A film study through the prism of psychoanalytic and analytic understanding of art and creativity

Abstract

The field of our interest is psychology of art, that is, the united structural and functional aspects which deal with both the artist and the process of creating artwork, as well as with the very process of the reception of art and the process of its perception. Using the postulates of psychoanalytic and analytic theory, we present a case study - a film, through the prism of Freud and Jung. Psychoanalytic film theory (Freud) analyses the phenomenon of film with the emphasis on the personal and individual aspects of the creator, while analytic psychology (Jung) accentuates the archetypal approach to universality where the artwork is considered as a unique entity with the elements and patterns that can be found in other creative products. Comparing psychoanalytic and analytic approaches in interpreting art and film, a survey of basic terms is given in an attempt to determine, explain and interpret psychological process of the artist and artistic creation. Sublimation, catharsis and regression on the one side, to artistic sublimation, projective identification and reparation, including the concepts such autonomous complex, collective and personal unconscious. These are all the conceptual instruments used by theorists both in psychology and in art in order to better understand the process of creativity, art production and its reception.