The world as representation and the world of feelings: cinematographic evidence of a transformation

Abstract

The evolution of the cinematographic narration shows a transformation in progress that involves both the models and the social representations of Western man and the modalities of his own feeling. Along this itinerary, it is possible to identify three great perceptive stages, the epic, the “hamletic” and the ecstatic one, corresponding to as many transtorical configurations of human sensitivity. It deals with collective needs brought to the consciousness of the “mass” in little more than a century, thanks to a means of expression and its specific ability to communicate.