Jasná záře všudypřítomného násilí : barokní locus in/amoenus ve filmu Melancholie der Engel (2009) Mariana Dory

Title in English The Radiant Light of Omnipresent Violence : The Baroque Locus In/Amoenus in Marian Dora’s Film Melancholie der Engel (2009)
Authors

KOČTÁŘ Kryštof

Year of publication 2025
Type Article in Periodical
Magazine / Source Slovenske Divadlo
MU Faculty or unit

Faculty of Arts

Citation
web https://www.sav.sk/journals/uploads/06281256Ko%C4%8Dt%C3%A1%C5%99.pdf
Doi https://doi.org/10.31577/sd-2025-0011
Keywords Marian Dora; Melancholie der Engel; Baroque; locus amoenus; locus terribilis; extreme cinema; nature
Description Although the Baroque is traditionally associated with the 17th and 18th centuries, some theorists view it as a timeless meta-style; therefore, its manifestations can also be traced in other times and contexts. In line with this perspective, we interpret the film Melancholie der Engel (2009) by the German director Marian Dora as Baroque, employing the term primarily to denote the merging of seemingly oppositional motivic elements – such as life and death, infinity and mortality, or opulence and iconoclasm – that characterise this metastyle. For us, the Baroque thus represents a kind of “connective tissue” linking antithetical elements, and we use it in particular to conceptualise the antithetical cinematic space peculiar to Melancholie der Engel. We call this space – a delightful natural setting permeated by acts of violence and cruelty – locus in/amoenus. We understand it as a Baroque overlap, a permeation of two oppositional topoi (the locus amoenus and the locus terribilis), known primarily from literary studies.
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