Signs and Meaning in the Cinema - notes

Saussure proposed a future science of signs called semiology. He talked about how it must be approached in a scientific manner but also talks about how The sign does not have any natural connection to the concept that it's conveying.

"The signifier... has no natural connection with the signified ... To use Saussure's term, the sign is 'unmotivated'." p 117

Signs still require words to support them and help convey their meaning.

"Roland Barthes, ..., concluded that is was impossible to escape the pervasive presence of verbal language. Words enter into discourse of another order either to fix an ambiguous meaning, like a label or a title, or to contribute to the meaning that cannot otherwise be communicated, like the words in the bubbles in a stripe-cartoon. Words either anchor meaning or convey it." p 118

For example the existence of 'Explainers' during the age of the silent film.

" Part narrator and part actor, the film explainer stood next to the screen enriching the movies with an entertaining combination of background information, unique interpretation and theatrical storytelling. " http://www.eden-court.co.uk/whats-on/shows/silent-film-explainers 04/11/2012 

Christian Metz declared " that cinema is indeed a language, but a language without a code... It is a language because it has texts; there is a meaningful discourse. But, unlike verbal language, it cannot be referred back to a pre-existent code." p 120

Metz talked of a "logic of implication" and claimed that "it is through a 'current of induction' that we make sense of films." p 120

Charles Sanders Peirce spoke of classifying different kinds of sign. 

"Peirce called 'the second trichotomy of signs', their division into icons, indices and symbols. 'A sign is either an icon, an index or a sign.'" p 122

"An icon, according to Peirce, is a sign which represents its object mainly by its similarity to it; the relationship between signifier and signified is not arbitrary but is one of resemblance or likeness. Thus, for instance, the portrait of a man resembles him." p 122

"An index is a sign by virtue of a existential bond between itself and its object. Peirce gave several examples. I see a man with a rolling gait. This is a probable indication that he is a sailor. I see a bow-legged man in corduroys, gaiters and a jacket. These a probable indications that he is a jockey or something of the sort. A sundial or a clock indicates the time of day. Other examples cited by Peirce are the weathercock, a sign of the direction of wind which physically moves it, the barometer, the spirit-level." p 122 -123 

"The third category of sign, the symbol, corresponds to Saussure's arbitrary sign. Like Saussure, Peirce speaks of a 'contract' by virtue of which the symbol is a sign. The symbolic sign eludes the individual will... A symbolic sign demands neither resemblance to it's object nor any existential bond with it. It is conventional and has the force of law." p 123 

"Peirce's categories are the foundation for any advance in semiology. It is important to note, however, that Peirce did not consider them mutually exclusive. On the contrary, all three aspects frequently - or, as he sometimes suggests, invariably - overlap and are co-present." p 123

Barton Fink

A few weeks ago I sat down and watched Barton Fink and I found it not only a great film but it also got me thinking about symbolism.

Barton Fink is a film by the wonderful Coen Brothers about a writer who experience trouble writing after moving to Hollywood. The movie criticizes Hollywood and the studio system at the like, but ultimately the film is really about anything, there is no deeper meaning or message, which is very interesting to me. It's a great film and uses a lot symbolism in relation to some reoccurring themes including Fascism, Broadway and Hollywood, Writing, Slavery, "the common man" and Religion.

Ultimately the film is a tease for film nerds like me who enjoy reading a little too deeply into films, as I was watching it I was sure that there was a message that they were trying to express but there isn't and I actually like it for that. It's like a friendly trick they played on you, but you don't mind cause you see the funny side and ultimately you had fun. For example two characters, a pair of film noir style detectives question Barton about a murder, they are aggressive and clearly anti-Semitic and interestingly one has a German name and the other an Italian one. However, when question in an interview about the meaning behind this clearly intentional symbolism they responded "we just wanted them to be representative of the Axis world powers at the time. It just seemed kind of amusing. It's a tease. All that stuff with Charlie – the "Heil Hitler!" business – sure, it's all there, but it's kind of a tease."  ( Allen, W. R., 2006, The Coen Brothers Interviews,  Jackson: University press of Mississippi. p94 )  "That's how they've been trained to watch movies. In Barton Fink, we may have encouraged it – like teasing animals at the zoo. The movie is intentionally ambiguous in ways they may not be used to seeing."  ( Allen, W. R., 2006, The Coen Brothers Interviews,  Jackson: University press of Mississippi. p181 )

The reason I find this film so interesting, besides it being yet another simply brilliant Coen Brothers film, is that it uses Symbolism in very interesting ways without a deeper meaning or message, yet it is still a great film.