The Inter-Subjective Touch in On Body and Soul

in Screen Bodies
Author:
Hee Young Chung Independent Researcher, Freelance

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https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6329-7978
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.3167/screen.2024.090104
Keywords:
breath; dreaming; horror; inter-subjectivity; pleasure; touch
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Abstract

This article examines the inter-subjective touch in Ildikó Enyedi's film On Body and Soul (2017), employing a phenomenological approach by analyzing the aspects of horror, pleasure, dreaming, and breath. This film recontextualizes horror and reaffirms pleasure through the inter-subjective touch. The binary setting between the dreaming world and the waking world, through the perception of touch, is used not to disdain the cruel reality but to arouse inter-subjectivity. The representation of breath illuminates another tactility regarding spatiality and inter-subjectivity. I argue that On Body and Soul constructs layers of tactility and inter-subjectivity between the film and the spectator; the two protagonists (Mária and Endre); human and non-human; dreaming and waking; and mind and body.

Contributor Notes

Dr. Hee Young Chung (ORCID ID: 0000-0002-6329-7978) is an independent researcher. His research interests lie in the area of film and phenomenology; film and culture; image and sound; World and Korean cinema; auteur cinema; and documentary. He is currently working on a book project on the representation of breath in contemporary cinema in the Korean context.

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Screen Bodies

The Journal of Embodiment, Media Arts, and Technology

Cover Screen Bodies
Article Category:
Research Article
Page Count:
16
Keywords:
breath; dreaming; horror; inter-subjectivity; pleasure; touch
Print Publication Date:
01 Jun 2024
Online Publication Date:
01 Jun 2024
Copyright:
© The Author(s) 2024

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