Through the Eyes of Film

Walter Benjamin claims in "The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction" that film is a new form of reproducing life, much like literature and painting before it. However, in watching David Fincher's "Fight Club", it is shown that film can do far more than just reproduce our world it can create one of its own. The twist of "Fight Club" (don't read if you haven't seen) is that Tyler Durden is simply a split personality of the main character. This is a surprise since both the main character and Tyler are seen interacting with other characters. In fact, the narrator is incredibly unreliable since we believe we are watching everything through his eyes when we are often watching them through Tyler's eyes.
This is the power of film, it allows us to see the world in ways we neveer even imagined before. One thing that makes films unique to other mediums of art is how it can break barriers other mediums can't by combining mediums. A film can have the dialouge of a play, the imagery of a photo, and the vision of a painting all at the same time. Film is the cobination of visual art, literature, performance, and music into one fluid product. This is something Walter Benjamin fails to grasp, film doesn't just replicate life, it allows us to see the world in ways never before possible.
To Walter Benjamin, film is simply a new form of art, but to mee is is so much more. Paintings and photographs are limited by the fact they can capture but a moment in life. Photography is also lmited by the fact what is shown must exist in reality, and not just in imagination. Literature is subject to the interpritations of readers, which rarely match the vision of the author. Music invokes emotions, but can never display a clear imagery without explanions by the composer. Film has properties from all of these art forms, with all of their strengths and few of their weaknesses.
This is why a love film. It is intended simply to reproduce life, but in fact it offers so much more. It allows us to see the world in new perspectives and understand new ideas. It takes life to new extremes of the imagination or simply displays everyday struggles. It incorporates various art forms, with feew limitations. This is the brilliance of film.