The end of film theory and the task of film interpretation : a pathway to the philosophical turn

Abstract

The aim of this study is to interrogate film interpretation in terms of Heideggerian thinking as a pathway for arguments in the history of film theory via the idea of “happening” in the art. For this reason, the “happening of truth” is considered in terms of its filmic implications. In addition to this, the poetic revealing as a mode of “happening of truth” is questioned via filmic experience by making an analogy with the idea of strife between the earth and the world. Thus, this study also investigates the experience of the audience with respect to its involvement in the film. By walking through this pathway, hermeneutic phenomenology as a method contributes to an understanding of the experience of the audience. In this respect, the idea of film interpretation refers not only to the audience’s dwelling in the film but also to its ontological experience, and so the ontological investigation is triggered via “happening” in the film.