Documenting Faith: Physical Devotion in Werner Herzog’s Pilgrimage (2001) and Wheel of Time (2003)
To make visible the invisible has always been a key challenge to film. This paper will study how German director Werner Herzog, a regular explorer of the material / spiritual dichotomy, has managed to visualize something as invisible as faith in his documentaries Pilgrimage (2001) and Wheel of Time...
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Format: | Article |
Language: | English |
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De Gruyter
2019-02-01
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Series: | Open Cultural Studies |
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Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1515/culture-2019-0004 |
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author | Poch Chantal |
author_facet | Poch Chantal |
author_sort | Poch Chantal |
collection | DOAJ |
description | To make visible the invisible has always been a key challenge to film. This paper will study how German director Werner Herzog, a regular explorer of the material / spiritual dichotomy, has managed to visualize something as invisible as faith in his documentaries Pilgrimage (2001) and Wheel of Time (2003). By identifying a strong narrative and aesthetic focus on gesture, we will work on a possible reading on physical devotion as a contemporary substitute to sacrifice. Gesture, then, will become not only the visible translation of what we will argue is represented as a natural and universal faith, but also the apparatus enabling the feeling of the sacred. |
first_indexed | 2024-12-17T20:24:12Z |
format | Article |
id | doaj.art-ae1c352bf7db4c73b5a9a3510863fd6b |
institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
issn | 2451-3474 |
language | English |
last_indexed | 2024-12-17T20:24:12Z |
publishDate | 2019-02-01 |
publisher | De Gruyter |
record_format | Article |
series | Open Cultural Studies |
spelling | doaj.art-ae1c352bf7db4c73b5a9a3510863fd6b2022-12-21T21:33:51ZengDe GruyterOpen Cultural Studies2451-34742019-02-0131394610.1515/culture-2019-0004culture-2019-0004Documenting Faith: Physical Devotion in Werner Herzog’s Pilgrimage (2001) and Wheel of Time (2003)Poch Chantal0PhD candidate at Pompeu Fabra University,Barcelona, SpainTo make visible the invisible has always been a key challenge to film. This paper will study how German director Werner Herzog, a regular explorer of the material / spiritual dichotomy, has managed to visualize something as invisible as faith in his documentaries Pilgrimage (2001) and Wheel of Time (2003). By identifying a strong narrative and aesthetic focus on gesture, we will work on a possible reading on physical devotion as a contemporary substitute to sacrifice. Gesture, then, will become not only the visible translation of what we will argue is represented as a natural and universal faith, but also the apparatus enabling the feeling of the sacred.https://doi.org/10.1515/culture-2019-0004werner herzogsacrificegesturefilm studiesdocumentary |
spellingShingle | Poch Chantal Documenting Faith: Physical Devotion in Werner Herzog’s Pilgrimage (2001) and Wheel of Time (2003) Open Cultural Studies werner herzog sacrifice gesture film studies documentary |
title | Documenting Faith: Physical Devotion in Werner Herzog’s Pilgrimage (2001) and Wheel of Time (2003) |
title_full | Documenting Faith: Physical Devotion in Werner Herzog’s Pilgrimage (2001) and Wheel of Time (2003) |
title_fullStr | Documenting Faith: Physical Devotion in Werner Herzog’s Pilgrimage (2001) and Wheel of Time (2003) |
title_full_unstemmed | Documenting Faith: Physical Devotion in Werner Herzog’s Pilgrimage (2001) and Wheel of Time (2003) |
title_short | Documenting Faith: Physical Devotion in Werner Herzog’s Pilgrimage (2001) and Wheel of Time (2003) |
title_sort | documenting faith physical devotion in werner herzog s pilgrimage 2001 and wheel of time 2003 |
topic | werner herzog sacrifice gesture film studies documentary |
url | https://doi.org/10.1515/culture-2019-0004 |
work_keys_str_mv | AT pochchantal documentingfaithphysicaldevotioninwernerherzogspilgrimage2001andwheeloftime2003 |