The Exorcist Screening: 7:00 Tonight (Friday, October 27, 2017)

Nights of Horror and Thrills: Day 3

Join our free screening in Coleman Hall 1255 to celebrate the art of film in Illinois. 

OCT27

The Exorcist Screening

Public

 · Hosted by EIU Embarras Valley Film Festival

In The Exorcist (1973) something beyond evil is happening in teen Regan’s (Linda Blair) bedroom. Regan has brutally changed both in the way she looks and the way she acts, with violent outbursts on everyone who comes in contact with her. Her worried mother (Ellen Burstyn) gets in contact with a priest who comes to the conclusion that Regan is possessed by a demon that must be exorcised.

The Exorcist is the sensational, shocking horror story about devil possession and the subsequent exorcism of the demonic spirits from a young, innocent girl (of a divorced family), but it was also notable for being one of the biggest box-office successes. And it remains one of the few horror films nominated for Best Picture.

The film's screenplay - a horror-tinged western (and tale of good vs. evil), was faithfully based upon author William Peter Blatty's 1971 best-selling theological-horror novel of the same name.

Chicago native and Academy-Award winning director William Friedkin helms the movie. Interestingly enough, Friedken began making movies while working at Chicago’s WGN after graduating from high school. 

Critically, it was presented with ten Academy Award nominations, two of which won (Best Adapted Screenplay and Best Sound). The other eight nominations included: Best Picture, Best Actress (Ellen Burstyn), Best Supporting Actor (Jason Miller), Best Supporting Actress (Linda Blair), Best Director, Best Cinematography (Owen Roizman), Best Art Direction/Set Decoration, and Best Film Editing. [Until The Silence of the Lambs (1991), the film was the only horror film to be nominated for Best Picture in Academy Award history.]

But some had problems with the film when it was released in 1973. The film was enormously popular with moviegoers at Christmas-time of 1973, but some portions of the viewing audience fled from theaters due to nausea or sheer fright/anger The controversial nature of the film's content - exorcism (accompanied by blasphemies, obscenities and graphic physical shocks), was supposedly based upon an authentic, nearly two-month long exorcism performed in 1949 on a 14-year old boy. Unfortunately, the film spawned inferior imitations, as well.

Most problematically, The Exorcist draws on paranoia of its period, showing a fear of women, young people and the outside world.

Despite these misgivings, The Exorcist definitely meets our goal to highlight the horror film in Illinois, and, perhaps, give us another night of horror and thrills.

OCT27

Horror and the Thriller Roundtable

Public

 · Hosted by EIU Embarras Valley Film Festival

Join us for a roundtable discussion about the multiple roads to horror and thrills. For my portion of the roundtable, I will be exploring our festival films through ecocinema and ecofeminist lenses.

Roundtable 2017

Perhaps the most iconic movie monster from the 1950s forward is Godzilla, a giant reptile who stars in dozens of movies from Toho Studios in Japan. As a creature of its age, beginning with its 1954 debut, Godzilla springs to life from the radiation left by nuclear testing and functions as a condemnation of the U.S. atomic attack on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945. As Kyohei Yamane-hakase (Takashi Shimura) warns in the original film, “if we continue conducting nuclear tests, it's possible that another Godzilla might appear somewhere in the world again.” As a monstrous result of humanity’s destruction of the environment, Godzilla serves as a mixture of Maurice Yacowar’s disaster categories, embodying a traditional natural monster, but also illustrating Yacowar’s natural attack sub-genre. Godzilla also presents a cautionary symbol of the dangerous consequences of mistreating the natural world—monstrous nature on the attack. Gareth Edwards’ remake of Godzilla (2014) take this theme further, since Godzilla returns from the ocean bottom to destroy the MUTOs and restore the balance of nature, according to Dr. Ichiro Serizawa (Ken Watanabe). As Serizawa declares, instead of attempting to destroy both Godzilla and the MUTOs, the Navy should “Let them fight.” For Serizawa, “The arrogance of men is thinking nature is in their control and not the other way around.” 

Readings of the horror film showcase the roots of such a monster: human and nonhuman nature. Such environmental approaches draw on class struggles, evolution, human ecology, and gendered bodies. What connects these seemingly divergent approaches?: a human cause and a biotic solution. Humanity may contribute to the malevolent elements of nature on the big screen. But these films also suggest that embracing interdependent relationships with nonhuman nature may save us all.

I read the films we’re watching this week through a variety of monstrous nature lenses. The Brain Eaters is obviously parasite horror, but it also draws on a (tragic) evolutionary narratives. This evolutionary view is most evident in films highlighting humanity’s creation of deadly natural monsters like the parasite. While biologists would agree that parasites are a necessary part of our biosphere, the general public tends to view parasites as complicated, dangerous, and deadly. The Brain Eaters lines up with films like The Thaw, which connects the horror genre with possible consequences of climate change and human exploitation of the environment in the Anthropocene Age. In the film, parasites have reawakened only because human activity has warmed the earth and melted the ice, so the film’s irresponsible scientist Dr. Kruipen (Val Kilmer) decides to unleash them on populations in the United States, infecting enough humans to “make a real difference.” Through biological eco-terrorism, Kruipen hopes to change the minds of climate change cynics, even if it means he and many others may die.

Sita Sings the Blues and The Exorcist, on the other hand, call for an ecofeminist reading that sees women’s bodies as “frontiers” or the woman (especially the adolescent woman) as monster. Such an approach amplifies the relationship between consuming, exploiting, and raping the body and consuming the land by drawing on what Annette Kolodny calls “America’s oldest and most cherished fantasy” grounded in “an experience of the land as feminine…enclosing the individual in an environment of receptivity, repose, and painless integral satisfaction” (The Lay of the Land 4).  This feminization of nature draws on gender stereotypes. For Kolodny, “men sought sexual and filial gratification from the land, while women sought there the gratifications of home and family relations” (The Land Before Her 12). As ecofeminist Jytte Nhanenge argues, “there is an interconnection between the domination of women and poor people, and the domination of nature” (xxvii). All of the films viewed this week demonstrate ways monster and nature can merge.

2017 Embarras Valley Film Festival--October 25-28

SCHEDULE OF EVENTS:

All on the Campus of Eastern Illinois University!

Wednesday, October 25 in Coleman Auditorium
7:00 The Brain Eaters (Dir. Bruno Vesota, 1958) with costume contest*

In The Brain Eaters, strange things are happening in Riverdale, Illinois. A huge, seemingly alien structure has been found jutting out of the earth. Sent to investigate the origin of the mysterious object, Senator Walter Powers discovers that parasites from the center of the earth have infiltrated the town, taking control of the authorities and workers, making communication with the outside world impossible, and leaving the responsibility of stopping the invasion up to Powers and a small group of free individuals. 

*The costume contest will be held prior to the viewing of The Brain Eaters. Audience members are encouraged to participate to win prizes. We ask all contestants to arrive 15 minutes early to the auditorium stage to register. The contest will begin at 7:00 and prizes awarded to our top three contestants. Costumes will be judged on their creativity, quality, and crowd appeal. 

Thursday, October 26 in Coleman Auditorium
3:30 Sita Sings the Blues (Dir. Nina Paley, 2008)

Sita Sings the Blues is an animated version of the epic Indian tale of Ramayana set to the 1920s jazz vocals of Annette Hanshaw. Sita, the Hindu Goddess from the epic Ramayana accompanies Lord Rama on a fourteen-year exile, but is abducted by a revenge-seeking Ravana, the ruler of Lanka. The film intertwines thrilling tales of torment with memoir sketches that connect the past with the present day.

Friday, October 27 in the English Conference Room
4:30 Horror and the Thriller Roundtable

With Kevin Anderson, Political Science; Robin L. Murray, English; Carrie Wilson Brown, Communication Studies

In Coleman Auditorium
7:00 The Exorcist (Dir. William Friedkin, 1973)

In The Exorcist something beyond evil is happening in teen Regan’s (Linda Blair) bedroom. Regan has brutally changed both in the way she looks and the way she acts, with violent outbursts on everyone who comes in contact with her. Her worried mother (Ellen Burstyn) gets in contact with a priest who comes to the conclusion that Regan is possessed with a demon that must be exorcised. 

Saturday, October 28 in Coleman Auditorium

2:00 Student Film Festival Winners
4:00 Film Festival Horror and Thriller in Illinois Selections

Beetle Queen Conquers Tokyo and the Power of Anthropomorphism

Beetle Queen Conquers Tokyo examines the insect world from humanity’s point of view, focusing specifically on the world-view and behaviors of insect collectors in Tokyo. Jason Solomon of The Observer states, “It speaks of harmony, nature and the national culture, touching on the quintessentially Japanese philosophical notion of Mono no aware (and I hope I’ve got this right): a feeling of gentle sadness experienced at the inevitable fading of transient beauty.” In Beetle Queen various experts commenting on Japanese culture make specific comparisons between insects and human characteristics on multiple levels.

Despite references to the monster movie Mothra (1961), Beetle Queen goes beyond merely evoking emotions by humanizing insects of various species. The unequivocal comparison between the human and insect worlds promotes positive results in the film, encouraging a more interconnected relationship between humans and their environment that may manifest in real environmental preservation and restoration for both humans’ and nature’s benefit, at least within the parameters of the film. As Beetle Queen’s director, Jessica Oreck explains in Don’t Panic Magazine, “I want to share the immediacy of nature––not the idealized, simplified, and anonymous version we see in nature programs on TV, but a nature populated with human characters and personal connections” (Mokoena).

The presentation of Japanese philosophy and aesthetics highlights the interaction between culture and nature signified by this love of insects. It also demonstrates anthropomorphism on the level of traits and dispositions, emotions and social roles. According to the film, Haiku from the seventeenth century highlights a Japanese aesthetic of nature that encourages this love of captive beetles and crickets. A poem about dragonflies accompanying an image of a mechanized dragonfly reinforces the narrator’s claim: “Poetry eternally captures mundane reality. Haiku, like nature, is about transience, creating an intimate relationship with nature without intermediaries. Man is nature.” Night views of the city look like poetry. We see fighting beetles in a video game, on a crowded street, and in a mall. The narrator even assigns specific human traits to the insects to emphasize humanity’s connection with the natural world: “A dragonfly is the emblem of strength, courage, and bravery …. Fireflies are unrequited love.” Workers wearing illuminated vests look like fireflies and underline the message.

As the film portrays it, the devotion to nature inspired by Japanese philosophy, aesthetics, and connection to insects moves beyond a surface belief system to actions that conserve and replenish the natural environment. Because, as narrator Takeshi Yoro tells us, rice paddies are good for dragonflies, their disappearance was detrimental to both dragonflies and human culture. With less need for rice fields to feed people, rice paddies turned into cities, but the narrator explains, this loss motivated the Japanese to begin preserving streams and ponds around the city, rejuvenating the environment and community for national pride. “We learn from insects,” he explains. “If we open our minds to the insects, they will teach us. To learn is to change, so insects are more than pets. They represent an entire culture.” 

As the sun rises over the water, Takeshi Yorro highlights the interconnected relationship humans share with the insects and their natural world: “Observing change in insects connects with changes in nature. Their numbers are much fewer now, because the world is being destroyed.” By illuminating connections between humans and nature based on dispositions, emotions, roles, and philosophies of Buddhism and Shintoism, Beetle Queen Conquers Tokyo seeks to demonstrate how anthropomorphism may have positive results for both human and nonhuman nature.

New Book Forthcoming from Routledge: Ecocinema in the City

Ecocinema in the City

By Robin L. Murray, Joseph K. Heumann

© 2017 – Routledge

208 pages | 20 B/W Illus.

• Description
• Reviews
• Contents
• Authors
• Series
• Subjects

Description

In Ecocinema in the City, Murray and Heumann argue that urban ecocinema both reveals and critiques visions of urban environmentalism. The book emphasizes the increasingly transformative power of nature in urban settings, explored in both documentaries and fictional films such as Children Underground, White God, Hatari! and Lives Worth Living. The first two sections—"Evolutionary Myths Under the City" and "Urban Eco-trauma"—take more traditional ecocinema approaches and emphasize the city as a dangerous constructed space. The last two sections—"Urban Nature and Interdependence" and "The Sustainable City"—however, bring to life the vibrant relationships between human and nonhuman nature. Ecocinema in the City provides a space to explore these relationships, revealing how ecocinema shows that both human and nonhuman nature can interact sustainably and thrive.

Reviews

"In an era of increasing dispute about the effects of climate and science in our daily lives, Murray and Heumann offer a carefully nuanced addition to the field of ecocinema studies. The city, for them, is not just a dangerous space, but also a site of possible relationships between humans and nonhuman nature. Few scholars have the record of Murray and Heumann for serious engagement with the topic of ecology in cinema over such a broad range of critical works." – Charles J. Stivale, Wayne State University, USA

"Our environmental imagination often frames cities as doomed spaces, removed from nonhuman nature. Instead of replicating this view, Ecocinema and the City reverses the perspective: highlighting the transformative power of nature in urban settings explored in film, it offers a timely and innovative take on urban environments. With engaging close readings and cultural examples off the beaten path, the book addresses a whole array of relevant themes, from urban biodiversity to urban farming to questions of sustainability, and is required reading for environmentalists across disciplines." – Christopher Schliephake, University of Augsburg, Germany