The Dialogue Between a Film and Its Spectator: Gaining Freedom

Abstract

This article explores the significance of the spectator's role in shaping a dialogic connection with a film. It is rooted in the discernible need to deconstruct this relationship, which, although it may initially appear as two intersecting spheres, gradually tends to merge into a single one, requiring disentanglement. In this analysis, we considered the inception of art, or the artist's vision, to ensure that these spheres reflect subjective yet distinct interpretations and effectively make them visually evident from that point onward. In this vein, Rancière (2008/2010) provides one perspective that considers a new role for the spectator, an "active co-creator" who can subvert established hierarchies and transform the power dynamic between the artwork and its audience. Bazin (1958/2014) also believes that cinema is a portrayal of reality that grants the spectator a sense of presence in the world depicted on the screen. This perception seems to be amplified by the significance of sensory experience and aesthetic delight, an idea advocated by Sontag (1966/2020). For all these reasons, it seems necessary to conceptualise individualities through imagery and explore how they can be, subtly and subversively to the propositions of the authors mentioned, directed so that the spectator becomes truly part of the film and can feel important as they realise they are part of the outcome: this is when the final sphere is broken from the inside out, enabling a unique experience of freedom.