What is Epic Theater? Illuminations Walter Benjamin
The Actor/Theater on a Dais picturesque
The actor is set up as a real person playing a role and part of the play. This to me is like some strange love affair where two who are meant for each other are cast away from each other. The are aware that they should love but do not commune. Benjamin brings back the theme of empathy and describes how it is avoided by creating tension that involves spontaneity not only in plot but the fabric of the play in general. The play becomes mercurial and constantly announcing itself steaming with anxiety and scientific farce.
The idea that the stage is a 'dais' brings us back to the Middle Ages where people are asked to step up and be distinguished which is theatrical but the illusion is not as fantasy as a play that tries to contain the meaning in itself rather than relate to the audience that it is not fully real.
The Great Beauty (2013)
The main character and Rome are intertwined--so much so that I don't remember his name but remember his love interest, Ramona.
The character thinks himself an artist but he is no muse but merely a mercurial figure. He knows all the important figures and can get into the choicest places but he is at a loss to weave his experience into a satisfying story.
One wonders if his disenchantment comes from chaotic lifestyles people adhere to as a regular carnival that is their afternoon or if he is too much apart of what he wants to bring to life like one who struggles to see how others view them.
He seems, at times, to be some mythological figure leading us through death. One scene in particular stands out as he gets private access to a museum housing iconic roman art. The lady he's with named after the city they are in does not receive a long speech about the statues. He simply exists as a connected person that takes people to places. Even as the viewer we have this relationship and depend on him to take us to the next spot on the way.
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