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The affective and cognitive implications of the voyeuristic prologue Bertolucci's inclination to summarize his films" themes during their opening credits occurs again in Stealing Beauty. On this occasion, viewers are made aware of the film's voyeuristic perspective as the opening credits roll beneath images of Lucy, who is travelling from the USA to Italy. Stylistically, this sequence resembles an amateur home video; there are moments of camera shake which emphasize a presence behind the camera as well as its subject, plus several crude close-ups and pans that are symptomatic of inexperienced camera users who follow their instincts rather than aiming for an aesthetic smoothness in their films. This is a stylistic approach, which, given its attractive female subject, escalates into voyeurism. Confirming this interpretation, Bertolucci himself declared that these early sequences were inspired by Michael Powell's Peeping Tom, a voyeuristic cult movie that portrayed a serial killer's penchant for filming his female victims' agony (Mirabella-Pitiot, 1991:73). But, unlike Peeping Tom, there is no mediation between the viewers and these images, since the character filming Lucy never comes into frame (it is only later in the film that he is identified). During the final Italian stage of her journey, the camera moves close to Lucy, taking advantage of her as she sleeps in a train compartment; her obliviousness to being observed is underlined by the camera filming a drop of saliva that falls from her slightly open mouth. This makes the filming appear as a form of intrusion on the part of the invisible cameraman, whose perspectives start fragmenting the girl's body into many details, focusing on the childlike within Lucy while also charging the images of her with a clear erotic connotation. A cut to a close-up of her plump red lips depicts them as almost asking to be kissed; a series of extreme close-ups of her hand, until just the fingers are visible, picture her fingertips resting near her inner thigh, a pose with obvious autoerotic implications. A full- length low-angle shot focused on her open legs, her bended knees, and her feet that rest on the seats opposite, is followed by a cut to high-angle shot that frames the top of her thighs as 296
she slowly changes position. Both shots clearly carry a heavy sexual charge. This perspective will elicit varied responses from different cross sections of viewers. It is not without an erotic, affective charge but the exploitative implications of the shots may elicit a sense of guilt for those viewers initially aroused by the images; viewers for whom the images contain no sensual titillation will be intellectually alienated by their manipulative essence. This arises from the realization that the POV shot compels viewers to directly participate in the voyeur's process of stealing Lucy's images of beauty. Bertolucci's decision to use very idiosyncratic framings confirms this interpretation, hi fact the visual frame is smaller than the dimensions of the screen, and the overall effect is of images from a hand held video camera surrounded by a black border of blank screen. This frame-within-a-frame is also positioned at the very centre of the screen - which corresponds to the focal point of a person's vision - to accentuate the impact upon viewers. Consequently, when the close-ups of different areas of Lucy's body are filmed, it creates the impression that the frame is further narrowed, since the rest of her body, together with the background detail of the train compartment, vanish off screen. Through these techniques, the camerawork assumes a significant role in the voyeuristic process of reducing Lucy to a sexual object, since, in Laura Mulvey's words, 'one part of a fragmented body destroys the Renaissance space, the illusion of depth demanded by the narrative, it gives flatness, the quality of a cut-out or icon rather than verisimilitude to the screen' (Mulvey, 1995: 27). Therefore, many viewers' instincts will ultimately be to distance themselves from these images which transform Lucy into a consumable object of gratification. Eventually, when the train stops at Siena, the voyeur's hand comes into frame as it caresses Lucy's face to wake her up - and also startle the viewers by suddenly giving substance to the presence behind the camera. The closure of this prologue, with the voyeur's hand emerging from the train window to give an astonished Lucy the videotape he has been making, which she drops on the rail track, reinforces the idea of 297
- Page 249 and 250: experience of being out of clock ti
- Page 251 and 252: where the contemplation of this inf
- Page 253 and 254: infinite. In his discussion of sour
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- Page 259 and 260: is conveyed by Port's bleak awarene
- Page 261 and 262: Piccolo Buddha /Little Buddha: A Jo
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- Page 267 and 268: of a children's book, takes on a pr
- Page 269 and 270: Jesus throughout Siddhartha's progr
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- Page 273 and 274: diminishing because of Western soci
- Page 275 and 276: In all three films it is possible t
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- Page 281 and 282: esolve it; and a predominantly unre
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- Page 285 and 286: even understanding from viewers and
- Page 287 and 288: illusion. In search of new scandals
- Page 289 and 290: That this sequence was written, pro
- Page 291 and 292: of Caterina discovering Joe's drug
- Page 293 and 294: on different types of meat. The bar
- Page 295 and 296: was considered to be Bertolucci's r
- Page 297 and 298: Hope, W. (2006) Giuseppe Tornatore,
- Page 299: of their 'elder sisters'. In a broa
- Page 303 and 304: evolve (M. Smith, 1995: 84-85). The
- Page 305 and 306: any allegiance towards the characte
- Page 307 and 308: the 'elder sister' is also unsatisf
- Page 309 and 310: omantic fulfilment. The author as o
- Page 311 and 312: striking garden whose colours natur
- Page 313 and 314: life revitalized. Diane rediscovers
- Page 315 and 316: L 'assedio I Besieged: A Cognitive
- Page 317 and 318: on the dusty road, while the priest
- Page 319 and 320: elongings, and his silent, secretiv
- Page 321 and 322: individuals like Shandurai in Italy
- Page 323 and 324: other' as opposed to the individual
- Page 325 and 326: (Loshitsky, 2010: 90-93) via argume
- Page 327 and 328: create different artistic effects,
- Page 329 and 330: The use of different film speeds an
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- Page 333 and 334: CONCLUSION This project's aim has b
- Page 335 and 336: had much to teach him, and his reso
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- Page 339 and 340: within Italian cinema has not been
- Page 341 and 342: Oneiric: The depiction of dream-lik
- Page 343 and 344: Bertolucci, B. (2002) 'Bertolucci i
- Page 345 and 346: Grodal, T. (1999) 'Emotions, Cognit
- Page 347 and 348: Orwell, G. (1949) Nineteen Eighty-F
- Page 349 and 350: Willett, J. (ed.) (1992) Brecht on
she slowly changes position. Both shots clearly carry a heavy sexual charge.<br />
This perspective will elicit varied responses from different cross sections <strong>of</strong> viewers.<br />
It is not without an erotic, affective charge but the exploitative implications <strong>of</strong> the shots may<br />
elicit a sense <strong>of</strong> guilt for those viewers initially aroused by the images; viewers for whom the<br />
images contain no sensual titillation will be intellectually alienated by their manipulative<br />
essence. This arises from the realization that the POV shot compels viewers to directly<br />
participate in the voyeur's process <strong>of</strong> stealing Lucy's images <strong>of</strong> beauty. Bertolucci's decision<br />
to use very idiosyncratic framings confirms this interpretation, hi fact the visual frame is<br />
smaller than the dimensions <strong>of</strong> the screen, and the overall effect is <strong>of</strong> images from a hand<br />
held video camera surrounded by a black border <strong>of</strong> blank screen. This frame-within-a-frame<br />
is also positioned at the very centre <strong>of</strong> the screen - which corresponds to the focal point <strong>of</strong> a<br />
person's vision - to accentuate the impact upon viewers. Consequently, when the close-ups<br />
<strong>of</strong> different areas <strong>of</strong> Lucy's body are filmed, it creates the impression that the frame is further<br />
narrowed, since the rest <strong>of</strong> her body, together with the background detail <strong>of</strong> the train<br />
compartment, vanish <strong>of</strong>f screen. Through these techniques, the camerawork assumes a<br />
significant role in the voyeuristic process <strong>of</strong> reducing Lucy to a sexual object, since, in Laura<br />
Mulvey's words, 'one part <strong>of</strong> a fragmented body destroys the Renaissance space, the illusion<br />
<strong>of</strong> depth demanded by the narrative, it gives flatness, the quality <strong>of</strong> a cut-out or icon rather<br />
than verisimilitude to the screen' (Mulvey, 1995: 27). Therefore, many viewers' instincts will<br />
ultimately be to distance themselves from these images which transform Lucy into a<br />
consumable object <strong>of</strong> gratification. Eventually, when the train stops at Siena, the voyeur's<br />
hand comes into frame as it caresses Lucy's face to wake her up - and also startle the viewers<br />
by suddenly giving substance to the presence behind the camera. The closure <strong>of</strong> this<br />
prologue, with the voyeur's hand emerging from the train window to give an astonished Lucy<br />
the videotape he has been making, which she drops on the rail track, reinforces the idea <strong>of</strong><br />
297
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