Scott, 1982) for instance.
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