Impossible Puzzle Films: A Cognitive Approach to Contemporary Complex Cinema - Softcover

Kiss, Miklós; Willemsen, Steven

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1474431976 ISBN 13: 9781474431972

Publisher: Edinburgh University Press, 2018

Synopsis

Narrative complexity is a trend in contemporary cinema. Since the late 1990s there has been a palpable increase in complex storytelling in movies. But how and why do complex movies create perplexity and confusion? How do we engage with these challenges? And what makes complex stories so attractive? By blending film studies, narrative theory and cognitive sciences, Kiss and Wilemsen look into the relation between complex storytelling and the mind. Analysing the effects that different complex narratives have on viewers, the book addresses how films like Donnie Darko, Mulholland Drive and Primer strategically create complexity and confusion, using the specific category of the impossible puzzle film to examine movies that use baffling paradoxes, impossible loops, and unresolved ambiguities in their stories and storytelling. By looking at how these films play on our mind’s blind spots, this innovative book explains their viewing effects in terms of the mental state of cognitive dissonance that they evoke.

About this title

About the Authors

Dr Miklós Kiss is an Associate Professor of Audiovisual Arts and Cognition at the University of Groningen, The Netherlands. He is co-author of the books Film Studies in Motion: From Audiovisual Essay to Academic Research Video (with Thomas van den Berg, Scalar multimedia e-publication, 2016) and Impossible Puzzle Films: A Cognitive Approach to Contemporary Complex Cinema (with Steven Willemsen, Edinburgh UP, 2017) and co-editor of the volume Puzzling Stories: The Aesthetic Appeal of Cognitive Challenge in Film, Television and Literature (with Steven Willemsen, Berghahn, 2022).

Steven Willemsen is a PhD-candidate and Junior Lecturer in Film Studies at the University of Groningen, the Netherlands. His research addresses the topic of story complexity from embodied-cognitive and narratological perspectives.

From the Back Cover

‘Kiss and Willemsen’s book is an important step forward in the study of cinematic complexity. It offers a thorough analysis of complex storytelling techniques with a special focus on the “impossible puzzle films”, reveals the cognitive effects and challenges they evoke, and explores the reasons why viewers find them fascinating.’Marina Grishakova, Institute of Cultural Research and Arts, University of TartuNarrative complexity is a trend in contemporary cinema. Since the late 1990s there has been a palpable increase in complex storytelling in movies. But how and why do complex movies create perplexity and confusion? How do we engage with these challenges? And what makes complex stories so attractive? By blending film studies, narrative theory and cognitive sciences, Miklós Kiss and Steven Willemsen look into the relation between complex storytelling and the mind. Analysing the effects that different complex narratives have on viewers, this book addresses how films like Donnie Darko, Mulholland Drive and Primer strategically create complexity and confusion. Using the specific category of the impossible puzzle film, it examines movies that use baffling paradoxes, impossible loops and unresolved ambiguities in their stories and storytelling. By looking at how these films play on our mind’s blind spots, this innovative volume explains their viewing effects in terms of the mental state of cognitive dissonance that they evoke.Miklós Kiss is Assistant Professor in Film and Media Studies and Steven Willemsen is a PhD candidate and Junior Lecturer in Film Studies, both at the University of Groningen, The Netherlands.Cover image: Naomi Watts in Mulholland Drive, David Lynch, 2001 Š Melissa Moseley/Universal Focus/PhotofestCover design concept by Anne-Nynke Knol[EUP logo]edinburghuniversitypress.comISBN 978-1-4744-0672-7Barcode

Edition details

• Publisher: Edinburgh University Press
• Publication date: 2018
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1474431976
• ISBN 13: 9781474431972
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 240