Document Type : Original Article
Authors
1
Ph.D. Candidate, Department of Architecture, Qazvin Branch, Islamic Azad University, Qazvin, Iran.
2
Assistant Professor, Department of Architecture, Qazvin Branch, Islamic Azad University, Qazvin, Iran.
3
Associate professor, Department of Film and Theater, Art University, Tehran, Iran.
10.30480/dam.2023.4871.1812
Abstract
The experience of architectural space and place in cinema takes place in different dimensions. The technical characteristics of the film have been the subject of more research since they are more objective. Nevertheless, there is another dimension in which the experience of a place is reflected in the screenplay's structure through the scene's description and the characters' dialogue. In such a context, regardless of the technical norms and limitations of converting words into cinematic images, the characteristics of places and the relationships between characters and those places are freely and profoundly described and emphasized through words. This research examines the narration of place in the screenplay of “Tokyo Story” by Yasujirō Ozu and Kogo Noda. Because of the centrality of the experience of place, the significance of the subject's (Man) relationship with it, and the narrative's focus on the effects of modernity on human life and relationships, a phenomenological interpretation of place based on Martin Heidegger's philosophy is considered. This article aims to provide a phenomenological comprehension of the architectural elements that influence how the place is narrated in the “Tokyo Story” screenplay and then explain the subject's relationship with the place based on this interpretation. Since it was significant to know how to describe and experience the place, the research was conducted using the phenomenological method, and the screenplay review was also performed using the text content analysis method.
In the phenomenological understanding of physical and non-physical components in the description of a place, its characteristics are revealed regarding the surrounding environment and the context of its placement, daily life, people and their work and activities, the natural atmosphere of the place, direct experience, and auditory sensory perception. In the relationship between the subject and the place, also different relations, such as the feeling of dwelling or homelessness; emotional dependence or distance, incompatibility, and alienation towards place; reflecting upon the state of dwelling, attempting to establish the place in the experience, and connecting the inner feelings, emotions, feelings, and memories of the characters with the place are all understandable. Beyond these, the findings of the research show that places can play a role independently in accordance with the content of the narrative regarding the effects of modernization on the disintegration of family relationships and reflect this break.
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