Passionate Views

In this study, editors Carl Plantinga and Greg M. Smith bring together 13 scholars from the disciplines of film studies, philosophy and psychology to explore the emotional appeal of the cinema. Employing a cognitive perspective, it is divided into three sections: first, investigating the relationship between genre and emotion; second, studying how film narrative, music and cinematic techniques such as close-up are used to elicit emotion; and third, examining the spectator's identification with and response to film characters. The range of films and topics discussed include: the success of "Stella Dallas" and "An Affair to Remember" as tearjerkers; the power of "Night of the Living Dead" to inspire fear and disgust; evoking the sublime in "The Passion of Joan of Arc", "Aguirre, the Wrath of God" and "The Children of Paradise"; the emotional basis of film comedy as seen in "When Harry Met Sally"; the use of cinematic cues in "Raiders of the Lost Ark" and "Local Hero" to arouse emotions; the relationship between narrative flow and emotion in "Once Upon a Time in the West" and "E.T."
; the emotive use of music in "The Elephant Man" and "A Clockwork Orange"; and eliciting empathy through close-ups of actors' faces in "Yankee Doodle Dandy" and "Blade Runner".