Relaxing in the sewer

What is Epic Theater? Illuminations Walter Benjamin

The relaxed audience

The audience is set up in two ways: Relaxed and 'rapt'. Also these two levels of engagement are caused by whether media is consumed alone or in a group. Being alone we are relaxed but also more prone to contemplation while in a group we are activated but tend to be impulsive--this is as seen by Benjamin.

Also, we hear about epic theater which is a complex term. My guess is it combines the arts capacity to be thoughtful with the perplexing task of being viewed in a group.

The Third Man (1949)

In this film noir we go to Austria in the aftermath of world war two. It is a dishonest place in which the honest protagonist appears and tries to set it straight. Like the Hitchcock film noir, it sets death in relation to love. But in this case the protagonist's sanctity is not in question but we have to question whether this sanctity is naivety and will it be his tragic flaw.

The plot starts when the main character arrives thinking he has job working for a friend. We quickly learn that this friend is dubious and has been pronounced dead. The movie combines farcical elements with a more or less straight forward love story. Strangely enough the love interest is first met at a funeral. The two are very different in that the man is mediocre and brash and the woman is sophisticated and reposed. They are both linked to their relationship with their shadowy friend. They both describe him as a person who is sly and willing to bend rules but are surprised he is wrapped up in a caper.

As the story unwinds we find the man is more dedicated to truth even if that means severing a past relationship while the woman is truthful in her own way to the one she loves. This all happens in a background of confusion with authority and in a city that is one way functional but in other parts destroyed. The part of the city that is the most pristine is essentially the most filthy sewer system that lies underground.

The most underlying current in the film is what happens when people bypass legitimacy for necessity. In this way we have to contemplate whether people really are acting out of necessity or on an impulse that is pleasurable--whether this is creating an illicit blackmarket syndicate that denies children medicine or perusing a love interest that is linked to a once dear friend.