Instead of reading a text before the lecture, we watched 'Three Colors: Blue' directed by Krzysztof Kieslowski, this is more than just a film but also a philosophical statement. The context of the film is very important, including the French motto: liberty, equality and fraternity, in which the film heavily portrays one of these ideas. The colours of the French flag are also important, with blue being prominent in this film but white and red also having significance. In France there is a strong sense of public responsibility, what would happen if you were completely free (or tried to be completely free) is explored in this film.
The lecture itself with O'Neill focused on the themes of death, as well as film: we will all encounter death in our lives and yet it is something we can never be prepared for.
Starting the lecture, was a brief history of the portrayal of death in film. Classic films of death bed shows the traditional image of death in media as peaceful and spiritual. By the war, death became more stylised in film, showing the death of soldiers in war as dramatic. There was also a shift with films like 'Ghost' and 'Truly, Madly, Deeply', where the dead return as ghosts, however at this point there is still a clear distinction between the living and dead with the ending showing both the dead and living moving on. Media further shifted to allow a complete return of the dead and portrayed a relationship between death and curiosities.
Furthermore, 'Three Colors: Blue' explores many events and experiences with death. The main character Julie faces the death of her child and husband in a car crash which she survives, as well as the later death of her marriage with the uncovering of her husbands infidelity, and the social death of her mother who has Alzheimer. Ironically, with her condition her mother has achieved the state of freedom from the world that she desires but can not find.
