A Vertical Analysis of Roland Barthes’ “The Third Meaning” and Luis Buñuel’s The Exterminating Angel

Week 5 Discussion A+ Vertical Analysis 

In his essay "The Third Meaning" (1970), Roland Barthes, a French philosopher/linguist/film critic, gives an example of what can be called a vertical reading of a film, outlining three specific levels of meaning, which can coexist within a single image. He uses examples of some stills from Sergei Eisenstein Ivan the Terrible to distinguish these three levels. The first is Informational (he also calls it "obvious" or "narrative" ), the second meaning is Symbolic, pointing at some concept, an abstract idea or an emotion the image signifies. The symbolic is grounded in political, religious, historical, psychological references - what Barthes calls "the sciences of the symbol). The third meaning, which Barthes calls the obtuse meaning constitutes a surplus of meaning, that cannot be exhausted by the other two. That third, obtuse level of meaning, the level of "excess, is the hardest to describe... Yet, it is perhaps the most interesting one from the point of view of a cinematic poet.

In another essay, Barthes wrote: "As for cinema, I have the impression that it's a lot better prepared (than theatre or literature is) for a certain responsibility for forms that I've called the technique of suspended meaning. I think cinema has trouble supplying clear meanings and that, in its present state, this shouldn't be done. The best films (for me) are those that suspend meaning the most, an extremely difficult operation, requiring at once great technique and total intellectual honesty. For that means disentangling oneself from all the parasite meanings.

As a prime example of what he meant, Barthes cited Luis Bufluel's recent THE EXTERMINATING ANGEL—a brilliant comic horror film about wealthy guests who inexplicably find themselves scalable of leaving a dinner party.

Barthes continues to say that meaning (the obvious and symbolic) was deliberately suspended without becoming nonsensical or absurd, in a film that jolted one "profoundly, beyond dogmatism, beyond doctrine. In the vulgar but accurate sense, it was a film that "made one think."

For this discussion:

Please read Barthes essay "The Third Meaning" (in this module)

Watch Luis Bunuel film Exterminating Angel (1962). I post the link below, but you can also find it on iTunes or Amazon.

ANSWER

Question A: Do you agree with Barthes - why or why not?

I agree with Barthes. He argues that the third meaning of a still from a movie can undermine the story’s description and give rise to its real purpose. This is based on the norms that society is driven by a desire for meaning to make sensible stories. This importance given to the story is essential to be understood in the community.

Question B: Vertical analysis

The narrative meaning of the story may be conveyed to religious significance. The film's heading refers to the exterminating angel, who killed the firstborn of Egypt, and so to make the film sensible, it is considered that the angel aimed to punish those high-class guests is taken into action. The exterminating angel did this by tricking them into a setting that forces them to contract with realism. Luis Bunuel was trying to attack both the religion and the high-class of society.

I think Bunuel’s movies may be symbolizing life; since life is like a solon, there is no escaping it. In the scene where the dinner guest arrives, arriving twice in the whole movie can be thought that Bunuel was trying to touch on how history repeats itself. This is regarded as one of the features of life that we cannot explain.

 I see this movie as a study of human behavior because it involves a few characters with different characteristics. Bunuel displays the negative factors that are present in almost any society. In less than three hours, Bunuel touched various disturbing aspects of the community, life and human behavior.

The film is filled with surprising events taking place, just like in reality, life is full of events that happen out of nowhere. The events happen for no apparent reason; they just happen. The film effect is the plot displayed and the impact it has on the viewer. My perception of the film is that the film criticizes human beings as a limited species that depends on social norms and formalities to feel comfortable. It also criticizes the high class. 

Description of an “unknown” work

Art is a unique way of expressing thoughts and passing information. The image described in this paper showcases an ongoing event between two men; one giving a basket while the other seems to be receiving. It has been colorfully painted in different colors.

The image is symmetrically composed with the background divided into three section. The upper segment of the image is largely made of blue color of different shades. The upper part also contains some yellow decorations painted in yellow. The middle segment is wholly painted in bright yellow color while the lower part is wholly covered in dark green color. The decoration of the surface with varied designs signal that the image can be categorized as a mosaic. Another factor that makes the image seem to be a mosaic is the fact that different colors have been used. Also, the artwork is not smoothly painted but has been decorated with small pieces resembling tiles.

Surrounding the image is a frame painted in brown and blue colors. The framing colors provide a 3D dimension to the image. The outline of the image making the frame is made of both vertical and horizontal lines.

The image has two men at the center of the focus while part of the soldiers are out of space. One who is on the ground seems to be giving the other one a basket that is full of something like bread. The other person receiving the basket is sitting on top of a horse with many soldiers behind him. Since the person is holding his hand high giving and the other receiving while the front leg of the horse is raised, it is an indication that the subjects within the artwork are in movement thus the artwork is dynamic. The presence of the guards with spears is an indication that the person receiving the basket is a royal person and well respected. Between them is a large cup of wine that has been painted in light blue.