Description
When Money Becomes Cinematic: Theorising Money, Capital and CinemaThe relation between money and film is an intriguing yet underdeveloped issue in film studies. Money is special not only because money appears in films in ways that carry specific social meanings or play certain narrative roles, but also because filmmaking itself needs money. Some scholars have expressed their interest and made comments on this issue, such as ‘this is the oldest curse which undermines cinema: time is money’ (Deleuze 1985, 81); money on screen is ‘a representation [film representing money] of a representation [money representing monetary value]’ (Gabrysiak 2006, ii); and ‘the flow of money itself is already filmic’ (Beller 2006, 67).
This paper theorises the cinematic experience of money and capital with case studies from Chinese cinema in the market economy era. First, I define money as a social process, and then distinguish money from capital by underlining that capital is value in motion while money is capital movement temporarily congealed in the form of objects (such as banknotes and coins). Second, I discuss the problem of representation, visibility and expressiveness of money and capital on the postsocialist Chinese screen. I argue money and capital have affective qualities beyond their visibile and representational meanings, and that there are specific film forms in Chinese cinema that mediate the postsocialist experiences of money and capital. Finally, I explore the internal and historical relations between money and film, and capital and cinema. I highlight the concept of movement, especially when we remember that money and film-frames are suspended moments of capital movement and moving cinematic image, and that the movement that transforms both money and still pictures into capital and cinema emerged in the dawn of modernity and the arrival of mechanical mode of production.
| Period | 1 Jul 2024 → 3 Jul 2024 |
|---|---|
| Event type | Conference |
| Degree of Recognition | International |