Morel’s Trap, or the Cinematograph of Immortality
Abstract
A short story by the Argentinian author Adolfo Bioy Casares, elaborating the well known literary motif of the mad scientist conducting suspicious experiments on a distant island was adapted for the screen several times, and inspired serious work such as Alain Resnais The Last Year at Marienbad and Quay brothers’ The Piano Tuner of Earthquakes. Casares’ book, describing a machine for recording spatial images, that are indistinguishable from the originals is not only an inspiring piece of science fiction, but also a small treatise on the essence of film reproduction of the world and the moral consequences of further development of image registering technology. Modern technology creates virtual reality ever closer to Morel’s invention. But is not the Internet its modified version? Once data is entered into the Internet it gains its independent, perhaps eternal life.
Keywords:
Adolfo Bioy Casares, Quay brothers, Alain ResnaisReferences
Borges, Jorge Luis. 1976. Powszechna historia nikczemności. Tłum. A. Sobol-Jurczykowski, S. Zembrzuski. Warszawa
Google Scholar
Cesares Bioy, Adolfo. 1975. Wynalazek Morela. Tłum. A. Nowak. Kraków
Google Scholar
Hardin, Martin. 1998. Seducing the Male-Reader: Julio Cortázar’s :Hopscotch” and the Pleasure of Losing. “The International Fiction Review” t. 25, nr 1-2
Google Scholar
Joubert-Laurencin, Hervé. 1997. „Tango”: une répétition polonaise. W: tegoż. La lettre volante: quatre essais sur le cinéma d’animation. Paris
Google Scholar
Poe, Edgar A. 1913. Morella. W: tegoż. Opowieści nadzywczajne. tłum. B. Leśmian. Lwów.
Google Scholar
Authors
Marcin Giżyckikwartalnik.filmowy@ispan.pl
Rhode Island School of Design United States
Krytyk i historyk sztuki; autor książek z dziedziny historii filmu i zjawisk kultury artystycznej. Wykładowca w Rhode Island School of Design w USA. Opublikował m.in. Nie tylko Disney – rzecz o kinie animowanym (2000), Koniec i co dalej? (2001), Słownik kierunków, ruchów i kluczowych pojęć sztuki drugiej połowy XX wieku (2002), Wenders do domu! Europejskie filmy o Ameryce i ich recepcja w Stanach Zjednoczonych (2006).
Statistics
Abstract views: 76PDF downloads: 145
License
Copyright (c) 2014 Marcin Giżycki
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
The author grants the publisher a royalty-free non-exclusive licence (CC BY 4.0) to use the article in Kwartalnik Filmowy, retains full copyright, and agrees to identify the work as first having been published in Kwartalnik Filmowy should it be published or used again (download licence agreement). The journal is published under the CC BY 4.0 licence. By submitting an article, the author agrees to make it available under this licence.
In issues from 105-106 (2019) to 119 (2022) all articles were published under the CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 licence. During this period the authors granted a royalty-free non-exclusive licence (CC BY-ND 4.0) to use their article in „Kwartalnik Filmowy”, retained full copyright, and agreed to identify the work as first having been published in our journal should it be published or used again.
Most read articles by the same author(s)
- Marcin Giżycki, „L’âge d’or” – the Masterpiece of Provocation , Kwartalnik Filmowy: No. 109 (2020): Architectural Space in Film
- Marcin Giżycki, Why I Do Not Like Advertising in the Cinema , Kwartalnik Filmowy: No. 105-106 (2019): Cinema and Political Transformation
- Marcin Giżycki, … Only Stills Remained: Nonexistent Films of Cindy Sherman , Kwartalnik Filmowy: No. 115 (2021): Form Film, Content Film
- Marcin Giżycki, The Revenge of Joker and Parasites , Kwartalnik Filmowy: No. 108 (2019): Film Production and Distribution
- Marcin Giżycki, Smartphone – The Triumph of Eisenstein , Kwartalnik Filmowy: No. 112 (2020): Polish Documentary, Polish Animation
- Marcin Giżycki, The King/Queen of Camp , Kwartalnik Filmowy: No. 107 (2019): Journey, (E)migration, Pilgrimage
- Marcin Giżycki, The Chronology of the Life and Work of Zenon Wasilewski , Kwartalnik Filmowy: No. 112 (2020): Polish Documentary, Polish Animation
- Marcin Giżycki, May an Artist Be a Criminal? A Few Questions Without Answers , Kwartalnik Filmowy: No. 113 (2021): Film and Technology
- Marcin Giżycki, The Rebellious Eye , Kwartalnik Filmowy: No. 111 (2020): Senses and Affects
- Marcin Giżycki, “Europa” Rediscovered , Kwartalnik Filmowy: No. 117 (2022): Unknown/Hidden Cinema
