For Deleuze, film theory is a philosophy, in other words, "film theory is not 'concerned' with films, but rather with the philosophies that those films evoke". Therefore, the relationship between film theory and philosophy is a kind of generative relationship, and its combing of film history is actually an inter-movie-philosophical combing, which can neither be classified as an externalized philosophical combing, nor can it be classified as an externalized philosophical combing. A purely internalized film combing.
By taking World War II as a node, Deleuze sorts out the history of film into two types: motion-image and time-image. The destructive nature of World War II makes human minds in a state of shock and emotion, wandering among the ruins of the world , at a loss. In his admiration of consumption, Bataille pointed out that the act of sacrifice can make human beings escape from the constraints of reason and obtain a new possibility of spiritual liberation in the shock of lack. For Deleuze, war, as a huge cost, makes new images, that is, time-images possible. The human spirit, the verve of movies, and Bergson's time are no longer just through a traditional linear perception. -Emotion-impulse-movement is captured indirectly, but presented directly in the image.
Italian neorealist films undoubtedly become strong evidence for Deleuze's classification, the people in those images wandering in the ruined world destroyed by war, no longer acting under a plot, theatrical impetus , and then obtain a seemingly happy result, but always remain in a moody mood (for example, "The Bicycle Thief", at the end, it returns to a dilemma of being unable to act). Deleuze points out five distinct characteristics of this new type of image in the book: diffuse situation, intentionally weakened (event or space) chain, travel form, awareness of stereotypes, and resistance to plot.
In Wenders' "Highway Trilogy" "Or Wrong Move", "The King of the Road" and "Alice in the City", and even that beautiful "Paris, Texas" undoubtedly became Deleuze's crystal-image (Time-image is the most important form). And this "Wrong Action" is undoubtedly an excellent text for Deleuze to clarify his point of view - the young man who wanted to be a writer also said the real theme of the film at the end: I just want to return to my own ignorance alone among. His series of actions seem to be wrong actions that have lost the meaning of action, not rational actions based on the situation, but a false, wrong choice and wandering.
And as a movie watcher, don't understand such a "new image" even today through a traditional, purely story-based traditional way of watching movies, and then come to an obscure conclusion, we need to Follow the protagonist, wandering together in an indifferent city, a wilderness with soldiers, and a house with a master who wants to commit suicide, and with a slightly sad and indifferent sensibility, observe and experience a pure "audio-visual situation" together.
Maybe this way, this kind of movie will be easier to understand!
Reference: Deleuze "Motion-Image", "Time-Image"
"A Comparative Study of Deleuze and Badiou's Film Theory——Taking Wenders' False Movement as an Example" by Hu Xinyu
April 17, 2018
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